Facebook - How to Get Your Fans to See Your Page

Reports from small business owners is that the November changes to Facebook and then the recent Timeline change have both impacted negatively in page interaction and lead in many cases to a fall in sales. 

This may be very frustrating to page owners, but facebook now works on the very reasonable assumption that if someone really does like a page they will interact with it and continue to do so.  It means that Facebook users no longer have to go and unlike the pages that they are no longer interested in - as those pages will slowly slip away into the mist naturally.  If you think about it from a user's point of view, it is totally sane.

But from a page owner's point of view, it can be a bit of a nightmare!

There are many very complicated metrics that work to decide exactly how long your posts continue to be shown in someone's feed before they start to drop out and not be shown as often or not at all.   And to make things just that bit more fun, it's not the same for all interactions, for all users, or for all pages, so there is no magic formula I or anyone else can share with you. 

However, what we do know is that  
more interaction = more chance of being seen

Here are a few basic things you need to know:

• liking a page no longer means the liker will see all that page's posts in their feed
• people no longer have to like your page to see it in their feed
• in order to see a page in their feed, a person must interact with it
• the interactions must continue - once someone stops interacting with the page it will begin to drop out of their feed until posts are no longer seen.

Okay, so, you need to be interesting - it's that simple.  Think about what your fans want to see - why did they like you or interact with you in the first place?  Are you funny?  Do they like your goods?   Do they like to answer questions you ask?  Are your photos shared far and wide? 

In the coming posts, I will talk about how to work out what your followers like and how to use that information to keep them interacting... meanwhile, make sure you post on average once a day to keep people interested!

Facebook Launches 'Offers' - a Coupon System for Businesses

Facebook just can't stand still at the moment - the latest thing to launch are 'Offers'.

What are Facebook Offers?
Business pages will be able to offer discounts to their fans by posting an 'offer' on their Facebook page.

Will they cost anything to create?
No, they are free to use.

How does the customer redeem the coupon?
The customer claims the offer by clicking on it on their Facebook page (a bit like 'liking') after which they will get an email to the address set to their Facebook account.  The emailed coupon can then be shown at the business's real life physical shop to get the discount.  There doesn't seem to be a mechanism for businesses that operate online only.


Excellent - I am going to rush off and create an offer right now!
Whooa there, cowboy.  Unfortunately, unless you are one of the big guns that Facebook has trialing it, 'Offers' are not available to you just yet.  Hopefully, though, it will be rolled out to smaller businesses in the not-too-distant future.

As always, I'll keep my ear to the ground and let you know as soon as there's news.

~Dianne

References:
https://www.facebook.com/help/offers

Video Tour of the New Facebook Business Page Timeline

This video walks Facebook users through the new timeline for business, with detailed help on the many features and what you can do with them.  It's over 8 minutes long but is well worth it, as it's very clear and concise, and covers a lot of the quirks too.

Watch it here 

~Dianne

How To Get Your Facebook Business Timeline

If you want to take a peek at the new business timeline features, go to Facebook's own page and it's all explained there.

In a nutshell:

• if you see the banner at the top of your business page asking you whether you want to use timeline, click 'learn more'.  This takes you to the 'learning more about facebook timeline' page
• Click 'preview your pages' (top left)
• You will be asked to log in as your personal account - do that.  This takes you to a 'page update status' page
• Choose the business pages you want to change over to timeline, turn on preview, and then - if you wish - publish.

That's all there is to it.

This is one of my business pages, post-pimping.

If you want a closer look at the new layout before jumping right in, have a look at these examples


https://www.facebook.com/theamazingspiderman

https://www.facebook.com/Starbucks
https://www.facebook.com/mooandflo

Do let me know what you think about the changes and how easy they were to implement.

~Dianne

Facebook Timeline for Businesses - The Latest

So, the announcement is out and as I awoke this morning in New Zealand there was already a wee banner on my Facebook business page asking me whether I'd like to preview the business timeline.  I said yes - nothing changed.  Hmmm.  Maybe it'll come later in the day. 

Nonetheless, here is a breakdown of what's what with Facebook Business Page Timeline::

• business pages' tiemline will roll out between now and March 30th.
• you can opt into it sooner than that, but by 30th March you'll have no choice.
• once timeline is operational on a business page, it will be the default landing place for visitors.
• the business timeline will have the big banner pics just as the personal timeline does.
• admins will be able to make certain posts appear larger.
• admins will get a new dashboard from which to see stats, comments, notifications, and other key information.
• admins will also be able to put one post per week at the top of their page and have it stay there.
• facebook users will be able to contact a business page direct, by message, privately, just as personal users can contact each other. (That app can be turned off if you don't want it).

So far, from my perspective, that all seems quite sensible and useful.  Here's hoping for a nice smooth transition.

Facebook Timeline for Brands and Businesses - Announcement Due

Facebook are due to announce more changes, and amongst other things they will be bringing in a timeline for businesses and brands.

Announced by Live Stream
They invite us to join them on Wednesday 29th February as they "...announce Facebook's newest and most powerful marketing products."  promising us hapless users that "Facebook and industry leaders will share new solutions, actionable insights, and strategies to drive business growth using social technology."

You can watch it live here.

Thumbs Up or Feed to the Lions?
Whether these changes will be received any better than the personal timeline was is yet to be seen.  Whether they cater for small businesses as well as they giants will be foremost in many minds - certainly the changes late last year seemed detrimental overall to the small business owner.

However, timeline might just lend itself well to promoting brands as it could provide a stream of branding and marketing information that Facebook users can easily access and read, and there's hope that this might be just as useful for us minnows as it is for the giants.

Timing of the Announcement
For us Kiwis, New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of New York, so we will have to be awake at 7am Thursday morning if we want to watch it live.  And it goes on for five hours. Crimminy!

I'm thinking maybe a fair few people will have other things to do at 7am and midday, like, maybe work, so I'll keep you all updated with news as it comes in via the blog and my Twitter stream

Watch this space.
~Dianne

Follow me on Twitter - Dianne Khan @ FloBusiness

Social Media Marketing - Plan and Share Carefully

If your business tried to sell itself online in any way then you must think, and think carefully, about your social media marketing strategy.

You think it doesn't matter?  You're just a wee crafter?  A one-man-band?  Think again.

PLAN
You must plan very early on - before you get started would be ideal.  The golden rule is 'the earlier you plan, the better'.  Carefully consider these key things:

• What is it about your business that want to promote?  
• How do you want your company to be seen?
• Who is your ideal customer? 
• What is your goal?

Make sure you have these basics thought through before you begin, that way you will have a good, clear focus, your customers will start to get a good feel for the company from the start, and your online presence will be consistent.

Plan, and you'll be targeting the right people with the right message to sell a specific product or service.

SHARE CAREFULLY
Do not over-share.  Do not share randomly.  Do not share things that could harm your business's image.

• Too much sharing can drive your potential customers batty and even turn them off your company altogether.   To a certain degree, less is more.
• Share things that fit with your company's profile and that your customers would want to hear. Make sure that whatever it is, it  serves to strengthen your image.
• Do not share things that could upset or offend your customers - be very sure it is relevant and appropriate.  One really big mistake could cause a lot of damage.  If in doubt, don't share it.

 Make every interaction count.

If you have already forged ahead with your social media, it's not too late to pause and put the above advice into practice.

Do it now.

Simple Facebook Facts - How to Engage Customers

Talking to small business owners and sole traders, it seems that the majority don't understand how Facebook's metrics work, especially since the changes late last year, and still rely on people 'liking' the page in order to get customers to their page and seeing their wares.

Here's the cold hard fact:  when a person "likes" your page it no longer ensures she sees your content. 

Here's what you must do: Stop focusing on getting lots of likers and instead focus on giving the ones you have a good experience.

Here's how it works : 
Give fans content that they engage with.  In order for it to be of use to you, they must comment, share, click like and so on - this registers with Facebook that they want to see your page, therefore Facebook is more likely to show your page on that user's wall in future.  If their engagement drops off, so Facebook will bring your page to their attention less and less.  So you must find ways to get them to interact and do so repeatedly. 

Remember - Engagement is what keeps those likers seeing your page.

What can you do?

• You can ask your fans questions - people love to share opinions.  You can do this as a status update sometimes and other times use the questions application (app).

• Add photos - not too many at once, and certainly not lots of batches one after another or you will swamp people's walls and they are likely to 'hide' your page - you do not want that to happen.  Photos will often get comments and likes by fans, and is an easy way to engage them.

• Have competitions - simple and fun things work best.  Make sure whatever it is, it's relevant to your business.  For example, if you sell cards, ask for a caption for a card and offer the winner a prize from a certain folder - many potential customers will go and look through the folder to choose what they might win.  That way you get lots of interactions from the one competition and you share your products with potential new buyers.

•  Add video or links to videos that are appropriate to your business.  Videos carry a lot of weight with Facebook so getting people to interact with them is very valuable indeed.

The key to all interactions, though, is to remain honest to your company, your values, and your own voice - just be you - in the hope of gaining a following by giving the customer what he or she wants.

Social Media in New Zealand

This short video gives a good overview into the numbers of people, particularly in New Zealand, using key social medium and their likes and dislikes. 

Take 4.44 minutes of your time and learn something useful:

Social Media - is it really that good for my business?

I've met and spoken with a fair few business folk that think having a FaceBook page puts them at the cutting edge of things, and some business owners who don't use any form of social media at all, saying it's a waste of time.  I've got two things to say about that. 

 - Firstly, if you don't think social media has any effect on your marketing then you really don't understand it or what it can do when done well.  And just having a FaceBook page that no-one sees is not effective advertising!

You wouldn't shrug off TV, print or radio advertising so easily, so why shrug off the new age of promotion? 

- Secondly, you might be right about it being a waste of your time - but that doesn't make it a waste of your company's time and money.  If tinkering with the Internet is not your thing, get someone else to do it - pay someone reputable to create the basics for you and show you what to do, then take over from there - or, if you really don't want to faff with computers - get someone to do it all for you - your FaceBook, your Twitter, your blog, and so on.  Pay someone to be the face of your company on social media.

If you do go down the route of paying someone to do your social media for you, make sure you have specific achievements in mind - higher visibility and sales.  Be sure you are told clearly how performance will be measured, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Anyone can shove a few things on the Internet - for them to be effective, they have to be done in a planned and targeted way and should produce results that can be seen.

Whatever you do, don't be afraid to embrace social media for your company, or you will find yourself increasingly left behind.

Image from http://www.ixlstudios.com/blog-40/259-how-to-avoid-a-social-media-nightmare.aspx

Many Hats

If you run a small business, you no longer are just a baker or a seamstress or a plumber or whatever.  Suddenly you're a receptionist, office manager, credit controller, accountant, advertising agency and marketer.  And whilst you can fudge some parts of each of those and get away with it, it will serve you better if you aim to do each one well.  It will save you time in the long run - not to mention money and sanity.

My tips:

• stay on top of your accounts - without that information you have no idea how you are doing, what is working and what is not, let alone whether you are solvent.
• do the filing at least once a week - you won't regret it, and it doesn't have to be a complicated filing system, just a system of some sort.
• answer your phone and emails professionally and with good manners.  Sounds obvious but how many calls do you come away from as a customer where you think the person on the other end was unhelpful or disorganised?  Do you want that reputation for your own business?
• think carefully about where you advertise - what custom you want to attract and from where, otherwise you will waste money.  

and last but not least by any means

• learn about social media and what it can do for your business.  And I mean really learn - not just a few random tweets and a dead Facebook page.  Find out how they work and use them in a targeted way.  You won't regret it.

You need many hats, but make sure you find the right ones and wear them well!

Small Business not Small Minded

I started a small business a few months ago and spent the next eight or nine months telling people it was "just a hobby", and then I had a revelation - it would never be a success if that's how I viewed it.  So, did I want a hobby or a business?  I had to decide.  I chose business, and decided to get serious about things.  And so it began...

So instead of just sewing and selling my wares at MooAndFlo and Lady Bracknell's Bags I decided to start learning in some detail how Facebook works, to start using blogs and Twitter and other social media in order to promote my businesses and in the process to actually learn how it all works (or is meant to work, at least).

And so Flo's Small Business Low Down was born.  A place to share what I find, get feedback from others, and keep a track of the excellent articles I find lurking in the back-waters of this thing we call the Internet.  You never know, I might even read some paper books - go figure!

So, if you want to share what I learn, BOOKMARK ME.  Now.  Yes, now.  Do it ---->

If you want to share what YOU learn, bookmark me and comment.

If you want to learn, read this, read that, read something - and then try it all for yourself.  It's the only way.