Why you suck at facebook marketing!
When I first got started on Facebook it was purely for marketing purposes. Everyone said you need to get on so I did. I was resistent because I hated the idea of moving people away from my existing social network, my damn BLOG!
But I figured if everyone keeps yapping about it, I should check it out. So initially my interest was purely business. I created a fanpage and started just pushing work from home job leads and a few other legitimate opportunities. That's my niche and pretty much what people expect and want from me or so I thought.
It was cool but there wasn't really much traction. So like most businesses I just thought this Facebook stuff sucks and everyone is smoking that stuff. But then I started using Facebook just for my personal use and eventually fell in love with it. It was just a great way to socialize and catch up with friends, family, co-workers, etc....
A Moment of Clarity!
Did you miss the most important thing I mentioned above? No worries I'll repeat it again.
"It was a great way to socialize..."
Let that marinate in your mind! That's where most of us fail with our Facebook marketing efforts in particular your fanpage. We forget it's really a tool for socializing that needs to be tweaked for marketing. As a regular user I know I enjoyed seeing pictures of my friends, family, co-workers, etc. I loved reading their entertaining stories about their kids and new things going on in their lives. I loved the funny images they would post and couldn't help but share with my family and friends.
Once I realized how I used Facebook as a non-marketer. I finally started having success with my "marketing" on Facebook.
So How Did I Stop Sucking At Sucking At Facebook Marketing?
I started posting things I enjoyed as a non-marketer. For instance I'm a big sucker for self help and positive quotes. Say what you will about all that stuff but it's definitely changed my life. So I love reading inspirational quotes. My fans are like minded so they like that stuff too. So I started posting quotes.
- Here's a good one that people liked and shared. (Feel free to share it or steal it if you're selfish and don't want my page to get love. lol)
- Another type of post that people seemed to like is when I would share things about my personal life, like pictures of my little daughter.
- Sometimes I would post random pet peeves like this one about big ass kids in strollers. It was a bit controversial and that's fine with me because it got people to comment on my page.
Uhhhh...?
Now you're probably thinking how the hell does this help your marketing effort?
Well the more people that socialize with me, the better my edge rank is which. ER is Facebook's Algorithm used to determine who gets to see your posts. If you can get a decent edge rank, it means more of your posts are likely to reach more of your fans and their friends.
As a result some of their friends become my new fans and start clicking on past pictures and posts. Some of those posts lead to my blog which eventually will lead to money or them becoming a subscriber.
The more engaged my fans are, the more likely they are to trust me and eventually click on the promotional post that make me money but also provide VALUE to them. My audience is about looking for various ways to make money at home. So just because I post cute pictures of my daughter won't mean jack if I destroy the rapport we have by promoting scams or garbage.
At the end of the day, I realized that my interactions on Facebook have to be exactly how they are on my blog. Be myself, entertain, educate, share and communicate. Then sprinkle in a promotion that provides value!
If you do that, you'll find a lot more success at Facebook marketing via your fanpage.
Let me know what you guys think? Did this provide value? Have you noticed the same things? Chime in below. I'd love to hear your thoughts..
P.S. I don't really have tens of thousands of followers like some pages. Although I could easily inflate those numbers if I wanted to. The few thousand I do have are folks that are really passionate about what I offer and my personal brand. In my opinion that's better than having thousands of people who will never really come back to your fanpage.
Recent Comments
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quick question. I'm really hesitant on using facebook for my website. It's about compact cameras. can i create a facebook page and start using it just as a marketing account? and how can I get people to sign up this way? If for lets say I have 0 friends on facebook, since i'm new to it.
Is it the same thing with twitter as wel?
I hear you. Your friends are probably not going to be interested in your niche.So that makes sense. So yes create a fanpage. Link to that fanpage from your website so your visitors will become fans and socialize with you there. Their friends may also become fans if you're engaging them on your page and thus your fans will eventually grow in time.
But your website is the first place to get people to become fans. In addition to that you can buy facebook ads that target other established fanpages related to your niche. I have received a lot of fans doing this. So if you're in a shoe niche, you want to buy ads on nike or reebok pages because they're related to your niche and my pick up some fans.
Use some of the article marketing techniques that WA has taught you where you write articles on StreetArticles but link back to your fanpage on some of these articles instead.
Twitter I'm not really an expert in. So I can't really talk about. But that's how I would go about leveraging facebook. Hope this helps.
thanks eddy, You know about 3 - 4 years ago.. I'm pretty sure I came across your workathomenoscams site. Was just browsing around about making money, I wasn't really serious about it at the time since I was like 19 maybe. But I remember reading your long review :)
I didn't sign up till like couple of months later though but I think your site was my stepping stone to WA.
Even if it wasn't my first, I remember reading your review a few times before I signed up :)
Glad you like it Live2Serve and I'm happy you're seeing the potential of FB and how to leverage it properly. I look forward to hearing about your results. Be sure to complete your profile here on WA so you can take full advantage of the resources here.
Ed, this is an excellent piece...initially, when I joined FB around 2006 it was as a result of having received several friend requests from old friends and school mates. Up to this point 99.9% of time spent on facebook has been in response to postings on my wall, birthday wishes, etc. However, years ago the massive potential to connect with people and engage others on the basis of initiating a broad range of topics totally unrelated to any of the products/services involved with, was realized. I've yet to employ facebook as part of my plan to gain the respect and trust of others based on the value of content offered, but thanks to you I'm committing to getting the ball rolling by July, 12, 2013. Keep up the good work and strive always to make your efforts GRAND!
Hey Thanks for the info. I want to ask you about how much time you spend each day on Facebook and what other social marketing you do?
You're welcome. It all depends on how much free time I have or how inspired I am. There are certain things I think to myself, I have to discuss on my fanpage. But then there are times I don't really have much to say so I don't. I'm that way with my blogging as well. If I don't feel I can provide value. I shut the hell up. I'm not big on just posting stuff because of a schedule. So that's my take. But some folks suggest posting at least 2-4 times a week on facebook. A lot of my energy is spent on my blog because I control that. The thing about social networks or anything outside your own domain is that it's subject to change at a whim. So that always makes uncomfortable. So the goal is always to drive people back to the site and get them signed in there if possible. Social networks should just be a tool used properly to do that.
Yes, I have. I have noticed how engaging you always are on FB. You always respond no matter what the topic.
What gets me is there are companies that are so out of touch with our customers on their FB page it makes me sick. They have so many lost opportunities and I feel that they either don't understand or don't care to relate to their customer base. Yet there are individuals like you that are prosperous. Keep it up.
It's nice to see that you notice that. I got that from my blog. I noticed most site owners won't respond to every comment. But when you do, people feel appreciated and special. I know I do when folks respond to me. So I just return the favor. A lot of this is just good old fashion "home training", manners or common sense. Like Kyle had suggested in early posts, we make things more complicated than they have to be sometimes.
I'm not big on their PPC, I'm big on building a relationship organically via the fanpage. So I think that's a better way of leveraging it if you want to use it. But there are some people that swear by Facebook ads. I've some limited success with it in terms of getting fans or reaching more of their friends. But unless I engage the fans, having them means nothing. So it's a combination approach.
Nothing wrong with a fan page, but even heard Kyle talk bad about the PPC Marketing on there and how it was almost illegal.
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Hey Shaun, Thanks man. I put a lot of effort into that long ass review and it helped me convert tons of people. I think folks appreciated the full picture I was trying to give. There were some annoying cons about WA back then but oh have things have changed for the better.
But even then people like yourself saw value. So I'm happy to see that my efforts paid off and brought you here!