Facebook marketing is a powerful tool for promoting your business to a passive, but targeted audience.
Your skill in using this powerful online tool will determine the benefit ( if any) you reap from promoting your business, political viewpoint or heartfelt cause on Facebook, while your ineptitude will have at best, a non- effect, but could also diminish your business reputation to an online audience. How you implement a Facebook marketing campaign tells a lot about your business and the values you possess, and so in a way, your reputation is at stake. For a moment, If we consider marketing errors to be “sins” and beneficial marketing traits to be “virtues”, let me introduce a Biblical analogy referencing the “Seven Deadly Sins”.
Referencing the Seven Deadly Sins of the Bible, I have listed the seven deadly sins of Facebook marketing below.
Like the Biblical sins of sloth, pride, lust, envy, gluttony and wrath; they all point to a centering of focus on the marketer’s needs (self) ; not the audience. As in the Bible, Personality traits focused on solely on “self” lead to unfortunate outcomes. Understanding your Facebook audience and catering to their needs, while deftly promoting your business at the same time, should be the goal of a savvy Facebook marketer.
Promotions are Commercial Intrusions
Facebook is primarily a pleasurable pastime for people to connect with people or organizations they care about. Marketers must always be delicate and mindful of their relative place when interrupting a pleasurable activity ( like watching TV, for instance ). Offend your audience and expect Snarky comments! Avoid at all cost the following sins in your promoted postings and ads:
1. Repetition – If your Facebook post is recycled over and over, it generates a hostile reaction from viewers who are accustomed to seeing only “fresh” content, every single time they log on to Facebook. You may even get to see their hostility in the comments section; which is doubly embarrassing. Never, ever, wear out your welcome by serving up the same old hash — day after day
2. Too much text – Your Facebook promoted post is not the place to put your lawyer’s disclaimers, directions to your shop, or the minute details of your value statement. In fact, Facebook will probably flag a post that is more than 20% text. Facebook is not like an ad in a circular or magazine. It’s a way to create interest or awareness. Provide a link to your content that provides the details of your value premise.
3. Scatter-shot targeting – Facebook allows advertisers to target their audience, based on location, gender, age and interests. Just because it is technically possible that every demographic may have a use for your product ( auto parts; for example) , only target your top demographic, unless there is a very good reason ( like a gift-giving holiday). Keeping to your target demographic will improve your ROI and keep your audience much happier.
4. Being Mysterious – Oh, I get it. Being mysterious creates interest. Or does it really? Only top brands can get away with being mysterious, your brand should be up-front and clear. If I have to scratch my head and ponder the question, then I’m long gone.
5. Lacking Emotion -Don’t be a robot marketer. Be Human! Appeal more to the emotional self, than the logical self, when you speak to a Facebook audience. Viewing loved ones from afar, reading inspirational stories, seeing far-away and exotic places on Facebook makes your audience receptive to an emotional tug. If you don’t understand this concept, then ask a human.
6. Poor image selection or low – res images – Facebook is a highly visual medium which requires all images to be relevant with high resolution and aesthetically pleasing. Sounds reasonable enough, but why do Facebook promoters continue to put poor quality pictures on their Facebook posts with little relevance? A picture of the front door of your business, is not that inviting to me.
7. Expecting a Search Engine – Don’t expect to get search engine results when you promote on Facebook. Although, Facebook does a great job of directing your ad to a receptive audience; there was never a search engine query entered by a motivated user like on Google. Your ad was served up like an electronic billboard on cyber highway. Impressions, Post Clicks and Page Likes are what matters most. Justify your investment by the level of engagement you receive from your ad.
Facebook Marketing is low cost and effective, if implemented the right way. Call Taylortown SEO at (321) 230-3197 to learn more about the newest trends in Facebook marketing and how you can enhance your online visibility.
