6 Facebook Marketing Do’s & Don’ts

All Posts, Content & Copywriting, Infographics, Marketing, Social Media

Facebook Connecting PeopleFacebook is an important platform for both engagement and professional networking among business and marketing professionals.  But not everyone believes that time spent on this social media forum is well worth the effort.  Or perhaps you think you do have strong and proper utilization of Facebook.  And if so, that’s fantastic and way to go in leveraging your social media marketing channels.  However, if you haven’t seen much engagement last year or haven’t generated any leads from it, then maybe some (or all) of these tips can help you change your fate in 2013.  With a little time, a few colleagues and these tips, you can easily make your Facebook marketing strategy a success, increase traffic and engage, engage, engage!

#1. Content Making Your Audience Yawn?

Too many brands are guilty of over-posting articles and links to other businesses articles. Facebook is the most ‘social’ platform for all and people want to see, read, and share knowledge.  Just posting articles can make your page quite boring!  A better way to engage fans on your page and keep them coming back for more is to share a wide array of content.  Anything from Infographics to select business tips to short e-books.  Facebook may not be free forever so use this worldwide social media leviathan to your advantage while it’s still gratis!

#2. Tumble Weed Blowing Through Your Pages

There’s nothing worse than having a dead Facebook page. Many businesses Facebook pages were guilty of serious neglect with posts dating back weeks or even months ago. Not only does posting infrequently kill your Edgerank (the system that controls content visibility on your network’s News Feed), but it also sends a message to your fans that you don’t care to much about their loyalty to your brand and voice.  The best way to improve visibility on Facebook is by frequent postings, advertisements and product/service imagery.

Business man's reflection in tablet

#3. A Little Vanity Is Good

A lot of businesses still don’t have a vanity URL (username) and are using the same old default URL given by Facebook from when they first signed up. To business prospects this can look tacky and unprofessional.  Remember that once you have 25 fans, you are able to claim a dedicated username for your page. This comes in handy when you’re directing people to your Facebook page from other sources. You don’t want them to type in a URL that’s long and awkward. If you need help changing your URL,  here’s how to do it.

#4. Don’t Let Your Page Be Visually Impaired

We all know that most of us “eat” with our eyes first.  Visual content remains one of the number one way to engage with your network. What catches your reader’s attention through imagery certainly opens the door leading us to the relevant information causing them to spend more time on your page.   Without it, your run the risk that fewer people will ‘Like’ your page or share your content. Infographics are a great way to grab the reader’s attention with imbedded links to your page to promote key information or a healthcare service being provided.

#5. Facebook Features and Apps

Business brands may not know or choose to use custom tabs for highlighting interesting content.  But they should.  With Timeline, a default landing page is no longer a must for businesses.  You can now draw attention to your free resources, YouTube videos or other great content by using the (four) custom tabs underneath the header image (or cover photo). Custom tabs are fun and easy to create – here is a wonderful guide to get you started.

#6. Lacking Personality?

Although you still need to be professional on your Facebook page, it doesn’t mean you have to omit personality and excitement about your services and products.  Once in a while ask your fans short, entertaining questions (even within the business context) to keep them engaged.  Try to consistently engage your fan base by weekly postings with a certain theme.  For example, try highlighting a product or service of the week, share a business tip or customer testimonial. Nurture your Facebook community while still maintaining your humor and lightheartedness in conveying the strength of your brand and business products/services.

Facebook is a fantastic business tool that can surely help you grow your business, but you have to use it properly for it to work to your advantage.  So feel free to buck business stuffiness a little while using it to generate leads, engage your fans and gain a faithful following.  Stay tuned for next week’s follow-up article highlighting Tips to Promote Your Business with Facebook Ads.

 

When Designing Can Bite You In The Ass

All Posts, Web Design

Office PictureRemember when you first started out as a designer? That overly ambitious feeling to get any kind of work no matter what you’d be getting paid. Sure we all remember those days. Even if they were a few months ago for some. What quickly follows after your first few projects is the feeling of “wow I did all that, for all that time, and only charged what?” Or better yet, finding out what a friend or same level competitor is charging for the same kind of work you’re doing. Yea that doesn’t feel good at all. That’s the bite or kick in the ass we’re talking about here.

There’s really no such thing as taking one for the team when you’re an established designer. By now you’ve learned to accept or reject projects based on requirements, budget and your availability schedule. Though, for some reason these types of projects still come across our desks and even seem appealing due to our own temporary financial situation. Let me show you some points on what to look out for:

Budget: This one is first because you should be able to tell right from the initial consultation (free of not), whether the potential client will appreciate the amount of work you’re about to put in. We all know great designers and developers put in way more hours than they charge.

Timeframe: My “spidey” sense goes wild when someone tells me they need a full website done yesterday. The reverse of that situation is accepting a job when your schedule is already booked to the rim. Be cautious of your time. There is a healthy balance to adhere to and that’s to make sure you stay inspired and energized to continue to produce great work.

Accepting Jobs Outside of Your Scope of Work: This is a big one for me. I’m always concerned with landing a job that looks better to the eyes on my wallet than the better judgement of my mind. Taking on a client or project that you’re unable to comprehend on completing either on your own or with your support team is never a good thing. Not that you’ll be incapable of producing the job but the time that may be spent on learning or coming up to speed on platforms you’re not familiar with will drag you down.

Miscommunication: This could be a huge volcano just waiting to erupt. This happens all to often when a contract line item isn’t realized, a mockup version is confused in email transmissions, or timelines are misunderstood. All of these and more usually start off as small instances. Left unresolved or uncorrected and they’ll become that huge problem that drains all of your time, attention, and emotion from all of your firms business.

Ever been bit in the ass by something you overlooked? Share with us in the comments below.