2012. What a year!
I’m sure some of you had a great year. Others, I’m sure you feel it could have gone better.
With the dawn of a new year, some of us like to reevaluate our various marketing strategies that we have (or have not!) followed.
Let’s take a minute to assess what we ourselves could have done better, be it a better work ethic or make the bed in the morning. They say that making your bed in the morning gives you a sense of control right when you get up.
Ok. Now let’s talk about some ways that we can improve our Facebook presence.
#1 Stay Positive And Thankful
While establishing ourselves or our Fan Page online, it is easy to lose sight of what’s important – people aren’t just numbers.
I have become thankful for any engagement or interaction I receive. Negative feedback, positive feedback, and spammy Facebook comments are signs of people being social. People taking time out of their day to pay attention to you.
It means that people are seeing your content. It means that you are doing something right.
Turning the negatives into positives is a different matter, but for starters you can say “Thank you” in your head as you delete spam or reply to a question or comment.
#2 Make Something Helpful And Share It
Each of you have something you excel at. Something that you’re knowledgeable in. Something you’re able to give others advice about. Chances are it revolves around your business.
Well this year, try to give more.
Infographics are relatively easy to make, and allow you to pass some helpful information along the social media network. People are more willing to share something that has helped them. Why? Because they know it will help others. Some may even do it for the recognition. That’s besides the point though, what matters is how you have the helpful content set up.
Host it on a website. Bam! Free traffic to your blog.
If it’s an infographic or pdf, put clickable icons in it. Send the traffic to a website.
If you’re looking to capture emails or drive up sales, have the link send them to the respective page.
#3 Find Out What Your Customers Need
That’s right. Ask your customers what they need, then make it!
Not only will this give your customers and clients exactly what they want, it will give you another product to sell!
This ties in to getting feedback. Perhaps this segment would be more aptly titled “Listen”. In 2013, try to listen more. Keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to try something new. Heck, you may even stumble across the next groundbreaking marketing tactic or trend.
Your customers are your biggest asset. They are what keeps you in business! For instance: we had a lot of requests for a tool to track various Facebook metrics. All of these requests culminated in a new product that we will be releasing soon.
Take advantage of what your customers want.
#4 Plan! Organize!
This is definitely an area that business can always put more effort into.
Just like a quick outline of an agenda will keep your meetings focused, an outline of your marketing campaign strategy will keep your business moving in the direction you want. Hopefully the right one!
Here are some strategies you may want to put into your 2013 plan for Facebook:
- Mobile ads
- More sponsored stories
- Infographics
- Video
- Contests
The beginning of a new year is when many businesses decide it’s time to try something new. Something different.
Keep your eyes open for the new marketing trends of 2013, and plan to implement a different aspect to your strategy. Seriously though, making a quick outline with specific times for your meetings helps a lot!
#5 Engage More
I know I’ve shared this point on our blog before. I remember typing it. Some people just need to be reminded, or hear something a different way, so I’ll refresh their memory.
Facebook is a social network. Surprise! Treat it as such!
When people interact or provide engagement on a photo or something you’ve shared on your Fan Page, give it right back to them.
Comment back. Like what they said. Provide some sort of interaction.
This has multiple benefits. It shows people that there is someone behind the Fan Page. It also will inspire more people to interact, and can spark a nice conversation, but don’t watch your Facebook posts all day, there are other tasks that are better suited for you and your employee’s time.
Just keep tabs on the post (or whatever you share) for a couple minutes. Generally the most engagement comes when a post first comes out. Thank you EdgeRank algorithm.
Conclusion
A new year, a new outlook on business.
Use this opportunity to take a serious look at how you run your business, the goals you would like to accomplish this year, and the steps to complete them.
Don’t be hesitant to try something new. Be creative. Be open-minded. Be limitless.
Well, by writing this post I’ve inspired myself. Hopefully you will get a similar feeling from it!
Have a great and successful 2013 everyone.
