For months, we’ve been telling business owners that they need to migrate from a profile to a business page. Facebook’s threatened to shut them down for a violation of the Terms of Service, but some have ignored because it’s confusing and a hassle.
But this weeks changes on Facebook make it even more essential that you have a solid strategy for marketing your business that recognizes the reality of human behavior.
On Tuesday, the Facebook tornado upended users with a totally new display. All of a sudden, people were overwhelmed with information from casual acquaintances and businesses that they had never seen in their Top News feed. And, where were their friends? Buried beneath conversations between people they barely knew, businesses that they’d never patronized and games they’d never heard of. If those conversations weren’t interesting to you, your only solution is to unsubscribe to the people who are “junking up” your news feed.
This is one of the biggest dangers in using a personal profile rather than a business page. You’ll never know if your audience reach is getting smaller. On a business page, Facebook offers analytics that tell me whether my influence is increasing or decreasing, and what type of content my followers like best.
If you’re a business owner marketing with Facebook, here’s my advice:
- Lay low, limit your posts for the next two weeks. Don’t give anyone a reason to unsubscribe.
- Download a copy of your Facebook data. Go to the dropdown arrow in the upper right corner of your home page or profile, click on the Account Settings link. At the bottom of that page is a link to Download your Facebook data. Do this now. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to get it to work.
- Spend the next two weeks lurking and researching. Observe which things posted by people in your news feed get comments and likes. Are the comments and likes from the people you’d like to reach?
- Pay a lot more attention to creating quality posts. Are my prospective customers really interested in where I had lunch or what I watch on TV?
- If you’re still using a personal profile for your business, create two smart circles. Title one business, the other personal. When you’re off your Facebook moratorium, be analytical and ask yourself if your business contacts will be excited to see this before you post.
If you need help converting your personal profile to a business page, I offer a one hour phone consultation where I walk you through the change. Call Julie Gallaher at 916-265-2521.
