This article was originally published on PR Daily in July 2016.
Not all Facebook pages are created equal.
Facebook offers great opportunities to attract, engage and convert would-be customers, but building a high-converting Facebook page has been elusive for many organizations.
It's important to know the elements of a successful Facebook page; it's even more crucial to recognize the reasons your Facebook page is failing.
If you want your ideal customers to "like" your page and follow you, you have to continually reward them with great content and build an engaged community. This means employing a content strategy that works for your business both culturally and operationally.
You also have to incorporate Facebook ads to promote your content, increase clicks to your website and turn fans into customers.
Is achieving consistent engagement and conversions on Facebook a struggle for your company? Here's a list of 10 reasons why your Facebook page is failing, along with tips to make it work for you rather than against you:
1. You don't publish regularly.
Consistency is a cornerstone of Facebook (or any other) marketing approach. Users must see your posts in their newsfeeds for you to stay relevant.
It's a battle right now for attention. Posting a few times per week or per month is not going to capture anyone's attention.
2. Your page lacks the human touch.
Facebook pages fail when the posts focus on products instead of people. Content that demonstrates why people choose a given brand seems to be nonexistent on many Facebook pages.
If you approach Facebook with the sole mindset of "making money," you will end up wasting your time. Facebook is first and foremost a social network, not a business network.
[ATTEND FROM YOUR DESK: Learn social media "next practices" from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.]
"In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic." -Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks
3. You're not using the three-stage content approach.
Content marketing (a component to Facebook and all other forms of marketing) is a powerful tool for driving qualified traffic and leads. The challenge lies in consistently producing high-quality, original content.
Content must reach all aspects of the buying cycle:
- Entertain. Crazy as it seems, most people who engage with your page are not immediately in-market. The inability to engage this type of prospect is where many pages fail.
- Educate. Fans who either are thinking about a purchase (or who have friends who are) appreciate answers to their questions.
- Excite. Facebook posts and ads must offer something worth their time. Exciting content compels people to click in anticipation.
4. Your posts look and feel counterfeit.
Every company brand has a unique personality.
People are looking for authentic brands—brands that communicate exactly who they are and what impact they want to have in their customers' lives.
Publishing banal content will mean a quick trip to the bottom. This is obvious when companies hire outside providers (and sometimes shady vendors) to "do social media" for them. The provider's branding comes through on your Facebook posts, and it looks like someone other than you is doing the work, so fans will scroll right past your content.
Real people are behind your brand, so let that shine through in your content.
5. You don't fully understand your target audience.
Creating a content strategy without a clear understanding of your audience is like setting sail without navigational tools. You're out there, you're taking action, but you're not working toward a specific goal. Pretty soon, huge amounts of time and money have been spent without any clear return on investment.
Facebook's deep data help companies and marketers to laser-target ideal users. Building target audience profiles improves your Facebook marketing tenfold.
Determining the "buyer personas" of your core audience improves the way you solve problems for your customers. Useful, high-quality content increases engagement and builds your social media presence. Website content (such as blog posts) published on Facebook and clicked through to your site increases search ranking.
6. You don't regularly conduct a Facebook page audit.
Whether your social media marketing is done in-house or outsourced, it's often difficult to know where the gaps are between your current successes and where you want to be. Your inbox is full of tips and tools for mastering Facebook, and it's exhausting.
There are a host of ways you benefit from an audit or review of your social media. Given today's accelerated rate of potential failure with Facebook marketing, a social media conversion review can help your page achieve your goals faster.
7. You're ignoring comments and messages.
Facebook is a communication channel, just like email and the telephone. Customer service via social media is hugely important, but if you don't have a process to monitor, listen and respond to messages, you're dead in the water.
Nobody likes being ignored. If you're looking for a competitive advantage, social media customer service is the answer. Here's why:
- 71 percent of consumers who experience positive social media customer care are likely to recommend the brand to others, compared with just 19 percent of customers who do not get a response. (Sentiment)
- Today's tech-savvy consumers want their online questions to be addressed promptly; 42 percent expect a response within one hour. (Gigya)
- 33 percent of users prefer to contact brands via social media rather than by telephone. (Nielsen)
- 83 percent of respondents in a recent survey said they liked—or even loved—when a company responded to them on social media. (Convince and Convert)
8. You have no defined goals.
High-converting Facebook pages have well-defined marketing goals.
Begin with an outline of three goals, and build out specific strategies to help each client achieve them:
- Attract. Likability and relevancy are huge in attracting new and established customers to your Facebook page. Add value to their lives by delivering high-quality content.
- Engage. Many companies fall flat when determining what to do with their fans once they've become connected.
- Convert. Attracting and engaging the right audience lays the groundwork. Drive conversions by providing information and value that help them finalize their purchase decision.
9. You're not using the power of Facebook ads.
Facebook has become a powerful platform to market and advertise a business. Facebook pages fail because they aren't using Facebook ads correctly or they're not using Facebook ads at all.
No Facebook page will work without Facebook ads. You must pay Facebook to reach your target audience and deliver the right content to the right customer at the right time.
No pay, no play.
10. You're not measuring and analyzing your results.
You can't manage what you don't measure. Organizations that don't review their Facebook results are doomed to repeat their mistakes over and over.
Facebook Insights is your best friend. It gives you all the metrics you need to judge how your page is doing. You can see which content got the most organic and paid interaction, what you did right, and what didn't work so well. Analyzing results helps you deliver a better experience for fans, make better decisions on your content, and determine whether you've reached your goals.
A version of this article first appeared on the Kruse Control website.from PR Daily News Feed http://ift.tt/2a6Ytae
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