If you are trying to drive business and build a name for your startup, Facebook marketing can be a great route for achieving such goals. With over 800,000,000 million active users of the most visited website on the net (right after Google), it’s no wonder why startups everywhere are jumping on Facebook’s social networking train. However, without the proper Facebook marketing strategy, many of these startups do more bad than good when it comes to reaching and connecting with their desired audience. To prevent your startup from meeting such fate, be sure to check out the following Facebook mistakes and how you can obtain success by avoiding them:
Pitfall #1: Facebooking without a plan. Sure, you’re ready to dive headfirst into the social media pond…but if you don’t have a plan of attack or the proper floatation device, be prepared to drown. To create an effective Facebook campaign for your startup, it’s crucial that you create a clear outline by answering the following questions:
- What are your goals for using Facebook?
- How will you integrate Facebook with other marketing methods?
- Who is your target audience?
- How will you connect with followers?
- Who will be in charge of updating your Facebook account?
- How will you track your progress?
Pitfall #2: Facebooking without a tour. Facebook is very easily to use, however, if you, yourself have never before dabbled in the world of social media, it’s not difficult to get lost. So before you set up an award-winning Facebook page sure to rival those of your competitors, make sure that you know what you’re doing. Take a tour of the website, learn about all of its features and tools, and research the web for tactics that you can use to enhance your startup’s Facebook experience.
Pitfall #3: Facebooking irregularly. When you’ve built up a sturdy foundation of Facebook followers, a surefire way to disappoint them and guarantee a click of the “un-like” button is to post updates on a sporadic or infrequent schedule. To maintain a good social networking reputation for your startup, keep fans and friends coming back by posting relevant, interesting and current news, photos, links, surveys, specials and any other resources that your company might have to offer.
Pitfall #4: Facebooking minus relationship building. What good is it to set up a Facebook page and not use it to build relationships with customers and others on the net? After all, the whole point of social media is to be social, right? It is important to create a platform for personalized dialog…so when your friends send you messages or comment on your wall, make sure that you respond in a timely manner. Also, it’s just as important to “like” pages of other companies related to yours and actively engage in conversation on their walls. This helps to put your name out there and increase your number of followers…which can in turn increase your number of dollars in the bank!
Pitfall #5: Facebooking without sharing. It’s a given that sharing content is an integral piece to the social networking puzzle that is Facebook. However, sharing that your startup actually has a Facebook is a step that many companies forget and fall down over because the amount of subscribers they have isn’t what it should be. If you have great content, then it’s worth sharing—so don’t forget to add a Facebook button to your website and spread the word to your customers, friends, family, coworkers and everyone else in between so that they can “like” your Facebook page, receive all of your updates, and share it with their own networks.
About Author: Meggin Sanez, is a writer who enjoys writing about online marketing, especially as it relates to social media. In addition to these topics, Meggin also writes articles about dating and relationships for Black Singles Dating Sites.
