Social Media Management Blog

Facebook changes have created more of a challenge for businesses to stay in front of customers on Facebook. Research shows that once someone likes a business page, they rarely return to it. As a marketer, what does that mean? That means that a customer may like you on Facebook, but once they do, it’s up to you to stay in front of them, because they likely won’t be seeking out your page any time soon.

In thinking about this, I’ve realized it is true in my own life. I’ve liked several pages, but unless they’re posting regularly, I tend to forget about them. When they do post and it shows up in my news feed, I may be inclined to check out their page, thinking, “Hmm…I forgot about them. I wonder if I’ve missed some of their posts.” That may cause me to go to their page and check it out. After that though, the page goes back into my distant memory.

Depending on how Facebook users set their wall settings, they may see recent or highlighted stories first. Many  more users are relying on the news feed, or ticker, at the side of their page to see what people are up to. Staying in this news feed is important for visibility. Another factor to consider is that the more engagement your page has, the more visible it will be on user’s walls and news feeds. It’s a vicious circle – if no one is engaging, then you’re content isn’t being seen as much on Facebook; if it’s not being seen, how can users engage with it?

Below are some tips to maintain a presence while keeping users engaged:

1. Build it so they will come: as I mentioned, if a page pops up that I haven’t seen in a while, I will likely click on their link to look at their page. If I see content I’ve missed, it will keep me on the page. If this is the first content they’ve posted in a month, I’m off and running again. The point is – before you worry about staying visible and present in the eyes of your fans, make sure you have great content to post. Creating a plan, or editorial calendar, will help. Spending time now deciding when and what you’re going to publish over the next several weeks will make life easier in the long run. If you’re using a social media management service, you can easily schedule the content as well, making the time up front pay off later on, since you’re not continually worrying about getting to your Facebook page to post content.

2. Mix it up: posting a variety of content, both business related and unrelated, but fun content, will increase engagement. Studies show that status updates with pictures and status that include content that asks users to like the status or post their comments get the most engagement. You would think that if you’re posting a question, users will automatically comment – that is not always the case. Adding a quick “post your comments and tell us what you think” will encourage people to engage with your content. As people engage with your content, it will show up in the news feeds of their friends as well, thereby exposing your page to new people who may in turn be interested enough to check out your page and end up liking it.

3. Post more often: it used to be that posting at least daily was sufficient. That’s not the case anymore. Your content will stay at the top of someone’s wall or in the news feed only a short time, and with users popping in and out of Facebook at all times of the day and night, you want to make sure you get in front of as many people as possible. As it is with Twitter, it is suggested that you post at least three times per day to make the most of your page. Don’t post the same content multiple times though, or even similar content (ie don’t post three status updates about an upcoming event) because you don’t want to turn people off who are keeping up with your page.

4. Host a Facebook event: this is something you can try to gain exposure. Decide on a fun Facebook event you can host – it can be something as simple as a “Fan Appreciation Day” or an “Everything you wanted to know about XXX day (you can fill in the blank as it relates to your industry and expertise).” Setup the event for a day where you can ask fans to “attend” and share an experience with your business. You can encourage people to participate by offering a coupon, or a drawing for a small item. If you run a Q&A type event, have someone manning the page to answer any questions people might have about your industry, business, or any other topic that will get people talking. Be creative and make it fun!

5. Advertise to your fans: this may seem counterintuitive, but it may be a way to re-engage your fans. Advertising to your fans is simple to do through Facebook Ads. When you’re creating an ad, there is an option to only show the ad to people who are connected to your page. The benefit of this is that your ad will stay at the side of their page a lot longer than a status update will stay in their news feed. Facebook advertising is also relatively in expensive, and may be a good way to get people back to your page. Make the ad fun and ask for an action from it, whether it’s sharing your page with their friends, taking a poll, or weighing in on a topic of interest.

Social media marketing can definitely be challenging. Finding news ways to increase visibility and staying on top of the latest trends and news in social media will help keep your efforts successful. If you have any tips or tricks to share, we’d welcome the comments!

Consider these three scenarios…

1. You play for your college football team. At the first practice of the season, the coach tells you that you have to go on a “social media diet” and cannot use social networks until the season ends.

2. Your employer regularly checks your Facebook profile and confronts you about a recent status update related to your aggravation with a co-worker. The boss tells you that you need to work it out or you may lose your job.

3. A letter comes home from your child’s school saying that the school has a right to monitor your child’s social media accounts and can use that information as it relates to school issues.

Three different scenarios, one common theme. When can others tell you when and how to use social media sites? Can what you say be used against you?

Each one is slightly different and has different implications. Consider the first scenario – this recently happened at Towson University, where players were asked not to use social networking sites. While it was a bit excessive, it is a good reminder that when you are posting online, you are not only representing yourself, but you are indirectly representing the school as a team player. What you say can be taken in or out of the appropriate context, and one simple mistake (or moment of bad judgement in posting) can damage a school’s reputation. In this instance, I do think they went overboard. A better option would have been to talk with the team about the importance of using social media responsibly, with a gentle reminder that they are representing the school.

The employer scenario is a bit trickier. While there are many states and agencies working to make it illegal for employers to monitor employee social networking,  In the example in this scenario, I would not agree with the boss threatening discipline over coworker issues; however, if I were the employee, that is something I may not want to post on a public forum. I don’t know all of my friend’s friends, and there IS that whole Kevin Bacon six degrees of separation thing…I wouldn’t take a chance.

The thing with employers and social media can get a bit interesting, as many companies may not make it a habit to monitor employee social media usage; they’ve surely got better things to do with their time. Here’s how it can spiral though – many companies are using social media monitoring to gauge their online reputation. This type of service will collect all online conversations related to the company. There are times, and we’ve seen it with the clients we work with, where the program will collect data from employees who are not talking very positively about the company they work for.

So what’s an employer to do if the information comes to them and they are not seeking it out? While I do not think disciplinary measures should be taken, unless of coruse an employee is disclosing private company information, it is valuable information for employers to gather, and they are doing so in a public, legal matter. I will be most curious to see how this type of legislation plays out and what the end result is.

Finally, we have schools who want to monitor social media networking of their student body. A friend’s school had an interesting situation a couple of years ago in which a student created a fake email account in order to send a nasty email to a fellow student. As it happens, there were issues of this particular student already having some peer difficulties in the school. The parents brought the email to school and demanded something to be done. The school was faced with a dilemna; since it didn’t happy on school property, was it something the school could even address? In the end, the school did take the matter into its own hands and resolved the situation. I do wonder if it was “more okay’ to do so because of zero tolerance in bullying. If it were a different issue, such as a student posting “I hate my teacher, Mrs. Smith! If she gives us anymore homework, I’m going to be asked to be homeschooled” would the school have any right to act on that information (if there was, in fact, anything to really act on)?

Social media monitoring is definitely going to throw some wrenches into what people can use as far as public information. However, in the end, I think it’s going to have to be decided on a case by case basis. As you can see from the three scenarios above, there are so many intricacies involved, I don’t imagine there can be a blanket, one size fits all law or rulebook when it comes to monitoring social media.