creating a strategy to engage facebook fans

Copyright © 2014 | Northern Initiatives

FacebookCreating a Strategy to Engage

Your Fans


Objectives

• When to share your posts to receive high engagement

• What to share in your posts to receive high engagement

• Different categories of posts

• Scheduling posts in advance and creating a posting calendar

• Photo tips


Goals

• As in any marketing endeavor it is important to start with setting goals. How will Facebook help you reach your businesses goals?

• The goals of your business should back every image uploaded and each post shared on Facebook

• When creating posts ask yourself:– How will this help me reach my quantitative goal?

– How will this improve my qualification and boost my company as a competitor in it’s market?


Getting Started

• Sharing a post each day or every other day is the best way to gain free exposure on Facebook

• Monthly Calendars are a good way to create a posting schedule and stick to it

• With assistance from your calendar, your business is able to create and schedule Facebook posts in advance


What to Post

• The content that your company shares helps to develop the company’s reputation not only on social media, but as a whole

• Focus on current events and new information. Posting old information will make it hard to gain engagement

• Shifting traffic from your Facebook to another platform is a call to action that creates more exposure

• Include links in posts that contain further information that will interest readers. While sharing this link, be sure to explain what the link contains and how following it will benefit the reader


Stay Engaged

• Be sure to respond to messages and posts ASAP

• According to Gartner, failure to respond via social channels can lead up to a 15% increase in churn rate for existing customers

• If you cannot answer a customer’s question at that moment, tell them you are working on an answer for them


Create Content Categories

• It is important to mix up the different types of posts that your business shares on it’s page. One way to mix up your posts is by creating categories. Different types of posts include:– Behind the Scenes– Customer Involvement– Community Building– Throwback Thursday

• By using posting categories, customers are more likely to stay engaged and less likely to ignore your posts.

• Keep in mind that while it is important to have diverse posts, they should all be made with your business goal in mind


Create a Posting Calendar

Example of a Post Scheduling Calendar


Posting: Behind the Scenes

• Giving a behind the scenes look into the production and preparation of your product allows customers to see the work that goes into your final products.

• Showing the process helps increase the value of your product.

• For these posts to be effective post them once a week or every other week.


Posting: Customer Involvement

• Ask your customers questions to raise involvement on the page

• This allows customers to voice their opinion. You can also cater specials to customers requests, increasing your sales

• These should be posted at least once a week


Posting: Specials

• Be sure to create specials that interest your audience

• Create different types of specials to keep customers interested in what’s going on with your company

• Run specials at minimum every few weeks to help promote sales


Posting: Encourage Sharing

• Encourage fans to post pictures and tag your business

• Many business create contests to encourage customer sharing by selecting winners for the best picture with their product

• These posts can be posted once every week to two weeks or run as a contest


Posting: Community Building

• Community building posts allow customers to stay connected with businesses on a continual basis

• These posts can cater to different events such as holidays, days of the week, or local special events

• These posts show your customers your commitment and involvement with the community


Posting: Community Building

More Examples:


Posting: Humor

• Humor posts are a strong category of posts because they have high sharing rates

• These posts can be done whenever needed


Posting: Throwback Thursday

• Using the hashtag #TBT or its full version #ThrowbackThursday is a popular way for users to share old pictures

• These posts can be used to show past products, the company's history or an image from a proud moment in the company’s past

• These can be posted on Thursdays as often as desired

*To learn more about hashtags and tagging other pages view the Setting Up a Business Page presentation*


Posting: Customer of the Day

• Creating and sharing a customer of the Day, Week or Month is a good way to increase the exposure of happy customers

• They are also a good way to increase customer traffic


Scheduling Posts

• Facebook has the capability to create posts as well as schedule the date and time you would like them to be posted in advance

• To take advantage of this, click the clock icon in the lower left of your status box

• The clock icon will then expand, displaying two boxes for the date and time


Scheduling Posts

• To select a day from a calendar, click the red calendar icon in the date display

Clock IconEnter Date and Time here


Photo Tips

Posts with pictures receive 100% more engagement than those that only include text

• Taking good images of your product is important when including them with posts

• Lighting, focus and background are all important aspects in taking pictures of products

• Move around and take a few pictures of the same subject. This is a good way to take the perfect picture


Photo Tips

• Lighting is extremely important to showing the detail of your product

• Try to take your pictures without a flash. Instead take them near a window or somewhere with natural lighting to get better definition

• When placing objects next to a light for pictures, side and back lights give the best angles

• Place products strategically. Images can look better when taken with a prop such as ingredients, products that assist in their use or the product placed in it’s element


Photo Tips for Camera Phones

• If taking pictures with a phone, hold the phone like you would a camera. Use two hands to get a steady shot

• To focus on an object, tap on the screen where the main subject is placed. When you do this, the main object will be more defined


Key-Takeaways

• The goals of your business should back every image uploaded and each post shared on Facebook

• Create posts in advance and stick to a posting calendar

• Use pictures with your posts to increase engagement

• Be sure to respond to messages and posts ASAP

• Mix up the types of post your business shares to keep followers interested


Taking the Next Step

• To learn more about the benefits of Facebook for your business view the “Measuring Your Goals” presentation

creating a strategy to engage facebook fans

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