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MAKE FACEBOOK WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS Create a Community and Increase Sales
MAKE FACEBOOK WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESSCreate a Community and Increase Sales
Dc Design House Inc. is a full-service marketing agency based in St. John’s, NL, Canada.
| DcDesignHouse.ca
Written By Alisha MorrisseyAlisha, senior copywriter for Dc Design House, has been a writer for more than 15 years and can help your company say what it means. She leads all content creation and editing of client copy offering clarity and consistency to the written work. Alisha is a potty-mouth and music snob, though she cannot play any instruments or sing.
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MAKE FACEBOOK WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESSCreate a Community and Increase Sales
IntroductionFacebook is a virtual and free way for businesses to promote themselves, reach potential customers, and communicate with existing clients.
The key to an effective Facebook Page? Engage your fans!
You want the people who Like your Page to read status updates, comment on and even share your updates with their friends. This is important because the way Facebook decides what to show users in their news feed is based on whom they regularly interact with.
Facebook isn’t like an ad or website that can be created and left alone. It’s something that needs to be nurtured, updated and kept active regularly.
First Steps for FacebookThis tool helps you define your goals and make a plan for creating great Facebook content that will keep your followers engaged.
What are our Objectives?• Brand awareness and engagement• Promote upcoming events• Engage with influencers
What are our Action Items?• Create compelling posts• Set up sponsored posts and ads
What are our Key Metrics?• X number of posts per day• Page follows• Likes/Shares/Comments• Lead generation/new customers
Facebook Content Creation:A great Facebook post can mean the difference between a page that goes viral and a page that’s ignored.
How do you create great posts that get Likes, Shares, Comments and attention?
Identify your audience.Determine who you’re talking to and what they want to hear.
Reaching these audiences means connecting with them, the things they love and the things they’re interested in.
The best way to reach them is to think like them when creating posts.
Reach out to your audience with the weird, the wonderful and useful.See our posting ideas in the next section to build an editorial calendar.
Create an editorial calendar.Planning your content — how often and what you post — in advance will speed up the approvals process and also help to quickly and efficiently post to your audiences.
Engage with your audience regularly. When your audience talks to you, talk back! And quickly. Whether you’re getting messages, Likes, Comments, etc. respond at least once a day to ensure your audience knows this is a two-way conversation.
PRO TIP From Don-E Coady
#1Taking Control of the Approval Process Approval of content may be the most complicated step. Have your leaders agree on the approval process from the get-go.
Keep the lines of communication open throughout the campaign and share plans, timelines, and changes. Also share the results, showing that there are real benefits to being social.
Measure & Optimize. Analyze and improve performance by checking your Facebook insights a minimum of once a month. Compare which posts are doing well and learn from them.
Also, share your results with the organization to increase buy-in to the social landscape and its benefits.
Creating Great Facebook Content:Great Facebook content is shareable; it’s something your audience will be interested in. Here are 20 ideas to help you create the best posts possible on Facebook to get the best engagement.
Visual elements. Photos and graphics are a great way to engage your customers and the general public. If at all possible use a photo in every post.
Share your customers’ news.Did they win an award? Did they appear in the paper? Share the news and they’ll talk about it.
Share your company’s news. Don’t brag, but show off what you’re doing. Anniversary? Staff BBQ? Charity event? Awards? Celebrate the milestones. Share that information with your followers to show the heart of the business.
PRO TIP From Alisha Morrissey
#2
Use Online ToolsYou can create perfectly sized Facebook graphics using Canva: a free, easy-to-use alternative to Photoshop. Simply choose the “Social Media” design format (800 pixels by 800 pixels), select a background color (or drag in a background pattern), then add text and images and adjust accordingly.
For an even simpler solution, you can use one of Canva’s pre-designed social media layouts. With a layout, creating a high-quality Facebook graphic can be as easy as tweaking some banner text or replacing a placeholder image.
Share your employees’ news.Employee of the month? A work anniversary? A new baby or charity involvement? Share that information and be genuinely excited about it.
Ask fun, random questions. These can be fill-in-the-blank questions, what they love about your service, their own horror stories. Questions improve engagement.
Use calls to action.Share if you like this… Comment below… Contact us today…
It may seem obvious, but telling your users to be involved is the best way to get them involved.
Share local events that relate to your business.Share events your audience will be interested in and things you’re going to attend. It creates a sense of goodwill to share others’ events, as well shows your customers you’re interested in the same things they are.
Specials, promotions or sales.Got a great deal on? Share it and your customers will too. Keep it short and packed with information about how it will benefit them.
Share a quote or an inspirational message from you.People love to share these kinds of posts. Keep it clean and non-religious if possible.
PRO TIP From Dave Lane
#3Responding to CriticismIn any open forum, criticism will happen. It’s how you respond to it that matters most. First, don’t be defensive. Criticism of your business isn’t a personal attack. Listen, respond appropriately and take it offline if it gets too heated. Avoid deleting criticism (that always looks bad) unless the attacks are personal or offensive to others.
Links to relevant blog posts, website pages, or media mentions that relate to your business. Don’t shy away from sharing great content that already exists. If your customers will like it, if it adds value, then feel free to share it.
Use niche specific hashtags in your posts to help create visibility.Hashtags group topics together. Using them will get your information to the people most interested in clicking that topic.
Ask for feedback on projects that you are working on.Share what you’re working on and ask your audience about it. They love to give their opinions and are often happy to help.
Host a contest or sweepstakes.Even small prizes are exciting to win, so gain Likes, Shares and Comments with this easy step. A one-month contest three times a year can go a long way to getting people’s eyes on your page.
PRO TIP From Melissa Hogan
#5Show Value on Your PageAlways remember that customers are looking for What’s In It For Me. Answer that question as well as you can in every post. Customers feel value from being informed and entertained, so write posts that add that value.
PRO TIP From Jackson McLean
#4Social Media to Drive ApplicationsIf you’re hiring, post jobs on your Facebook page to expand your reach into the jobs pool. The people who follow you are already interested in your company, so they’re more likely to apply.
Join in on trending conversations.Being part of the discussion is a great way to be visible online. Comment on other pages, where you know your target audience is actively engaged.
Create a 1-2 minute video that answers a question you get all the time.Frequently asked questions make for great posts, but also add value to your audience. A video is a big investment but will bring you equally big returns if done well.
Use humour.Jokes and silly things bring a lighter, fun side of your company to light. Share them sparingly and keep them clean and people will share them.
Always be adding value for your audience. Solve a problem that your clients have. Share tips/solutions. Top five/ten lists are always popular. Checklists, tricks, myths vs. reality, these posts are highly popular and will get shared. If they see something that helps make their day easier they will keep coming back for more.
PRO TIP From Jacelle Somerton
#7Buying LikesBuying likes and shares from your audience will only work so many times. If this is all that’s on your page, you will eventually lose the likes you’ve gained. Use these sparingly, and add useful and exciting content to the mix to keep the audience involved.
PRO TIP From Denise Goodyear
#6Be a FollowerFriend and follow every company that has anything to do with your work, including competitors, they may share something useful and you should know what they’re working on.
Host a Facebook Chat.Set aside a day and time to be available on your fan page to answer questions that your community has.
Share customer testimonials on your page.Don’t be shy when asking for reviews for your services, share the good and bad. Remind the audience they can add reviews to your business page directly.
When you reach a certain number of fans, celebrate.Offer a prize to your 1,000th like or a deal to reach a certain volume of users. Do this sparingly, but regularly thank the audience for being with you and participating in the conversation.
Promote your posts in the Facebook ads manager.Facebook allows you to target certain audiences and when used well, advertising on Facebook can be a valuable resource.
CONCLUSION We hope these tips help you to maximize your online promotions. Remember that Dc loves Facebook campaigns and is happy to chat with you about how we can take your business online to the next level.
Dc Design House can help you create, deploy, and monitor the social networks that are proven to grow sales and create a community of brand evangelists to tell your business story. Contact us to find out more.
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PRO TIP From Don-E Coady
#8More is MoreVolume certainly isn’t everything on Facebook; consistent quality is much more significant. You may be tempted to post everything, but posts that are well written with solid information will keep readers more engaged than sloppy, frequent posts.
Dc Design House builds beautiful campaigns, creates compelling content, and brands better.
Click on any of our services to find out more about what we do.
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+ much more!
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DcDesignHouse
DcDesignHouseInc
Dc Design House builds beautiful campaigns, creates compelling content, and brands better.
Click on any of our services to find out more about what we do.
Don-E CoadyCreative Director
Denise GoodyearAccount Director
Dave LaneDevelopment Partner
709.237.7321
PO BOX 13171 St. John’s, NL A1B 4A4
