Lists work. But in a world where the lists of things to get done is always growing, do we really need another five things to improve our marketing? Or another three tricks to drive ROI on email blasts? The short answer is no—but I’m going to give you my list anyway. Enjoy!
Tip #1: Use visibly defined rules.
Don’t use the About information field on a Facebook page to talk about your brand or to present your tagline. Use it first and foremost to direct fans and visitors to the rules of engagement for this space. Click on the Aeroplan screenshot below for a best-in-class example.
If we’ve learned anything about Facebook Pages, it’s that organizations need clearly visible and posted rules, so that when moderation needs to happen, the fan base is far less likely to get up in arms. It can also keep moderation from having to happen.
Tip #2: Open up your Wall!
The Aeroplan example is a good example on how to configure your Wall for maximizing engagement with your fans. They have configured their Wall to show their posts and the posts of their fans equally. Please note that this is not the default setting. The default only shows your official posts.
Many brands struggle with this. And if you have millions of fans, then I can potentially see the argument of a Wall that defaults to only showing the brand’s posts.
I think that the reason many brands struggle with this is because of how people from the brand interact with Facebook versus how our audiences use Facebook.
Every time that we, as representatives of the brand, log in to Facebook, we see the interactions on the Wall. And it’s only a matter of time until someone complains that all of our posts have been pushed down “below the fold” by these dang fans. Where are our promotions? Call the agency! Circle the wagons!
First, you have to try and calm these people down. Then we need to remember where and how our fans see our posts.
They do NOT see them on the brand’s Facebook page in the majority of scenarios.
They see fan page messages in their feed.
This is why I recommend using a tab to collate and collect special offers, so anyone looking to find them that does visit our Fan Page can still do so easily.
If the goal is to increase engagement and reach, then having a Wall where anyone can start a post will drastically increase the engagement and reach you get from your fans. And every time someone does visit your page and starts a conversation there, you gain increased reach from all of their friends’ feed views.
Tip #3: If you moderate, tell the group.
Don’t start with moderation unless the issue is severe. With minor infractions, it’s always best to remind members of the Facebook page of the rules and purpose of the space and warn of moderation first.
Tip #4: Be upfront about deletions.
If you do have to moderate (delete a comment), be sure to leave a post or comment that notifies everyone that you did indeed moderate.
I’ve seen too many clients get into trouble because they tried to hide the fact that they deleted something.
Or worse, someone from Marketing deleted something because it didn’t look good.
Tip #5: Obey your own rules.
If you post the rules of the space (see Tip #1) you need to abide by them, to the letter. You will be found out if you don’t. Someone will still have it in their cache or on their screen, and it will come back sooner or later as a screenshot.
(Many thanks to Skitch for their Mac screenshot and annotation tool. Couldn’t have done this without it!)
Tags: Branding, Content, Facebook, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Social Media, Strategy and Tactics
While this was helpful, it would have been more helpful done with the new Facebook pages layout.
Posting articles that give tips on a redundent system and layout are not helpful to anyone.
Fabulous tips? Seems more like the same old/same old basics… with old screenshots? What gives? If you’re going to call this “fabulous tips” why not make them – at the very least – somewhat interesting beyond the most basic of basics? And Aeroplan? Huh? There are so many brands that are doing such interesting things with their Facebook pages and this brand (which I never even heard of) is best in class?
Hi Mike,
See my comments to Sarah below as I believe it addresses the old screenshot problem.
Aeroplan is a Canadian brand but deserves kudos as they are doing it right on Facebook. Frankly, I’ll promote anyone who is doing it right. Or maybe size always matters?
Also, I didn’t call it fabulous tips so I will let the editor take the fall on that one.
Thanks for the comment, though!
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for the comment!
I totally hear you. I feel there is still significant value in the article. Let me explain my point of view with yet another list. Woot!
1) There was an unexpected and significant delay from submission of my article and it’s being published which led to this discrepancy.
2) Facebook is notorious for changing their system without informing employees let alone partners and agencies in advance. So we are all scrambling constantly to respond and stay current. So discrepancies have to be expected even in cases where we are looking at things just 2-3 weeks old.
3) The new facebook page views did not roll out to everyone at once. Some of us had to wait 4-6 weeks before we saw the new layouts.
4) My tips still work if you haven’t upgraded your page.
5) If you have upgraded your page, then my first tip is indeed invalid. I apologize for this. And it upsets me as it was a really good best practice. But once again, Facebook has thrown the baby out with the bathwater with no or little consultation in the field. Even after brands like Nestle have had enormous issues in this area and Facebook knows this. My recommendation is as soon as someone allows or figures out how to put a message back on the main wall page, that this message be used to provide the rules of conduct for this space. If Facebook does not allow this functionality back, then I would look to use the logo to accomplish this and use the default cropping trick to keep these words from scaling down and messing up the icon version.
Sean
Sean,
Thanks for the post. I moderate a group and will apply your insight. I agree that it is real important to be clear upfront about the ground rules for posts and comments.
Thanks,
Andy
Thanks for the kind words, Andy!
And even more for taking the time to comment!
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