6 Biggest Mistakes To Avoid When You Post On Facebook

Facebook can be a powerful tool for businesses to use when they want to connect with both existing and potential customers. However, there is a large potential for businesses to use it the wrong way and alienate their customers.

Because of the overwhelming amount of content shared on Facebook every day, it can be daunting to try to stand out from the crowd. That desire often leads businesses and organizations to make Facebook mistakes.

Today we’re highlighting the top 6 Facebook mistakes we see businesses making every day and the strategies we suggest to avoid them and successfully grow your brand on this social media platform.

Facebook Mistake #1: Pushing To Sell

Constantly pushing your page’s followers to make a purchase might be the most common mistake we see businesses make when they use Facebook. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use Facebook to talk about what you do or what you sell, but it shouldn’t be your main message and goal.

The reason heavy sales-driven posts don’t work on Facebook is because users don’t typically care about the products and services your business provides. What they do care about are are the problems or topics related to your products and services.

Example

A sporting goods store wants to sell more running shoes to people who love to run. Only posting photos of the shoes they have for sale won’t get them many results and might actually make their followers “unfollow” their business page because they get bored or annoyed.

However, if a sporting goods store shares useful blog posts and articles on their Facebook page that might interest runners, that’s when they can start building an audience on Facebook that would consider purchasing their products.

Facebook Mistake #2: Only Posting About Yourself

It sounds counterintuitive, but only posting about your business or organization can alienate your Facebook audience. A good rule of thumb is to keep posts that do nothing but promote your business to 20% – 30% of your total Facebook page content.

So what can you post about instead?

Example

If you’re a real estate agent, you can post tips for first time home buyers, insights into your local housing market, and how-to guides that give your audience tips on how to prepare their home before putting it on the market. 

If you occasionally have a high-profile listing or are part of a local event, go ahead and share that too. Just make sure the majority of your content is giving your audience something they can use.

Facebook Mistake #3: Only Sharing Text

Facebook is still a very visual social media platform. Posts that only include text tend to get lost in users’ feeds and are ignored. People are interested in hearing stories, seeing photos of real customer experiences, and watching short videos when they visit the pages of organizations and businesses.

BONUS TIP: Try to keep videos you share on Facebook under 2 minutes. According to Hubspot, most people won’t even watch a video on Facebook past 1 minute!

Facebook Mistake #4: Using Facebook As A Substitute For Your Website

Facebook can be a powerful tool to reach potential customers, but it is not a substitute for having a website. The ultimate goals for your business’ Facebook page is to raise awareness of your brand, to interact with your customers, and to send potential customers to your website.

Make sure you are using Facebook as a part of your overall digital marketing strategy and don’t rely on it to do everything a website should.

Facebook Mistake #5: Not Interacting With Your Followers

The whole point of having a Facebook page for your business or organization is to connect with people on a more personal level. Unfortunately many businesses forget that the key to a successful connection is having a conversation with their Facebook followers.

You can do this by allowing and encouraging comments from your followers and even by changing your page’s settings so your followers can share content too. If you do this, you need to also make sure you have someone monitoring your account to ensure profanity, hate speech, and SPAM aren’t posted.

Asking your followers questions through a post and urging them to share their thoughts in the comments section is a simple way to engage with them and encourage open conversation.

If someone comments or shares content on your Facebook page, make sure someone in your company responds within 24 hours to keep the conversation going.

Facebook Mistake #6: Posting Content Before Setting A Goal

Many businesses feel the pressure to “just post something!” without taking the time to decide exactly what they want to get out of that post, or their overall Facebook strategy. Before you decide to share information on your Facebook page, take a moment to think about why you’re posting.

Do you want to keep your business “top of mind” when people think about your industry?

Maybe you want to promote a specific event or encourage your followers to subscribe to your email list. 

No matter your goal, you need to have it clearly defined before you start posting on Facebook. Otherwise you won’t be able to tell if the content you’re sharing is having the desired effect on your followers.

Avoid Facebook Mistakes: Focus On Building A Community

There are a lot of tips and advice on this topic out there and it can feel overwhelming trying to sift through it all. But if you try to remember that you’re using Facebook to build a community rather than only make sales, that’s a great place to start.

Not convinced?

Think about this…

When was the last time you tapped your Facebook app with the intent to make a purchase or find out the latest news about a brand?

Odds are your answer to that question is never.

Most people are using Facebook to connect with their family and friends. So speak to that desire when you decide what content to share on your Facebook business page.

Ready to stop making Facebook Mistakes?

1Eighty Digital is here to help – call today to discuss your social media management needs!