Mastering The Art of Facebook

B+Ca nyc-based digital strategy agency
A Boucher + Co. Publication
Mastering
The Art Of Facebook
By Gerard Boucher
Inbound Marketing Expert

Mastering Facebook
Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn
Facebook, having over 800 million users, is the new way of communicating
with current and potential customers.
Everyone has heard of Facebook and some small businesses even took a
leap of faith into creating a Facebook business page, but many still wonder
how to use Facebook’s full potential in generating revenue for their small
businesses.
SohowdobrandslikeWal-Mart,VerizonWireless,andOreohavehundreds
of thousands of fans? Sure, you can always say, “Like us on Facebook,” but
there is more to it. With a little more effort, you will be able to increase
your Facebook interaction by 10%-30% or even more! And remember, it is
not always the big that eat the small; it is the fast that eat the slow.
“It is not always the big that eat the small; it is
the fast that eat the slow.”

The first step is to find similar businesses in your industry and look
at what is successful on their page. Browse through their page to see
what contents get the most interactions, whether it is videos, pictures,
or questions. If something works, try it for your page. A general rule
is to encourage the consumers to interact with the company. The last
thing you would want is to sound like a salesman on your Facebook
page because that just comes off as spam to the Facebook fan base.
How often should you post? Generally, 3-5 posts a day is ideal. At first,
it might seem like an excess of posts, but as your fans continue to grow,
some of your posts may be missed. Remember, if they are your fans
on Facebook, chances are they are fans of other brands as well. With
a news feed filled with so much information, it is a safe bet that if you
post 3-5 times a day, your fans will receive at least one.
“A general rule is to encourage the consumers
to interact with the company.”
Mastering Facebook

Now comes the content. What do you post on your business page?
Again, no one likes being spammed with endless, “buy this” and “buy
that,” sales pitches. Use the 80-20 rule when trying to generate content
for your page. For example, if you choose to post five times a day, one
can be a sales post and four should be fun or informational content for
your Facebook fans. This way, you get to promote your products without
sounding inconsiderate toward your fans.
There is no “correct” way to use Facebook, so feel free to add a little
excitement to your business page. Just remember not to venture too far
off by staying true to the brand.
Mastering Facebook

Here are some Facebook jargons you might want to get familiar with:
Application/App- Software designed to work with Facebook. Applications
or apps can range from games to business applications.
EdgeRank- The formula Facebook uses in determining which posts appear
on a user’s News Feed. (More information on EdgeRank will follow).
Fan- When a customer chooses to “Like” a company, they become a fan.
Friend- A person who can connect to your social network both parties
must mutually agree to connect before becoming friends.
Friend List- Exactly what it sounds like. A friend list is a collection of all
your friends you choose to connect with.
Group- A group of Facebook users that have a common interest. Group
members can interact with each other in live group chats.
Like- “Like” has multiple meaning on Facebook. When one becomes a fan
of the business, they can choose to “Like” the business page. When a user
agrees with a wall post, they can choose to “Like” it.
Mastering Facebook

Mastering Facebook
News Feed- This is where your business “Like” and friend’s posts are dis-
played for you to see.
Page- A page can be made for artists, businesses, products, charitable
causes, etc. This is similar to a homepage for Facebook.
Social Plugins- A social plugin is something you put on your own website
that allows people to “Like” your Facebook page.
Tag- Friends are allowed to tag other friends in posts, videos, and pic-
tures by typing the @ symbol followed by their name. A Facebook page,
although, is not able to tag people unless the admin of that page is per-
sonally a friend on Facebook.
Timeline- Unlike the news feed, a timeline acts allows the Facebook user
to determine how much or how little he or she will share with others.
Currently, timelines are only available for personal Facebook and not for
pages.
Wall- Your “wall” is where fans are able to comment and post things on.
You are also able to post photos, videos, links, and questions for your
fans to interact with.

“By making a content calendar of what to post
each day, you will never have to ask yourself,
What should I post next?”
Mastering Facebook
That wasn’t so bad now was it? Now that you learned the Facebook
language, it is time to plan and make a content calendar. By making a
content calendar of what to post each day, you will never have to ask
yourself, “What should I post next?”
The calendar also helps by making sure everything you want to say is
covered throughout the week. It prevents repeating yourself as well as
posting simply to fill the number of posts per day.
Your goal is to make two types of calendars. You need one for the weekly
structure of what will be posted each day and one for the long term big
picture. By posting through the use of a structured calendar consisting of
events, pictures, wall posts, etc., your fans will also understand the pattern
and know when to expect an event.
Have you ever wondered why you see the same people posting on your news
feed? EdgeRank is the answer. The EdgeRank score is comprised of affinity,
weight, and time decay. The affinity score is calculated by how closely related
you are to the person creating the post. Weight is measured by the number
of “Likes,” comments, and tags on the post. Finally, time decay is exactly
what it is. What happened yesterday is history.

In order to gain attention from your fans, why not try brainstorming a couple
of events you can host on your Facebook page. It can be anything from
offering expert advice in your field via live chat to throwing a virtual Facebook
party. Don’t be afraid to be a little creative. Facebook is all about the virtual
community right?
Mastering Facebook
One thing to differentiate on Facebook is a sweepstakes versus a contest.
The difference is that a sweepstakes is something you enter and wait for the
results. A contest, on the other hand, requires participants to get creative.
Whether it is creating a song, acting something out, or even designing a
product, the customer is engaged with the brand by participating in the
contest.
How does one make a contest? Check these Facebook contest applications:
- Wildfire
-North Social
-Strutta
-ShortStack
-Woobox
-Votigo

“Google also can take reviews from third party
websites.”
These are only a list of a few Facebook contest applications. Do a little
researching on your own to find the application that best suits you.
When you select a winner, make sure the prize you give is somewhat
related to your brand. Also, read and learn Facebook’s rules and guide-
lines to making a contest. If any of these rules get broken, Facebook will
shut down your contest!
Mastering Facebook
So why does this seem all too good to be true? Facebook is offering me
a business page, the ability to increase my potential customers, and
the tools to check the demographics for new fans all for free. What’s
the catch? Although all these services are free, the problem is that it is
targeting everyone.
In order to tackle such problem, the solution is Facebook ads. With
a little help from your wallet, but not too much, you are now able to
show your ads to a specific target including country, demographics, and
interests. When you complete your target market profile on Facebook,
it will give you an estimate of how many people fit the target.
For more information on Facebook advertising, check out:
http://facebook.com/business/ads

Mastering Facebook
After you follow all these instructions, you should still check up on your
Facebook to see where it is all going. To use the analytics, click on “Edit
Page” on the top right corner of the page and click “Insights.” This will show
you how many people “Like,” comment, and unsubscribe to your page.
Go to www.facebook.com/insights
You should also, in general, check to see what is being said about you besides
on Facebook.
These free tools are helpful in checking up on the web.
-Kurrently
-Social Mention
-Topsy
-HowSociable
-Tinker
You may be apprehensive at first about approaching Facebook marketing,
but there are many other marketing tactics that are complicated that we are
now used to. If you like having conversations with your customers, Facebook
marketing should come naturally to you.
Facebook is continuing to improve and adding new features every time.
So what are you waiting for? Take the first step and start exploring new
opportunities for your business!
“Take the first step and start exploring new
opportunities for your business!”

Mastering The Art of Facebook

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Mastering The Art of Facebook