Many companies, large and small, have a Facebook page for their business. If they’re lucky, they really control it! Some have been created by fanatics or cyber squatters, hoping to milk the business for some cash. But that’s beside the point.
Facebook pages are one of the main platforms that come to mind when we think of “social media.” I know of a number of small and medium-sized businesses that have disabled the general public’s ability to comment on their page. There is a well-known restaurant that leaves its page open, but the administrators remove all posts from the public, positive or negative. They even delete questions without answering them. It’s not just a waste of the page, it’s a waste of manpower patrolling the page that way.
My point is, it’s called * social media * for a reason. These platforms are a wonderful way to reach and develop relationships with fans. Facebook Pages are also a great way for potential customers to find a business. Your goal should be to interact with the people on your Facebook page.
So before you post a post on your company’s Facebook page, you must have a reason to do so. By that, I mean: you must have an intention that you want to achieve with the post. I’ve seen many, many pages where the only posts are variations of “Buy our stuff.” Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with hitting people into buying things, but you should at least have a process in place so you can track sales coming from different places. Knowing that a sale is coming from your Facebook page is fine. Being able to trace a sale to a particular post is a goal to live for! As a general rule of thumb, I call posts that are trying to sell Sales Posts, or just “Sell.”
Most of the posts on a company page are, in theory, informative. I say “theoretically” because there is often very little information that readers can use or make actionable. Generally, I call these posts “Dice.” A message like “We are closing on Christmas Eve” or “Now we have blue widgets” is conveying information, but they do not really have any information on which the reader can act. Telling someone about a product or service is not a sales message, there is no call to action. Telling someone that you are closed is giving them the message “Stay away.” A message that says, “We reopen at 7 am December 26” tells the reader “Go ahead.” It is a much better message for you and for them.
There is a much better post that I like to use. Open a way to build relationships. As long as you are willing to listen, it will also tell you what people want, or don’t want, from your business. I call these “Question”. Before you commit to stocking blue widgets, you can create a post that asks, “If we could offer blue widgets, would you be interested in purchasing them?” My favorite question is this: “Red or blue widgets – which is better and why? Please leave your answer below.”
Of course, many people hesitate to post an Ask, because they fear a flame war (an online argument) will break out on their page. The best way to keep flames at bay is to stay away from hot topics and not ask questions with obvious bias. “Blue top or red shit gadgets, which one are you man enough to prefer?” Yes, stay away from saying things like that.
Before you start creating even the simplest Facebook Page posts, ask yourself “What do I intend to accomplish with this post?” If you want readers to develop a new or deeper relationship with your company, consider posting a Tell or Ask and letting people respond. Even if you want to sell something and write a sales message, make sure you give people the ability to respond.