You Might Be Doing It Wrong

Good news / bad news: if your company is marketing with Facebook, you might be doing it wrong. That’s the bad news. The good news? You just need to implement the right strategy to be successful. 

Implementing the right marketing strategy will:

1. Build your brand
2. Create social capital
3. Boost employee morale
4. Generate sales

For years, companies have fallen into one of two categories when it comes to Facebook marketing. The first category designates a well-intentioned but ill-equipped employee to manage Facebook. These employee-posts are often poorly written, irrelevant, or are simply off-topic reposts. The second category shucks Facebook responsibilities to a third-party. Third-parties — typically — know nothing about your business. Rather than partnering with a marketing powerhouse who can diagnose and treat your Facebook woes, you’ve simply bought into a post-factory that churns out a terrible product.

You have an obligation to current and future employees to elevate and protect your brand at all cost.

A rare, third category may exist as well: the over-sharing owner/operator. If this is you and you intend to never grow beyond a sole proprietorship (where you are the only employee), share away. If not, you must consider your brand and its image. You have an obligation to current and future employees to elevate and protect your brand at all cost.

Follow This Strategy For Every Post

CONTENT: all Facebook posts should fall into one of these four categories… 

Let’s define each category:

Culture – a Culture-post should focus on personalities within your company. Use these posts to introduce your staff and management to your customers; and tell good stories. 

Who founded your company? How did your company come about?  

Who has worked at your company the longest (and why have they stuck around so long)? 

Has someone at your company overcome adversity? [Most have; uncover these stories during one-on-one’s].

Do any veterans work at your company? If so, when / where did they serve?

Who are your youngest / oldest employees? What are their perspectives on your company and how might they differ?

💡 Building staff into “mini-brands” sews trust with your customers and boosts employee morale. 

We can help. Schedule a call with us to discuss your Facebook Marketing goals.

Goodwill – a Goodwill-post should focus on what your company is doing within the communities they serve. If your company is not currently engaged in community-focused activities, add this to Q4 action items. Serving at a local soup kitchen, barbecuing for first responders, donating PPE to schools, assisted living facilities, etc. — under the umbrella of the company brand — is not only good marketing, it’s the right thing to do. Goodwill marketing builds social or community capital.

Similarly, learn which goodwill activities employees are involved in and, if appropriate, join them in this effort (either financially or physically). With their permission, promote it.

💡 Brand-sponsored Goodwill efforts build team unity. Uncovering and supporting individual Goodwill efforts, builds respect between the employee and the brand.

Victories – these posts are as simple as highlighting past customer reviews. Customers buy from 5-star companies, and showcasing a past satisfied customer helps qualify a prospect’s decision to buy from you.

And don’t be afraid to highlight a situation where the experience wasn’t perfect at first but was made right. Customers know mistakes happen. Show them you can turn a difficult situation around. This is how you make raving fans and build your brand. 

💡 According to Trustpilot (2020), 9 out of 10 customers consult reviews before making a purchase.

Products – now talk about what you sell. 

For service providers: What seasonal service is booking up fast? What are some tips you can share? What course or class did you or your staff recently take? What new equipment or vehicle did you purchase?

For retailers: What’s on sale? What’s season-appropriate? What new manufacturer are you distributing? What’s been selling like hot-cakes? Have too much of a SKU that you’d like to move? 

💡 These posts are likely to receive the least attention from customers. That’s okay. Remain consistent with the other categories, and customers will start to pay attention. And they’ll buy.

View Our Social Media Portfolio Here

Practical Tips

FORMAT: in each post, always include at least one photo/ graphic or, in some specific cases, a short video. Canva.com is a fantastic, low-cost tool for creating professional graphics, overlays, etc. 

Pay very close attention to spelling, grammar, capitalization, syntax, etc. If you aren’t a good self-editor, find someone to edit for you. Language is one of the most precious gifts we have. Care for and tend to it.

FREQUENCY & ROTATION: each category should represent 25% of all posts. Post one category after the other, and post no more than twice per week. 

Using this formula over a six month period, you could draft thirteen posts from each category (fifty-two posts total). These fifty-two posts can then be recycled for the next six months. Here’s what a typical month might look like:

Week 1: Monday … Culture (Employee #1: photo, bio)

Week 1: Thursday … Goodwill (Employee’s charitable work: short video, blurb)

Week 2: Monday … Victories (Recent review: photo)

Week 2: Thursday … Service (Seasonal service: photo, blurb)

Week 3: Monday … Culture (Employee #2: photo, bio)

Week 3: Thursday … Goodwill (company event: photos, longer blurb)

Week 4: Monday … Victories (Recent review: customer photo)

Week 4: Thursday … Service (New certification: photo, blurb)

Avoid “over-posting.” Over-posting creates “viewer fatigue” and, ultimately, is counter-productive in keeping your posts fresh and engaging.

Takeaway

We’ve explained the traps most companies fall into when marketing on Facebook. We’ve laid out an easy to follow strategy for posting and how this benefits your company. And we’ve discussed practical tips to maximize your success. But remember this: consistency is key. Like with any effort that seeks to improve, you must remain consistent. Designate someone in your company to manage this effort, carve out time in your own schedule if you intend to manage it yourself or hire a reputable company that understands your business to manage it for you. 

If you have more questions about Facebook marketing or Google PPC management, let’s talk. Click here to schedule a call a 15-minute call.