Apr 11, 2012
There’s a serious Facebook epidemic affecting millions of pages. This Facebook Marketing Health Concern hits most small businesses and brands that are understaffed and may not give Facebook the attention it deserves. This major epidemic is killing opportunities for brands to connect with their audience/customers and completely crushing their ROI.
What I’m talking about is something I call Sporadic Facebook Posting (SFP) and we’ve all been witness to it. When business owners or an overworked staff are in charge of running their company Facebook page, a few things may happen:
- Facebook updates are sporadic, sometimes only posted once every two weeks.
- The updates are 100% promotional, without engaging their audience.
- Grammatical errors and typos are common, which wouldn’t be a problem if it was just every now and then.
- They don’t see questions from their Facebook fans or choose not to respond for whatever silly reason.
When this happens, the people who “like” the page suffer from Facebook Page Letdown (FPL). When suffering from FPL, the following are common symptoms:- Fans stop visiting the business Facebook page completely.
- The business page updates STOP showing up in their newsfeed, which is a cause for concern since most people rely on their newsfeed to receive updates from their connections and companies they are connected to.
- Some people will even view the company/brand/small business in a negative light.
- When their questions aren’t responded to, they feel disrespected and may “unlike” the page and/or decide to write off the company.
Have minimal time to spend on Facebook? Here’s a quick guide:
- Write out a full week of updates on Saturday or Sunday for the upcoming week. Since you probably aren’t using an update scheduling tool, keep your updates by your computer so you can type them in manually.
- Check the Facebook page twice per day to respond to comments or questions from your fans.
- Make sure most of your updates are engaging, with a related question around your business or brand. Don’t promote in each of your updates. This drives people away from you.
Proof is in the pudding…errr I mean analytics…
Wanted to share a quick example of how we were able to help one of our clients greatly increase their reach, engagement, and impressions.
The Situation: So Fun! Frozen Yogurt hired Bad Rhino to manage their Facebook and Twitter starting on February 21st. Before Bad Rhino came on board, their Facebook posting process was very sporadic, sometimes posting only once every few days. Their engagement, reach, and impressions weren’t terrible, but they were inactive and not increasing.
The Solution: Bad Rhino developed an engaging posting process that included 1-3 updates per day to help drive traffic and conversation around So Fun! Frozen Yogurt.
Let’s take a look at the analytics!
Facebook Impressions: Before Bad Rhino started, Impressions were stuck at 3,000 daily. With our posting strategy, we were able to hit 50,000 impressions on their Free Yogurt Day, and still maintain roughly 15,000 to 20,000 impressions per day after.
Facebook Reach: Before Bad Rhino, reach was consistently hovering at the 1,000 – 2,000 mark. Bad Rhino was able to increase this to 15,000 for the Free Yogurt Day, and still maintain a 7,000 – 8,000 per day rate.
When Facebook statistics like Impressions and Reach are high, your page is viral and will attract new customers into the page, as well as drive engagement and customer focus. Consistent and engaging updates will keep your numbers strong, and keep your customers coming back to both your page and also your store/website.
Any questions? Just pop one into the comments below!
About the Author
Rich DeMatteo is one of the Co-Founders of Bad Rhino. Rich spends most of his time working magic on Bad Rhino's client social accounts, eating peanut butter and other delicious foods, and is also a top career blogger. He started Corn on the Job in 2009 and it has developed into one of the most visited career blogs in the world.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This is an excellent piece and reflects much of my experience as a public relations consultant. But to continue the medical analogy, you talk about the symptoms but not the cause, other than to say people are pressed for time. It isn’t just that. I set up a fb page for a rental company for $2000. They never updated it although I have offered to do so for a nominal fee. Other clients never look at the pages, never took advice, or insisted on ignoring standard social media practices. This is just bad business sense and I wish I know what psychological factors were at work here.
Hi Anne, I think it’s time and unwillingness to move to a new platform or change. When people don’t understand something or are frustrated, they push it away. When you add in a busy lifestyle or minimal resources, this is what happens.
Thanks for your comment!
Hey Rich, nice job on the article. It’s always interesting to see the extreme reach that Facebook has on business today. I personally am not an avid Facebook user, I ask this question: what would be the best first move for a young driven college grad as myself looking to build a financial coaching business for myself. I look forward to engaging further with you and @ BadRhino via twitter.
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