Managing your Page ensures that you have a finger on the pulse of your consumers, helps attract and keep members, and can assist direct marketing initiatives beyond Facebook. As an extension of your
website but offering a lot more user freedom, your Page must be monitored. You need to keep an eye on your Wall, specifically the good (and the bad) reviews from Page members.
Like it or not, what people post on your Page’s Wall is a reflection of your brand. If you allow it to be overrun with spam, foul language, or unanswered questions or complaints, your brand will suffer. You
need to push out fresh content, sure, but you also need to engage with people on your Page. This chapter teaches you how to keep your Facebook Page full of fresh content and how to keep Page members happy.
Exclusive Deals for Fans
One of the best ways to gain Page members is by offering them something—more specifically, something they can’t get anywhere else. By providing an exclusive offer, discount, deal, sneak peek, or source of information, you’ve given them a tangible reason to like your Page and to keep coming back.
This tactic is even more effective when combined with a landing tab reveal: a tab view that promises an
exclusive offer to new visitors, then changes to reveal that offer once they click Like. This allows you to
immediately deliver on your promise and prove your Page to be valuable, all with one click.
Facebook doesn’t allow on-site tracking, but an exclusive offer can be a great way to track the success
of your Facebook marketing plan as measured by traffic to your site. Create unique links or promo codes for Facebook-only deals. Promote these links or codes exclusively on Facebook, and track redemption or clicks on your site the way you would with any promotion.
These deals don’t need to be excessive, or even different from some standard offers you might use to
persuade new customers or give out at events. You just need to repackage them for Facebook and make sure they’re not too easy to find elsewhere. For example, if you readily send 10% off coupons to new customers, try that tactic here as well.
Frequent Status Updates
As you read in Chapter 8, it’s important to post frequent status updates or Wall posts with new information,
contests, or deals for your Page members. Many major marketers rely on this tactic to stay ahead of the competition. You should, too: aim for a minimum of one post per day and consider a few days with more frequent content.
The trick is to keep users entertained without clogging their newsfeed and annoying them. Make sure
each post has a reason (not just “to get one done”) and take the extra few minutes to ensure that it is quick, easy to understand, and engaging. Don’t forget to spellcheck, and think about what kind of media or links you could include to make the update stand out. Again, a content calendar can help with a lot of this planning.
Remember to account for time differences if your business appeals to people in multiple time zones.
Even if you’re concentrated in one geographic area, vary your posting times to see what works best.
You might miss people if you consistently post right at 9 a.m. every morning.
The most important thing to remember when posting updates is that there are lots of other Pages on Facebook, all competing for a share of space in the Newsfeed. You want to keep your brand appearing
in that feed, and you want your content to keep people clicking to your Page or sharing with friends.
Give them a reason to keep coming back, and provide content they want.
Timely Redesigns
So you’re posting status updates at least once a day and keeping a steady stream of content flowing on
your Wall and in the Facebook Newsfeed. But what about the rest of your Page? One of the best things about Facebook is how much simpler it can be to update a tab on your Page than a page on your website.
You should think about a Facebook Page refresh at least four times a year. You could, for example, tie these changes to the seasons, as fashions change for the weather and menus reflect in-season produce. Even if your business isn’t as tied to seasonal changes as some others, you can still take a cue from the changing weather and preferred activities. Or just think of these transitions as gentle reminders to update your Page. If you have a lot going on, you can even update once a month.
Your status updates provide a daily dose of new content, but these are just small snippets of what your
Page has to offer. Revamping the look and messaging of your tabs ensures that even your long-term Page members stay loyal, while also persuading new visitors to click Like based on your timely landing tab.
It’s a good idea to have one “meet us” type of tab that is fairly consistent in messaging, but with a changing look. The rest of your tabs can rotate in and out to feature contests, promotions, events, and
news. Play around with them and see what works.
Promotions
A promotion is, by nature, a limited-time kind of thing. Whether it’s for a Facebook contest, in-store
event, or online sale, a promotional tab is designed to be updated fairly frequently. Shortterm, one-day promotions (store opening sales, limited-quantity items, or that day’s restaurant special) can be covered in a status update or two. Long-term promotions, however, warrant their own tab, unique to that specific promotion. You can also create a catch-all promotions tab and swap out the content as needed.
Unique Promotion Tab
A tab dedicated to a unique promotion is best used for bigger, long-term promotions that run for at least a few weeks. Such a tab typically requires Page members to do something and offers a more sizeable payoff than a quick 10% coupon or free soda.
Design the tab specifically to reflect the promotion and include some sort of functionality to involve members, whether it’s a form, link, or interactive game. You should run only one of these at a time, but
they can run in conjunction with other short-term promotions. Remember to occasionally plug this promotion with a status update and link to the tab.
General Promotions Tab
A general promotions tab is a great feature if you have limited design capabilities but want to offer some
cool stuff to Page members. Invest in one standard promotional-themed tab design with easily interchangeable content slots for the details. This allows you to run different offers at once, or keep members informed of upcoming promotions to look for.
Monitoring
The goal of your Facebook Page is to attract and engage fans of your brand, building a community for
Page members. While increasing interaction by encouraging questions and comments is a solid strategy
and an integral part of your Facebook marketing plan, it also generates a lot of user content and commentary that must be monitored.
Many services offer automated Facebook monitoring (a quick Google search for “social media monitoring”
provides a host of free and paid tools), but there really is no substitute for human interaction.
That means actual on-Page eyes from someone on your team who can take the pulse of the Page and
respond to questions, complaints, and compliments.
You do not need to be watching your Page all day, but you should check in at least once. If you’re posting
frequently, see what’s going on then. Keep in mind that most action might be clustered right after
you post, so check back shortly after that, too. Of course, if you’re running a Facebook promotion, you’ll
need to be picking winners and answering questions.
You can’t spend all your time responding to generic “love your Page” comments, but pick and choose
the posts where you can provide helpful commentary. Make your presence known, but don’t be overbearing.
Encourage the community aspect, and let it do most of the talking.
Moderation
Monitoring your Page is only half the battle, however, and when it comes to time, more like only 25%.
You must also moderate your Page and make judgment calls on which types of posts should be
deleted, responded to, or left alone.
How you determine what stays and what goes is up to you. Some Page admins remove all negative
feedback; others leave it and respond to the criticism as best they can. A good rule to follow is to leave
legitimate comments, both positive and negative, for all to see. Respond to both kinds of posts, either
with a “thanks for the kind word” message or an appropriate response to questions and complaints.
Yes, some people like to use social media just to complain. But it’s usually pretty easy to pick out the
ones who just want to cause trouble from the ones who want your help resolving an issue. If they ask for
a solution, try to give it to them, but don’t feel tied to responding exclusively through Facebook. A simple
message like “we hear you and will get back to you with how we can resolve this” can go a long way.
Post this on the Wall to show you heard their cries, then message them privately to get contact information
and fix the problem behind the scenes.
Beware of spam posters as well. You want to keep your Wall open for comments related to your brand
and industry, but keep an eye out for people posting links that push their own agenda and remove them
before they get in the way of your Page members’ experience.
Responding
So you’ve deleted the obviously spammy or bogus comments, but what about the real customer service
issues? If something went wrong, it’s time to fix it.
You can answer general questions fairly quickly, and they might benefit from both a comment on the
user’s existing post as well as a general status update. You can call out the person who asked the question to show you’re listening. Something like “Thanks for the reminder, Jason! Yes, it’s summer, and we’ve extended our hours. Stop by anytime from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hope to see you soon.”
If the question or complaint is more personal, you may have to do some research and probably want to
follow up offline. Diplomatic honesty is usually going to be your best bet here. Read the complaint, then
take a step back. If you’re not familiar with the situation, talk to someone who is. You want to get all the
facts before you present a solution. In the meantime, post a message letting the poster know you’re
working on it. Then send her a private message to get her preferred contact info and resolve the issue
over phone or email.
Don’t forget to say thanks for praise and comment on relevant articles or stories posted on the Page!
Doing so can help foster a sense of community. Take a moment to respond to happier comments, too.
Advertising
Your Facebook ads should be updated at least four times a year, just like your tabs. Facebook advertising is perhaps one of the most targeted advertising vehicles online, and you can play with millions of possible parameters. Experiment to find out what works, and don’t be afraid to switch things up or run some tests.
Swapping out ads is even easier than updating a tab, as you have limited space and design capabilities.
But don’t let that fool you. You should never change an ad just because it’s time. Make sure there is a strategy for every change and that the advertising unit is geared toward helping you reach a marketing
goal.
These goals could fluctuate throughout the year, from gaining Page members to increasing interaction
to eventually driving traffic to your website. Facebook ads that drive off-site should be clear about the
end location. You might even create a specific landing Page acknowledging that people came from
Facebook. This helps ease their transition, while also aiding with your tracking and allowing you to easily
deliver on Facebook-exclusive deals.
Facebook ads that direct users to your Facebook Page should always have a corresponding landing
tab. So when you change up your tabs, it’s probably time to update your ads, too. Remember, keep
your content fresh. This applies to anything related to your Facebook Page, even ads.
Summary
Remember, your Facebook Page is a representation of your brand or business, just like your website,
email or print marketing materials, and physical locations. It’s great to recognize that Facebook is an
important place to be from both a user and search perspective, but just showing up is not enough. You
have to use Facebook effectively. That means logging in, posting content, and responding to what’s
happening on your Page.
Listen to your members. Thank them, respond, and follow up offline to resolve issues. Automated Page
monitoring can help fill in the gaps, but you need a real person to read through comments and assess
which ones require responses. Only a human can truly detect the tone of a post, and only someone
familiar with your brand or business will know how to respond.
This is the nature of Facebook, and if you must post your own content less frequently in order to respond to people, so be it. A Page that ignores its members and just shouts its own messages all day is not using Facebook correctly.
Remember, sometimes responding doesn’t mean posting a comment. It could mean listening and making
a change. If everyone posts that they hate a certain menu item, don’t just say, “Thanks for the suggestion.”
Change it. Where else can you get such brutally honest feedback? Use it to your advantage.
