Do’s and Don’ts for Business Facebook Pages

When you’re using Facebook to market your business, there are a number of basic rules to follow (if you want success). Besides having a social media strategy that you never deviate from, the following best practices can ensure that your Facebook posts get top level reach and engagement.

DO: Update Profile Cover Monthly

Keep things fresh – update your profile cover every now and then. Make sure that each cover includes your logo somehow – so there’s no question as to who you are after you upload it.

DO: Look For News and Trends to Incorporate

A lot of eyes are on what’s popular right now – or it wouldn’t be popular. Throw your voice into the crowd – this is the quickest way to go viral. There’s no harm in piggy backing a little!

DO: Ensure Images are Visible on Mobile

Images look different on desktop and mobile – as well as tablet. Test your social media profile picture, cover photo, and post photos to make sure they’re easy to see on everything.

DO: Decide If You Should “Pin” The Post

If you know the post is great – or that it contains valuable information – consider “pinning” it to the top of your social media profile. This allows the post to be the first thing readers see when they visit your profile, with your most recently shared post right underneath it.

DON’T: Use Content or Media That Doesn’t Match Your Strategy

Don’t go outside of your rules, no matter what the post is about. Stick to your social media strategy at all times.

DO: Post One to Three Times Daily

You don’t want to be a nuisance on your follower’s timelines, but you want them to see enough of you that they get interested and check out your website. One to three posts seems to be the sweet spot – with no more than four posts per day max, and no less than one.

DO: Check Grammar and Spelling

You don’t want a post that’s representing your company to have a typo or a grammar error in it. It looks unprofessional, and turns off potential customers quicker than you can say “edit post”. Utilize your spell check and re-read your content to make sure it sounds good before you post it!

DO: Keep Posts Brief

Nobody has time to read a fifteen paragraph essay on why your company is the best. Keep it short – less than five sentences is best. The occasional long post is okay, though, as long as it’s relevant. Keep those posts to once every few weeks at most.

DO: Use an Image

People like visuals – so even if you don’t have time to create an educational infographic for every social media post, you should at least use royalty-free images as an addition to every social media post. Make sure they are clear, colorful, and match with your logo (which you should include in each picture).

DO: Use a Friendly Tone of Voice

You don’t want to seem disinterested in sharing with your followers. If you are upbeat, they’ll start to psychologically correlate your business name with happiness and joy. Wouldn’t you want to do business with a company like that? We know we would.

DO: Use Polls and Surveys

People love to talk about themselves and their opinions. Use polls and surveys to let them do just that. The information you gather can help you in your future marketing endeavors. Let people tell you what they want from you, and then deliver it to them!

DO: Include a Call to Action

Sometimes you just have to tell people what you want them to do. How do they know you have an email newsletter they can sign up for unless you tell them? How do they know you want them to read your blog unless you tell them? Include a call to action to let them know.

DO: Upload a Relevant Video Once Per Week Minimum

Like we mentioned earlier, people are visual creatures. In fact, they are so much so that posts that include video do up to 300% better than posts that don’t (as far as interaction goes). So film some videos! They don’t have to be professional – just relevant.

DO: Use Hashtags

Hashtags are another great way for people who have never heard of your company before to find you. Just tag your post with popular hashtags, then everyone who follows that tag will see your post. Just make sure that the hashtag is relevant – people who are looking up animals don’t want to read about your SEO business.

DO: Ask a Question

Like we said, people love to talk about themselves. Inviting and encouraging them to chat it up in your comments will let them do just that – while boosting your engagement numbers. Use the information you gather from people in your marketing!

DON’T: Use a Lot of Acronyms or Abbreviations

Not everybody is an expert in your field. Someone, at some point, will visit your page as an absolute newbie to what you do, and they’ll be confused by a bunch of acronyms and abbreviations. Use long hand language and keep everybody in the know.

DON’T: Ask for Personally Identifiable Information

Don’t ask people to leave their contact information in your comments, basically. It can mean a lot of people get spammed by hackers or worse. Any transfer of personally identifiable information needs to happen privately over a secure connection.

DON’T: Post Images or Video of People Without Their Consent

This is actually illegal. You need permission from people to share their words, likeness, or opinions – and you certainly need permission to share their image or a recording of them. It’s common courtesy – so ask before you post.

DO: Boost Posts That Get Lots of Shares

If you know something is working, boost it! If something is doing well, promote, boost, or otherwise get it to more people. It’s not advisable to do this with every post, but if one is doing especially well, boost it! It’s got the fail safe of knowing that you’ve already done well.

DO: Respond to Reviews, Comments, and Questions Quickly

Don’t leave people hanging. Others can see how long ago someone posted a question in your comments, and if it’s been more than a few hours without a response from you, it looks to the reader like you don’t care about your clients. Avoid this!

DO: Take Complaints Offline

If someone leaves a comment or a post on your profile that they are unhappy with your service, invite them into a private message where they can tell you more. You don’t want your dirty laundry aired out in front of the crowd you’re trying to impress, so keep things private.

DO: Post at the Optimal Time

Each social media has an optimal time for posting. For Facebook, it depends on the day. Earlier in the week, post around lunch time. At the end of the week, post in the evening. Over the weekend, post in the morning and evening.

DO: Measure Post Results

How do you know what’s working unless you measure analytics? Check out what was popular and what was not. You may be surprised! When you know something is performing well, post more of it. This is how you weed out the less-interesting topics and keep your audience happy. Give the people what they want!

DO: Monitor Your Page for Comments and Questions

Remember when we discussed that you shouldn’t leave your followers hanging when they leave comments or ask questions? You have to watch your pages to see if anyone left anything for you! Check in a few times a day during business hours – after business hours, one more check in the evening should do it.

DO: Use an Easily Recognizable Image

Keep it easy on the eyes, folks. Your icon on Facebook will look really small to people using mobile – so make sure that it’s simple and visible so that those users can see it. Use your logo if you can’t think of anything else! If you want to share a more detailed photo, use that as your cover photo. It is a larger image and small details will be easier to make out.

DON’T: Engage with Angry, Argumentative Clients

Sometimes, people get really mad on social media. Their complaints are scathing, and they just want to fight. Don’t engage with these people – send them a message advising them that you will chat with them in inbox, and keep things calm on your end, no matter what they say.

Facebook is the biggest social network on the internet, with more than 1.6 billion people using it every single day. That’s 1.6 billion eyes to see your business profile! The best part is that it is easy to use, inexpensive, and a great way to connect with people of all kinds, instantly.