Alright, so let’s just assume that you’re all for getting your business exposed online and I don’t need to sell you the whole social media gig – you get it, we get it, your customers get it – it’s great for business!
Or is it?
Ok I joke, it is really good…but (there’s always a but), you have to know how to use it and engage your likers otherwise you’ve got a pretty little page with a whole lot of nothing going on. For every social media site you put your business on there are always a few rules you should be considerate of and because we’re so kind at Hugo Halliday, we’ve decided to give you a few pointers in a three part extravaganza! First up…
Ah, Facebook. The King Kong, accumulate-all-the-ideas-of-other-sites, advert happy, platform. There is no denying that when it comes to social media, Facebook is pretty much pawning the rest – they do have over a billion users after all. But they also have one of the most confusing/regularly updated and changing sites out there. Not only are businesses having to contend with EdgeRank (the ever complicating newsfeed algorithm), but also with changing rules such as how much text you’re allowed to have on your cover photo without them deactivating your account with no warning (it’s 20% by the way).
So now I’ve officially scared you off Facebook …how can you use it to best benefit of your business?
Firstly, (and not just because I’m a graphic designer and pedantic about this stuff) – please, please, please have your page properly designed! This rule applies to every social media site you use; you cannot present a professional/serious front if you don’t have a professional looking design. No blank image areas, no Microsoft Word jobs – you need the real deal and you need your logo/colours splattered all over it so people recognise your branding.
Here are a few design tips:
The cover photo is 850 pixels wide by 315 pixels high. Remember when designing that your profile picture overlaps the cover photo, so don’t put text where it won’t be seen.
Your profile picture is 180 pixels by 180 pixels. Remember it will appear much smaller in the newsfeed so it’s best to use your logo here and enlarge it as much as possible so it’s easily recognisable.
If you have custom tabs you can design the image for them too. It is 111 pixels by 74 pixels.
The second rule is to be considerate of what posts will gain you the most engagement. This is extremely important, not only because seeing the likes pile up will make you feel all gooey inside, but also because the more people like/comment/share/open your posts, the more your posts are guaranteed to appear on your likers newsfeeds. It’s impossible to explain in detail the intricacies of EdgeRank, but it pretty much works by gaging how many people interact with you and only puts your posts on the newsfeeds of the interactive followers – so if your posts are falling flat with your likers, be prepared for your brand to disappear entirely from their minds (unless you’re willing to pay to promote your post of course).
So what are the best kind of posts? Well here’s an idea of how we order them: 1. Photos 2. Links with a thumbnail 3. Videos 4. Links with no thumbnail 5. Standalone text.
The next rule (that’s more of a 2.5 than a 3), is being aware of what posts work. Does it surprise you if I tell you that photos are the best way to engage your users? I highly doubt it; I’m yet to see a single page that doesn’t work this way. People love photos because they stand out on their newsfeed – they are attracted by the visual before they read the text. This doesn’t mean you should share a whole bunch of meme’s though! Please for the sake of digital evolution avoid that. People like your business on Facebook because they want to keep up to date with what you’re up to…not up to date with online junk mail. Use photo’s correctly – design an image representing what your post is saying, or share a photo you found on Google that’s relevant to your post. As long as your post has a point it’s fine.
I’m also going to interrupt myself here to remind you of the new timeline Facebook will release shortly…pretty much the whole point of the timeline will be to highlight photos by making them larger; this can only help your photo posts soar in popularity.
Speaking of timelines – do you know what yours can do? Have you added milestones or pinned a story of the week to the top? Get the most out of your timeline by using these simple features. Milestones are great for businesses, not just to let people know of your history, but also to promote important projects you’ve completed (for example: you scored your client a big TV spot and you add a milestone with a screen shot of the date it went to air). If you’ve recently posted some big news about your business you can highlight (which stretches the post across your timeline) and pin it (sticks the post to the top of your timeline for a week so it’s the first thing people read when they visit your page).
If you’ve built up a little army of followers you can reward them through Facebook offers (minimum likers apply). These are sort of like coupons and those deal sites like Cudo where you offer a Facebook-only deal on one of your products or services. These are great because friends see when one of their friends claim an offer without being a fan of your page. You can also advertise your offer through Facebook adverts to gain new customers/likers.
The last rule we’ll share is for physical businesses who have premises which customers can come to (so we’re talking mostly retailers here). Make sure you claim your spot on ‘Places’ so people all check into the same spot when they come; this makes sure all your check-in numbers stay in one place, but also links friends straight to your page.
For more information on Facebook for business, check out this ‘how to’ page that covers how to go about it. https://www.facebook.com/business/build
The next part in this blog series will cover Twitter and Pinterest. Are there any sites you’d like us to overview for you?