In order to manage your day and incorporate a great marketing strategy on Facebook, you must use your time wisely. It is important to share useful content and engage with people to leverage your opportunities. It takes time to build relationships. That doesn’t mean you have to spend all day chatting on Facebook. I will share a few ideas to get the most out of your time online.
It’s OK to be human. Facebook can be incredibly helpful if you use it the right way. We all love posting pictures of our food, family and pets. By doing this, you are building a brand without even knowing it. Easy right? This allows others to relate to you and get to know you, and it is NOT a waste of time. In addition to sharing personal posts, you should begin to share valuable business tips to your audience if you are not already doing so. This will help your audience connect with you on a personal level, add value and strengthen your relationships.
Create group conversations. Not everyone on your personal page wants to know your latest sale or promotion, or your long-term exercise journey. Create a group to share this kind of information to people who need it. If you do have a business and you want to use Facebook as a way to increase sales and grow, there are several ways to engage your audience for success.
You should create a Facebook group for a specific audience and moderate that group to keep it positive. Once you have your group, you want to post regularly to keep the conversations flowing. Offer tips and tricks that are worth sharing. When one of these people have a need that you specialize in, they will come to you, as you have built yourself up as an expert.
You don’t have to spend all day in your group. Share a blog post, respond to a comment and answer questions. If you do that a few times a day for 10 minutes, then you will see great results with little time invested.
Be selective of the groups you are in. If you are in a group that becomes negative, sucks up your time or isn’t giving you any value, it’s ok to leave the group. Some groups may no longer be relevant to you. I recently noticed I was still in a parent group for my son’s college that he graduated from, so I just removed myself.
With Facebook friends that are negative, or posts that aren’t helpful or attack you often, unfriend or unfollow. It doesn’t even matter if they are family or a possible client – you do not have to take the abuse. It seriously wrecks your mood and your day.
Value your time. It is really easy to scroll through Facebook all day long, but it’s counterproductive. Your boss will get annoyed, and you will not gain enough business to offset your time. Instead, set a time to "check Facebook." Perhaps morning, lunch and evening. Develop a routine and make sure it is something that makes sense for you. Ensure your ROI in your time is working, or you may just check once a day.
What I do is check through my news feed to respond to where I have been tagged. Also, I check to see if I have private messages. Look hard because if someone sends you a message that isn’t a friend, it gets hidden in an "other folder."
If you keep your posts positive and engage with your audience, you will create a following. When your Facebook friends have a question, they know who to ask if you have established your expertise in that area. Currently, I have an active Facebook group that I use for my partners to ask me product questions, which can lead to sales, instead of constantly posting links to my website. Group members ask for help determining which product they should buy. I promptly answer a solution and provide an easy way to order. Within minutes, I have a new sale.
Editor’s note: This article is the last in a multi-part series on Facebook social media marketing by Carrie Kahn. Be sure to check out 14 Tips for Proper Etiquette on Facebook, Leveraging Facebook to Build Your Brand and How to Use Facebook Groups to Stay Focused.
