Facebook. The most versatile player on the social media stage. The user is the only thing that limits what Facebook can do. There’s pretty much no word limit, no length that your video has to stay under. You can have both friends and followers, verified and parody accounts. It’s also where the competition becomes the most fierce. Because of the way the algorithms work, you’re fighting everyone else to be the most popular player in the room so you’ll be at the top of the timeline. Managing a Facebook account takes dedication, strong attention to detail and content creation. Unlike other platforms, you can’t just go around following everyone in the hopes that they will follow you back. Neglect you duties here for even a day or two and your recognition drops like a rock. Facebook themselves understand what a cutthroat situation this is, and have pages dedicated to teaching new businesses how to get started.
1. Business Page
So first, you need to set up a business page. The devil is in the details here. Fill out EVERYTHING. That includes the description about your company. People come to Facebook when they want to know more, so don’t be afraid to get into details. Make sure you have links to whatever other pages your company owns, including on other social media sites. Also, give good visual content. Don’t just upload a picture of your company logo and call it a day. Put photos of actual people up there. You don’t want to be seen as just another soulless for-profit entity, do you?
2. Content, Content & More Content
Now you need content. If Twitter is a sprint, then Facebook is a marathon. The true worth of your page is built up over time. Start creating events, start commenting on other posts, and start sharing stuff. If I click on your page the first time and only see half a dozen posts before I see “born in 2015,” I’m not going to come back twice. You want to seem like a veteran whose page is a goldmine of interesting information, so you can get that precious “like.” Starttagging yourself in photos and create a whole bunch of albums. You want your page to be a world worth exploring, not some barren wasteland on the moon.
Don’t go for the straightforward “5 items for only 4.99 each!” There’s a platform for that kind of thing, and it’s not in a Facebook post. You can put it on your main page, so that if someone comes looking for it, they can find it, but any post that tells me about prices is going to be labeled as spam for all time. Instead, make it INTERESTING. Remember, Facebook isn’t about “buy now!” It’s about “I remember this and like it, I’ll come here if I need it next time.” And on Facebook, anything goes. Videos, pictures, random Japanese cats playing in the snow, just make it all count.
BUT. Remember, you’re still running a business here. That cat video is going to get you likes, but it ain’t doing squat if the customer doesn’t remember who it’s from. Find some way to tie it back to you. There’s almost always a connection you can make. If you can’t find it, then it’s not worth posting.
3. What shouldn’t you do with Facebook?
First of all don’t treat it like Twitter. If you can’t think of anything with more than 140 characters, put it on Twitter. Don’t treat it likeInstagram. If the only description you can think of is a bunch ofhandles, then it shouldn’t be here. But for the love of god, remember that you have stickers, checking in, practically unlimited video length, album creation, and all those other unique tools at your disposal here. It’s not what you shouldn’t do, it’s what you didn’t do.
Remember, you’ve got the most complete player in the world at your disposal. What now, coach?