I was reading a forum post today, and saw a complaint by an unsatisfied costumer of a company. The person flew with an air company, they lost the baggage, had really bad customer support and finally he visited their Facebook Fan Page and ranted there.
To top it, people treated him very bad, posting really unpleasant comments, etc.
It was a very bad experience for the guy and sure isn't a way to run a Facebook Fan Page.
This got me thinking about some other pages I've seen over these few years I have been using Facebook, so I want to remind all of us (not just you, but me too) what is a wrong way to run your Facebook Fan Page.
1. You have no image, info, link to your blog/business
This is the biggest problem on all social sites I have used. It is one of the top 10 reasons why you lose Twitter followers so why would Facebook be any different.
Depending on your page's purpose, there are different images you can use. If the page is about you, you must put your photo on it. If it is a Facebook Fan Page for your business, you can put a logo of your company. If it is a page for your blog you can crop a part of your header and use it as the page photo (if you don't have a logo and don't want your image).
You must have info section filled in. You need to tell people what the page is about. Not everyone will find your page after they've visited your blog. If a friend suggested the page to a person, and he/she goes to check it out, it is the first encounter with your business. Make sure you inform your visitors about everything the page is about.
If you made the page to promote your blog, online business, or anything online, you must have a link to it. Facebook is the most visited website in the world and it can be a great source of visitors (income) for you. Make sure you show them the road to your blog.
2. You never visit your Facebook Fan Page
Yes, there are people that create a page and think that is the only thing they need to do. Well, people won't just come and like your page. So either you will visit your page and actually manage it, or you better start spending some money on Facebook ads.
You work on marketing your blog/website/business? Well, same thing goes for your Facebook Fan Page. It is an extension of your business so you should treat it as one.
3. You don't reply to anyone on your page
Are you trying to make money online? Who is gonna make you that money? People!!! So you need as many people as you can get. They need to check out your offer and hopefully buy.
How will you get them to do what you want? Make them be thankful. Help them with what ever they need. Communicate with them and show them you care.
How long will it take you to reply to a question on your fan page? 5 minutes? That is all it can take for you to help a person in need. And that person could very well be your next customer.
If you leave them hanging with no answer for a month, not only will they find the answer elsewhere, they will buy elsewhere.
Reply to all posts, links and questions on your page. It is your page and you are the one that needs to make it interesting and live.
4. You post only links, there is no interaction
If you post only links to your new blog posts, you might as well delete your page. The ones reading your blog will already know what is on it, so why would they like your page. New people that run into it, will see a wall full of links and most likely they will not like the page.
The simplest way to start interacting with your fans is posting a status from time to time. You can do it every day, multiple times a day or every few days. It is up to you. This is a great way to get feedback from people by asking them simple questions.
You have a new post idea but you want some additional info before you write it? Ask your fans! Yes, it is as simple as that!
5. You post links that have no connection with your niche what so ever
You should post links other than yours, but if your page is about women clothing, posting a link to "how to find cool rims for your Camaro" won't really work for your fans.
You need to maintain a "theme" on your page like you do on your blog. Of course you should post relevant links to help your fans but there is a reason why they like your page - they want specific info.
Here is an example of a tricky page and a bad way to do it. I have seen a girl that has a Fiverr gig (a website where you can hire people for 5$) where she offers to share your page/blog/whatever with her fans. There are more than 10.000 fans on the page. I have seen the wall of that page and she shared many links on it. Very big percentage of comments say "Why you keep posting these stupid pages" and similar things. Now here are two things that are wrong with this:
people liked the page for what it had to offer, for the name. Let's say (as an example) that the page name is "Keep your hands of my boyfriend". Do you know how many girls, women, teenagers will like that page? Thousands. But the only reason the page was created is to generate many fans. The wall has links from cooking recipes to men shoes and motor oil!
second thing is that you actually don't want to be on a page like that. Now this is not directly connected with what you do on your page, but you should treat your page seriously and not let it be the object of these deals and comments. So if you don't want to be a "victim" of comments like that, why would you want someone to be the "victim" on your page!?
6. You don't allow posts from your fans
Why would you do that? The whole point of attracting people to your business is communicating with them. You won't accomplish anything if you make them listen but won't listen back!
Allow posts from fans and interact.
7. You allow bad words and nasty comments to live on your page
Constructive criticism is always OK. Someone saying they don't agree with you is OK. But don't allow bad words and insults on your fan page. Why let someone insult you just because they don't like you?
Would you let someone act like that in your house? Of course not. So don't allow it there. Delete all the nasty comments and insults. If the person continues just delete him from fans and report him to Facebook.
You must do this to keep your page clean. People will appreciate you getting rid of those...hm, idiots.
8. You allow your fans to be insulted
This one is very connected to the previous one. You don't want to be bullied so don't let your fans be bullied.
Let's return to the story from the beginning. The biggest mistake the company made was allowing all those insults. Page admin should have put a stop to it immediately.
What that company doesn't understand is this: you lost him as a customer because of your bad service...don't you think others will leave when they see what happened. And what he went through on your fan page!
9. You allow any kind of links on your page
This is again connected to number 5. It is OK... no, it is great to let people post some of their links on your page. But don't allow just anything.
Make sure the posts are related to your topic. Don't allow posts to spammy blogs and websites. Don't allow posts to sale pitches. Don't even allow posts to pages that are filled with affiliate links and ads, it is after all your business, why would you send your fans to other businesses.
Do I even need to remind you not to allow links to porn sites, gambling, child abuse, animal abuse, politics, racial and religious content, etc.
10. You don't have favorite pages listed
What are those, I hear you ask.
Favorite pages are listed at the bottom of the left sidebar on your Facebook Fan Page, just between your fans and links.
Why should you add favorite pages? Well, it is not a must of course. But you link to other blogs from your posts so why not show some love to your favorite pages as well. And it costs no link juice. I added a few pages but plan to add all the pages from blogs I follow.
I actually think it will help my fans learn more when they see what my favorite blogs have to offer. So again, the goal is to help them by giving them all info they might be interested in.
Blogger and creator of Live Your Love blog, a guide on How to blog like a star. Blogging about social media, building a great blog from the beginning and giving you tutorials on all blog related things.
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
No comments:
Post a Comment