February 2012
Social Media Best Practices: Facebook
Best Practices for Facebook
The framework for being the face and voice of your organization on Facebook.
Be engaging
Think about generating comments and write posts to be engaging. Facebook uses a formula to determine how often you show up in news feeds. “Likes” are great, but comments matter more. The number of comments generated is part of this formula. Post in a way that engages discussion so it will begin to show up in news feeds. Take a look at your current profile page. If it is just a long list of posts made by you, start thinking of ways you can get people to engage. Post polls or questions that will spark conversation.
Comment on your fans’ pages. Don’t just stay on your own wall and expect your fans to come to you. Start conversations and speak to your followers about things you would want to hear. Be conversational, informative, professional, gracious, and humorous when appropriate.
Mix it up
Share links to content that is relevant to your fans. This may be anything from press releases to links to your services or products, or a link to the blog of someone you follow. The important thing is to keep it interesting. Posting videos and photos of events you have participated in are great ways to interact with your fans. Tag people when possible to connect to their personal Facebook pages. Encourage fans (including staff) to share photos on Facebook during events.
Think about creating an editorial calendar to track what you will be posting. This can help you get a clear picture of your content output and help you balance out the informative with fun. Providing information which lines up with your audience’s interests gives them a reason to continue to look for and listen to you on Facebook.
Listen, React, Monitor
Acknowledge when your fans respond to your questions or comment on your posts within 24 hours. Listen to feedback from your fans and don’t let your Facebook feed become a one-way conversation that only pushes out information. If they get the impression that you’re not tuning in, they may tune out.
Remember that all business is done in real time. Customers hit enter, and a review of your services can be accessed by millions instantly. Don’t just monitor comments on your own page. Conduct relevant searches on Facebook, Twitter and customer review sites like Yelp to address any issues or questions that someone posts. Social media forces organizations to take information to consumers. People won’t always post their comments, questions and concerns on your page, so look elsewhere.
Measure
Determine what your goals are for using Facebook. Is it to generate more fans, create more conversations, or get people to an event? Take note of your current fans and track when you are getting an increase. Monitor what types of posts are receiving more engagement and make adjustments if you’re hearing crickets. You can use services such as bit.ly to shorten your urls and track click-throughs. Record how many posts you are currently making per day/week, how many comments you are receiving, and how many fans you have. Once you begin implementing changes that engage more directly with your audience, note if there is an increase in any of these.
Do's and Don'ts of Facebook
Do: Set up guidelines for those employees engaging in social media on behalf of your organization. Other employees who comment and engage with your brand should also understand and follow these guidelines.
Do: Show common sense and consider your content carefully. Don’t post comments that are meant to be private or on legal matters. Make sure you do not violate confidentiality guidelines or the privacy of others.
Do: Update posts 1-3 times per day. Post enough to stay top of mind, but not so much that your followers begin to tune you out or unfollow you for cluttering up their news feed.
Do: Be courteous and relatable. Refer to people by their names. Say thank you. Talk to people you do not know. Use humor.
Do: Market your fan page. Suggest your page to those in your personal network and ask employees and coworkers to “like” your page. Promote your Facebook page outside of Facebook by placing a Facebook logo and link on your website and other promotional materials.
Do: Follow the right people & spread the love. Follow people in your industry and businesses in your community. “Like” and comment on relevant pages using your organization’s page. This creates additional awareness among like-minded industries and people in their networks.
Do: Claim your venue and encourage check-ins. Through apps such as Four Square users can “check in” to a claimed venue from their cell phones. The user’s Facebook page will display their location on their news feed, creating additional exposure for your event.
Don’t: Be unprofessional. You are the Face of your organization on Facebook. While it is important to show a personality with which others want to interact, don’t share personal views or opinions that are not aligned with those of your brand.
Don’t: Forget to share your accomplishments and give a shout out to others for theirs. It’s just another step in creating dialogue among your peers
and followers.