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3 common Facebook marketing mistakes and how to avoid them

Social & Digital

3 common Facebook marketing mistakes and how to avoid them

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Technology is ever changing. The world of social media goes through more cycles of ebb and flow everyday than we can imagine.

One minute, someone comes out saying social media is dead. The next minute, there’s a news piece that social media is soaring. What is someone especially new to social media supposed to make out of it?

As a marketer for more than 15 years, I’d love to set the record straight: Social media is here to stay. Just as in any other type of marketing, Facebook marketers make mistakes too. Some of these are acceptable, while others intolerable. With 74% of marketers saying Facebook is an important part of their lead generation strategy, it’s clear that this platform is here to boost your success.

Therefore, the fewer mistakes you make, the better you can leverage Facebook as a solid marketing platform.

Let’s look at the 3 most common mistakes new marketers make and how to overcome them below:

1. Measuring the wrong things

For the amateur marketer, getting 1000s of “likes” on their company page is a benchmark of success. But think about it: What’s the point of getting those several thousand people to like you in return for a freebie (for example), never to return on your page? Is it any good to see the numbers rise while real engagement is going down the drain?

Some businesses make the mistake of going only after the numbers; they end up making things worse by buying a bunch of “Likes” from third party websites, which is nothing but a list of disengaged fans that have no interest in your brand. Not only is this practice shady, but it also hurts your brand beyond repair. You are better off with a few real fans instead.

As a Facebook marketer, your aim must be not only to expand your fan base but also to raise your profile and “click” with your fans. Write useful posts, answer comments and share the love by giving away discounts and freebies when possible. You want real people as fans, not zombies who stop interacting with you from day one!

2. Not being clear on your goals

Too many businesses start out by pumping out content on their Facebook timeline but not realising the reason behind it. For any goal to be worthy of achieving, the intention behind it is hugely important. If you’re posting regular content on your page but hardly seeing any new “likes” or comments, perhaps it’s time to reconsider your goals for that page.

Ask yourself this: Why have I created this page? Is it to connect with my clients? Serve better with outstanding customer service? Gain new leads? Build brand awareness? Answering these questions will help you fine-tune your hard work on and realise the real goals.

Once you’ve outlined a clear goal, planning becomes a natural second step. Build a strategic plan for how to achieve the goals you’re set for yourself.

3. Not engaging enough

Creating a Facebook page for your business is simple. It’s pretty much self-doable. But most businesses fail in what comes after setting up a page.

Before you set yourself a business page, remember it is all about commitment. A successful fan page takes hard work, time and effort. Once you keep at it, you become a pro with consistent learning and keeping in touch with new policies and rules. However, if you are no longer interested in engaging with your audience through the page, you’re better off having no page at all.

Find interesting material to post, ask them what they’d like to see more and pay attention to their comments. Facebook is a very visual platform – look at the way they have revamped and brought in the Timeline feature. And what about the big cover image?

Approximately 6 billion photos are shared every month on Facebook. We think the social media giant is sending a clear message to marketers. Images grab attention. If you want to get maximum engagement on Facebook, definitely go ahead and use relevant images with your posts.

In short, be conversational in a balanced way – but stay away from tooting your own horn too much or being completely boring!

Now that you know the top three Facebook marketing mistakes, why not jump online and tweak things for a better ROI? You’ll thank yourself for it!

 

 

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Maria Abadilla

Maria is the Director of Revive Projects and is passionate about helping franchises attract, engage and retain their clients through marketing, communications, and training and social media policy development. Reach Maria at [email protected] or phone 1300 836 863.

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