Tag Archives: fans

Friending Your Fans

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There are some brands that want to sieze control of all Facebook pages when they first enter the Facebook arena. They want all fan pages to be under their control and will often get Facebook administrators involved in this process. This approach to ‘owning’ your Facebook presence is not the best approach. In fact, it’s probably the worst.

So how do you own your Facebook presence? The first step is to identify all the existing brand fan pages and determine how much engagement they are enjoying and what kind of sentiment they promote towards the brand. If a page has very low engagement or has a negative sentiment, then your tactic will be slightly different. For this post, we’ll assume that you’ve found a set of positive pages with high engagement.

Once you have a list of these pages, you can begin engaging with the fans on the wall. The first rule is that you should not use the wall of these pages to directly drive traffic back to your page. In other words, don’t post generic “hey, come check out my page”-style content. It’s spammy and does not add any value. Instead post relevent information around the brand, participate in discussions and if possible, offer incentives to the fans of the page.

Try not to look at Facebook from a single page perspective. Try to see it in the same way you see your personal profile. You go to your friends walls, you write messages, you participate. Managing a brand should work in the same way. Find pages that are promoting your brand and help them. Participate constructively, do not attempt to control, instead, attempt to guide.

Be kind to your Facebook fans

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I was doing some general Facebook surfing the other day and I came across the Facebook page for one of America’s premiere coffee creamers. The content was really well thought out. There was a good mix of links and anecdotal updates. A little bit of product info here and there to keep the consumer up to date and a lot of UGC (user generated content).

But then my heart froze. As I went more carefully through the page, I noticed that the community manager had not responded to ANY of the fans posts. None whatsoever. There really is no excuse for this. The reason that fans comment on a page is so that they will be acknowledged and engaged with. They want to feel that the brand they love, loves them back. If you don’t have a response, simply clicking the ‘like’ button on their contribution is enough.

I realize that at the end of the day, a Facebook page is about moving products off of shelves. So if you don’t respond to a consumer here and there, who really cares? Well, that person does. If you’re too lazy to respond to a consumer that’s posted on your page, you’re probably also too lazy to research your community. You may never discover that the people you’re ignoring are your brand ambassadors, consumers who are vocal and are willing to spread the word. But sure, go ahead, ignore them.

The other argument is simply one of manners. If somebody speaks to you, be polite and acknowledge them.

To summarize, social media is about conversation. So make sure you’re having those conversations, otherwise, save your money and splash out on a few banner ads instead.

The Importance of Shareable Content

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How do you grow your Facebook fan base if you’ve got no budget for advertising? The key ingredient is content. Not just any content, highly shareable content. Highly shareable content is the image or link that a user feels compelled to share with his/her friends and family. Once the link begins doing its rounds on Facebook, it will ultimately be linked back to your page which guarantees you an increase in views and fans.

But how do I know what will go ‘viral’?
Firstly, you need to take into consideration who your fans are. Go back and have a look at previous status updates. See what has gained the most likes and do more of that. If you’ve tried humour and it’s worked, then maybe it’s time to put up a meme-based image and see how it does. Chances are, it might go viral. If you’ve gotten good views on lifestyle content, post more of that. You will find that most users respond the best to images. Images can quickly convey information and can be shared on multiple platforms with little effort. In a country with an emerging economy (like South Africa), it is a good idea to avoid posting videos. Most users are conscious of bandwidth costs and will avoid downloading anything that will cut into their valuable airtime.
So I just need to find a funny picture?
If only it were that simple. Not only do you need to be in tune with what your community is demanding, but you will also need to be in tune with what is currently happening in the world around you. Posting random pictures out of context may not be the best idea. Make sure that your posts are topical (if it’s a meme, make sure it’s current). Also make sure that you post at times when you’re going to get high traffic. This is usually early morning and mid-afternoon. To be safe, you can go through old posts  and see what kind of engagement you got at what times of the day.
So to summarize, here are the key ingredients you need for shareable content to work :
1. A deep understanding of your fans and what they like
2. A relevant piece of content that fits within the context of the community and what’s happening in the world
3. Good timing
You might not be successful the first time, but keep experimenting. Every community has a sweet spot.

The Conversation Spark

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A lot of brands are still unsure of what to do with social media. In the beginning, platforms were used predominantly for product push. It didn’t take long for community managers to realize that people weren’t interested in seeing endless product blurbs in their social media streams. Content was either ignored, or the brand was unliked or unfollowed. Community managers started using the platform for general conversation instead. Content pillars were developed which supported the brand, but did not do direct product push.

Some brands have adopted this approach with open arms, while others have stuck to doing pure product push to get their message out there. As with most things in life, the happy medium is somewhere in the middle. Am I suggesting that brands intersperse useful content with product information? No. What I am suggesting is a new approach to dispensing product information.

When you enter a store, does the salesman leap out at you with his arms full of product? Generally, you are left to browse by yourself. A salesman will approach when he has noticed you taking an interest in something. Usually he will begin with, “Can I help you with that?”

How do we take this approach to on-line? The difficulty is that we cannot really see what our readers are looking at on our page (unless they click, comment or like). So how do we know what they’re interested in? We put out bait. We ask a question.

For example, if you are a brand that specializes in dive equipment, you could ask your community what their favourite part about diving is. Based on your responses, you could then suggest products to enhance the experience or make it safer. If you were an insurance brand, you could ask your community what they value the most. People might say friends or family, but some may talk about material possessions. You can remark on the value of friends and value, but you could also take the opportunity to talk about how to insure those valuable material possessions. You’ve successfully given your brand a personal touch as well as subtly talking about the products you offer.

Monitoring the conversations on your page is important. Participating in them in a constructive, non-threatening way is even more important. People will tolerate you marketing to them in their personal, social media space only if they’ve invited you through conversation. Keep this in mind. The fact that the user has liked your page is not a right, but a privilege. Treat it as such.

Don’t forget to have your brand’s persona all set up before you start these conversations!