With a quick Google search you can find a lot of good suggestions out there for running a good Facebook Page and how you can build your online community.
With a quick Google search you can find a lot of good suggestions out there for running a good Facebook Page and how you can build your online community. So, I thought instead I would share something less regularly found tips, - simple things that you might often overlook, but are otherwise essential to running your Facebook Page. A Facebook Page can almost be like organizing a complete social media strategy; it’s ever changing and even still new to many who continue to have trouble getting their heads around it. There’s of course no right or wrong technique to it, though many non-profits, businesses and brands are making mistakes as they go and vitally learning from these. Check out these tips, and feel free to add your own below!
Tip #1 - Write your updates for the newsfeed and not for your wall
When you create an update for your Facebook Page, by default most will likely to be their wall. Please keep in mind, the wall is not the place that most of your fans are going to see this update first. Your existing fan base is going to see your update in their newsfeed. I can’t tell you how many times I see updates from Pages that show up in my newsfeed and tell me to click here, with no link in the update. Think about it, this isn’t very useful – typically most scan their newsfeed for what will catch their attention, and more important how likely is someone to the Page to find out more, if there wasn’t even a link provided. Keep in mind that saying something like “check out our news tab on the right side of our page” is totally out of context for anyone seeing this update in a newsfeed. Try using video and photos, to bring people into your page.
Tip #2 – Less Can Be More
I see a growing amount of pages, who want to update more and more frequently, probably so their fans don’t forget about them. Although updating a Page regularly is best practice, it’s not the “be all end all” if you don’t. Think about the non-profits or brands you follow on Facebook, would you notice if one of them missed an update, or would you prefer it if you saw only the most interesting posts in your newsfeed? Many pages are guilty of filler content or reposting old content in an attempt to keep fans entertained. Frequency of content isn’t as important as it might seem awesome content and a generally active Page is what’s going to win you fans!
Tip # 3 - Accept That You Won’t Work 9-5
The truth is that if you’re going to run a thriving Facebook Page, you’re going to have to say bye bye to the customary 9-5 routine. Your Facebook Page could have its most activity outside of working hours. This depends largely on the demographic you’re targeting and the type of content you’re pushing out. Fans will often expect a reply there and some (if not all) will not care that your office hours don’t match when they will interact with your Facebook page. A “Smart” non-profits or brand should have some sort of evening and weekend social media presence in place. If you have a team the runs your social media networks, you can switch and alternate who will monitor the activity. To me this is a must – you need to monitor any issues, posts that you may need to reply to, no matter what day or time it happens. Also, many important events or announcements happen after your office hours, share this with your followers.
Tip # 4 - Don’t Forget About Sending Updates to Fans
There is a great feature for Facebook Pages that has progressively become more hidden as Facebook has made changes to their Pages. An update can be sent to all fans of your Page and will appear as a notification in their Facebook inbox. This is a great way you can help to ensure that all fans see an important announcement you may have to make (if they missed it as a wall post). I’ve noticed that this can be easily forgotten! You can access this option by clicking on “Edit Page” then “Marketing”, then “Send an Update”
Remember this does show up as a private notification to fans, so I recommend you use this carefully and only for your most important messages -- Because If people think that Liking your Page means they’re going to be constantly getting private messages, they will the Page just as quickly as they joined.
Tip # 5 – Be Aware of Your Pages “Best” & “Worst” Day
You can do this by using a free tool called Edgerank Checker - this tool gives you access to insights about your Page that will tell you a bit more about how people are consuming your content. Edgerank is in essence Facebook’s version of Pagerank -- it determines what content appears in the “Top News” section of a newsfeed, which is again how most people access their feed. You can also use the Edgerank checker to see what your best and worst days for gaining new fans are and when you’re attaining your best Edgerank. The higher your score, the higher the chances fans are going to see your awesome content. This info can and should be used to help improve your Page -- For instance, if you see that fans are interacting with you more on a Thursday, this might be the ideal time to release a promotion /contest or send am important message or announcement.
Tip # 6 - Allow Fans to Tag Your Photos
Photo tagging is a good way to develop new fans to your Page and add a sense of engagement for your existing fans. What many people don’t realize is that this is not a default for Facebook Page -- and it’s not as easy to change as you may think. To allow fans to tag photos on your Page, go to the “Edit” section, then click on “Apps” on the left hand side. Scroll down to photos and click on “go to app”. You’ll then see the option to change your photo settings, which allows fans both to upload photos and also tag photos. – When you’ve done this, tell your fans and get them to tag a photo on your Page?
These are just a few ways to help your page – Do you have any of your own? Add them below!