Many companies, large and small, have a Facebook page for their business. If they’re lucky, they really do control it! Some have been created by fanatics or cyber squatters, hoping to exploit the business for some cash. But that’s beside the point.
Facebook pages are one of the main platforms that come to mind when we think of “social networks”. I know of several small and medium-sized businesses that have disabled the general public’s ability to comment on their page. There is a well-known restaurant that leaves its page open, but the administrators delete all the posts made by the public, positive or negative. They even delete questions without answering them. Not only is it a waste of the page, it’s a waste of manpower to patrol the page like that.
My point is that it’s called *social* networking for a reason. These platforms are a wonderful way to reach fans and develop relationships with them. FB Pages are also a great way for prospects to find a business. Your goal should be to interact with the people on your FB page.
So before you post on your business FB page, you need to have a reason to do so. By that I mean: you must have an intention that you want to achieve with the post. I’ve seen many, many pages where the only posts are variations of “Buy Our Stuff.” Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with hitting people over the head to buy things, but you should at least have a process in place to be able to track sales coming from different places. Knowing a dirty cam from your FB page is fine. Being able to trace a sale back to a particular post is a goal to strive for! As a general rule, I call posts that are trying to sell Sales Posts, or just “Sales.”
Most posts on a company page are, in theory, informational. I say “theoretically” because there is often very little information that readers can use or make actionable. In general, I call these publications “Information”. A message like “We’re closed on Christmas Eve” or “We now have blue widgets” convey information, but don’t actually have any information on which the reader can act. Talking to someone about a product or service is not a sales message, there is no call to action. To tell someone that it is closed is to give the message: “Stay away”. A message that says “We reopen at 7am on December 26” tells the reader to “Go ahead.” It’s a much better message for you to give and for them to receive!
There is a much better post that I like to use. It opens a way to build relationships. As long as you’re willing to listen, it will also tell you what people want, or don’t want, from your business. I call these “Questions”. Before you commit to stocking blue widgets, you can create a post that asks, “If we could offer blue widgets, would you be interested in buying from us?” My favorite question is something like “red or blue widgets, which is better and why? Please leave your answer below”.
Of course, many people are hesitant to post an Ask, because they fear a flame war (an online argument) will break out on their page. The best way to keep the flames at bay is to stay away from hot topics and not ask questions with an obvious bias. “Top Blue or Shitty Red Devices: Which Are You Man Enough to Prefer?” Yes, stay away from saying things like that.
Before you start creating even the simplest FB page posts, ask yourself “What am I trying to accomplish with this post?” If you want readers to develop a new or deeper relationship with your business, consider posting a Tell or Ask and letting people respond. Even if you want to sell something and write a sales message, make sure you give people the ability to respond.
