Making the Most of Facebook

Facebook shares may not be doing all that hot (they are down more than 28 percent since the IPO), but hundreds of millions are still flocking to the site to get their daily dose of minutia, updates, entertainment, and Words with Friends. Facebook is still an incredibly rich site for marketers and businesses to mine because of the opportunity for community engagement and brand-building. Here are some Facebook dos and don’ts so you can hone up your social media optimisation campaign.

• Do post regularly. You need to actively engage with your community via informative posts. Update on sales, free samples, important events, new products, etc. According to an Entrepreneur.com study, unsubscribe rates go up after three posts a day. In other words, if you’re doing more than that, you may be losing fans/friends.
• Don’t post just to post. On the flip side, you don’t want to post minutia. No one cares. It’s a hard truth! Stay substantial and find the balance between too little and too much.
• Do Time it right. Some experts advise posting between 2:00pm and 5:00am on weekends. It seems that this is when people engage with posts more frequently; perhaps because during work hours, they simply check, but on weekends they have the leisure to engage more deeply.
• Don’t ignore the angry people. The squeaky wheel can ruin your social media presence. When you have a disgruntled customer, an angry ex-employee, or someone else whose feathers are ruffled, it is important to deal with it immediately. Address the problem; if it’s your fault, rectify it.
• Do use Page Insights. Among other insights, this tool allows you to see how people respond to specific posts. If you can determine why your community tends to comment on some posts and totally ignore others, you can create more targeted content.

Facebook is a great platform and can help enhance SEO efforts. Take the time to do it right, and you’ll see the rewards in increased engagement.

Posted by Ed Shutenko, SEO Manager at Bullseye Media