by John Larkin
John runs the blog here at eCommerceLift and is a verified Shopify Expert. Interested in an initial growth consultation? Click here
10 years ago
Blunders That Are Causing Your Brand’s Facebook Page to Fail
Over the past few months there has been a bit of hullaballoo about brands Facebook pages being dead. Merchants are stating that they get very little interaction with customers through Facebook without having to pay for it.
Although it is becoming more difficult to reach your Facebook fans organically, it certainly isn’t impossible. In actuality it could just be a few mistakes that merchants are making that is hindering customer and brand interaction on Facebook.
Let’s talk about what mistakes you could be making that are stopping your fans from interacting with you on Facebook and hopefully save your store's Facebook page from croaking.
1. You’ve given up
One of the biggest problems with brands is that they have given up on Facebook. They have developed an apathetic view of their pages and just don’t seem to want to care to see the value in their Facebook pages. Perhaps, it’s because they stuck a few posts up that got no response or perhaps they just slowly started forgetting to regularly update their Facebook page. Either way you’ve given up.
The Fix
The trick to fixing this is to try and get back into the swing of Facebook. Instead of ignoring your page, simply start posting. Whether you post multiple times a day or just a couple of times a week try to make an effort to infuse Facebook back into your routine that will help you reach people.
Creating a content calendar that consists of what you think your customers will respond too for the next couple of months is a great method of consistently updating your Facebook page. You will be able to measure what your fans respond to and also help you keep a schedule that you can stick to.
2. You don’t interact
Social media is a two way street. It’s about connecting with your fans and building a rapport with them. Despite this being said brands often fail at understanding this is what Facebook is for. Instead they stick up posts about products that are just there as an advertisement rather than a conversation starter. This doesn’t encourage customers to leave comments or likes, leaving you with a dud page.
The Fix
Instead of just using Facebook as a way to shove your products in your customer’s faces, use it as a conversation starter to build a relationship with your brand. Start asking questions to your fans and get them talking to you and other fans and encourage interaction with your brand.
Merchants should also try to respond to customer’s queries and get involved in the conversations. This will show that you are interested in your customers and give them a reason to keep posting and talking about your brand.
Although it is becoming more difficult to reach your Facebook fans organically, it certainly isn’t impossible. In actuality it could just be a few mistakes that merchants are making that is hindering customer and brand interaction on Facebook.
Let’s talk about what mistakes you could be making that are stopping your fans from interacting with you on Facebook and hopefully save your store's Facebook page from croaking.
1. You’ve given up
One of the biggest problems with brands is that they have given up on Facebook. They have developed an apathetic view of their pages and just don’t seem to want to care to see the value in their Facebook pages. Perhaps, it’s because they stuck a few posts up that got no response or perhaps they just slowly started forgetting to regularly update their Facebook page. Either way you’ve given up.
The Fix
The trick to fixing this is to try and get back into the swing of Facebook. Instead of ignoring your page, simply start posting. Whether you post multiple times a day or just a couple of times a week try to make an effort to infuse Facebook back into your routine that will help you reach people.
Creating a content calendar that consists of what you think your customers will respond too for the next couple of months is a great method of consistently updating your Facebook page. You will be able to measure what your fans respond to and also help you keep a schedule that you can stick to.
2. You don’t interact
Social media is a two way street. It’s about connecting with your fans and building a rapport with them. Despite this being said brands often fail at understanding this is what Facebook is for. Instead they stick up posts about products that are just there as an advertisement rather than a conversation starter. This doesn’t encourage customers to leave comments or likes, leaving you with a dud page.
The Fix
Instead of just using Facebook as a way to shove your products in your customer’s faces, use it as a conversation starter to build a relationship with your brand. Start asking questions to your fans and get them talking to you and other fans and encourage interaction with your brand.
Merchants should also try to respond to customer’s queries and get involved in the conversations. This will show that you are interested in your customers and give them a reason to keep posting and talking about your brand.
Doing It Right: Better Basketball
Better Basketball is an eCommerce store that sells videos that help basketball players improve. They are basketball obsessed and aim to help customers be the best they can be. On Facebook they are continuously trying to engage with customers and do this by asking them questions. They want to know their opinions on how their fans work out, what techniques suit them best and other interesting athletic questions that get fans involved.
Better Basketball is an eCommerce store that sells videos that help basketball players improve. They are basketball obsessed and aim to help customers be the best they can be. On Facebook they are continuously trying to engage with customers and do this by asking them questions. They want to know their opinions on how their fans work out, what techniques suit them best and other interesting athletic questions that get fans involved.
3. It’s all text
Simple text is boring. Customers don’t get any excitement or enticement out of just a simple piece of text and a link. It’s just not interesting. Unfortunately it’s often what brands do on Facebook and then scratch their heads and ask themselves why no one was interested in their content. Customers don’t want posts with little effort, they want to see a brand is trying to make engaging content.
The Fix
Change it up from simple text by adding photos and video that will draw your fans in. It has long been reported that images is the content on Facebook that fans respond to best. Buffer reported some interesting and compelling stats about what makes followers engage with a brand on Facebook stating that photo posts get 39% more interaction that other content.
Attaching photos and video to your posts is such an easy yet effective way to increase engagement. It will make your fans take notice and make your Facebook page so much more relevant.
Simple text is boring. Customers don’t get any excitement or enticement out of just a simple piece of text and a link. It’s just not interesting. Unfortunately it’s often what brands do on Facebook and then scratch their heads and ask themselves why no one was interested in their content. Customers don’t want posts with little effort, they want to see a brand is trying to make engaging content.
The Fix
Change it up from simple text by adding photos and video that will draw your fans in. It has long been reported that images is the content on Facebook that fans respond to best. Buffer reported some interesting and compelling stats about what makes followers engage with a brand on Facebook stating that photo posts get 39% more interaction that other content.
Attaching photos and video to your posts is such an easy yet effective way to increase engagement. It will make your fans take notice and make your Facebook page so much more relevant.
Doing It Right: 3sixteen
3sixteen is a men’s clothing store that specialises in making high quality denim. They have an interest in photography as well as having beautiful product images and they are using this to their advantage on Facebook. They regularly post images that connect with their audience. From product images to just images they’ve believe are interesting, it’s brought depth to their Facebook page and fans love it.
3sixteen is a men’s clothing store that specialises in making high quality denim. They have an interest in photography as well as having beautiful product images and they are using this to their advantage on Facebook. They regularly post images that connect with their audience. From product images to just images they’ve believe are interesting, it’s brought depth to their Facebook page and fans love it.
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4. It’s not human
You may be posting content regularly on Facebook but does it have heart? Brands often post content that is lacking in a certain human touch. They are sterile and robotic, being posted at the same time every week without any thought for making it appealing and building a connection with fans. Lack of a human side makes your social media seem cold and turns fans off wanting to converse and intermingle with your brand on Facebook.
The Fix
Make your content human. Facebook posts that show off the personality of merchants and the marketers updating the page really connect with customers and give the brand more life.
Posting staff pictures, what your office is up to and interests that you are into really gives fans a glimpse to the life of your brand. It makes you seem real, more accessible and builds a valuable brand personality.
You may be posting content regularly on Facebook but does it have heart? Brands often post content that is lacking in a certain human touch. They are sterile and robotic, being posted at the same time every week without any thought for making it appealing and building a connection with fans. Lack of a human side makes your social media seem cold and turns fans off wanting to converse and intermingle with your brand on Facebook.
The Fix
Make your content human. Facebook posts that show off the personality of merchants and the marketers updating the page really connect with customers and give the brand more life.
Posting staff pictures, what your office is up to and interests that you are into really gives fans a glimpse to the life of your brand. It makes you seem real, more accessible and builds a valuable brand personality.
Doing It Right: The Butter Factory Myrtleford
The Butter Factory have done a really great job at making their Facebook page come across as a company run by people who care. This store makes premium butter and they like to share their eCommerce journey. They regularly post images of events and what staff doing. It builds warmth and helps customers build a connection with the brand and they have done this very successfully.
The Butter Factory have done a really great job at making their Facebook page come across as a company run by people who care. This store makes premium butter and they like to share their eCommerce journey. They regularly post images of events and what staff doing. It builds warmth and helps customers build a connection with the brand and they have done this very successfully.
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5. No Calls To Action
eCommerce stores may continuously post about their products or brand on their Facebook page but are they giving their customers a call to action to interact? Merchants that put up posts that don’t really call for fans to have any involvement or interaction with the brand can lead your page just becoming stagnant and having no effect on your brand.
The Fix
To get fans involved put call to actions in your posts that get fans commenting and liking and build some momentum on your page. Asking customers to post pictures and comments, and also running competitions and rewarding them with promotions and discounts can really get fans talking, sharing and on board with your business. Simply if you put a call to action, your fans will respond.
Facebook for your Store
These tips are actionable and easy to do. It is just a case of merchants realising the value of Facebook and trying to re-incorporate it into your stores marketing. To start off merchants should look at their current content strategy on Facebook and examine whether you are making some of these mistakes and change it. It could lead to your store’s Facebook being reinvigorated and garner attention for your store.
Do you find you can still engage with your fans on Facebook? Let us know what you do on your stores Facebook page in the comments below.
eCommerce stores may continuously post about their products or brand on their Facebook page but are they giving their customers a call to action to interact? Merchants that put up posts that don’t really call for fans to have any involvement or interaction with the brand can lead your page just becoming stagnant and having no effect on your brand.
The Fix
To get fans involved put call to actions in your posts that get fans commenting and liking and build some momentum on your page. Asking customers to post pictures and comments, and also running competitions and rewarding them with promotions and discounts can really get fans talking, sharing and on board with your business. Simply if you put a call to action, your fans will respond.
Facebook for your Store
These tips are actionable and easy to do. It is just a case of merchants realising the value of Facebook and trying to re-incorporate it into your stores marketing. To start off merchants should look at their current content strategy on Facebook and examine whether you are making some of these mistakes and change it. It could lead to your store’s Facebook being reinvigorated and garner attention for your store.
Do you find you can still engage with your fans on Facebook? Let us know what you do on your stores Facebook page in the comments below.
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