Engaging Clients on Facebook

Avoid common pitfalls when using this popular social media site

By Wendy Moore

By now, you've probably heard that your business needs to have a presence on Facebook.

You may think that if you build it they will come—but will they?

Unfortunately, no. If you don’t have the time to spend keeping your page updated, or you don’t have the cash to pay someone else to keep your page updated, you are wasting your time. It’s that simple.

We're a fickle crowd. If you are not keeping your page current and populated with new and interesting bits and pieces to read, you won’t be top of mind with those that have liked your page.

If you do not post on your wall, your fans will not see your page in their newsfeeds. Therefore, they will have to remember to find and revisit your page. Put bluntly, they won’t.

When was the last time you actively visited a page on Facebook just because you thought of it? It is more likely that you saw a post or comment in your newsfeed that caught your eye and you clicked through to find out more.

With that in mind, how can you apply the browsing habits of most online users to your Facebook page strategy to ensure people continue to visit your page? Here are a few tips:

1. Post two to three times per week. Yes, per week. Post articles, comments, questions, videos, photos, etc., to keep your fans engaged. If you are not talking to your page visitors, someone else will be.

2. Post at different times of the day/different days of the week. Unless you know exactly when your fans are online, make an effort to post at different times of the day and different days of the week.

People are online at different times of the day. Some like to browse in the morning, while others jump online after lunch. Some catch up on what’s happening during dinner or when they've finally put the kids to bed and have a few moments to themselves.

If you know when your target market is online, post specifically to tap into their peak browsing times.

3. Re-post your content. It’s perfectly fine to write one single article and post the same article to your wall two or three times. Just make sure you spread out the time between each posting.

For example, you may post an article at the start of the month and re-post it at the end of the month. There will be fans that would love to read your content but were not online when you first posted it.

Re-posting gives people the chance to catch it on the second time around.

4. Post content from other sources. In addition to sharing your own information, share source material that you know will appeal to your target market.

If you read an article that was helpful to you in business, chances are, it will also benefit others. So, share it.

Your Facebook page visitors will appreciate the gesture and may even re-share it, citing you as the reference point where they found it. This is where the ability to "tag"someone in Facebook can be really useful. An article you found and posted can easily be shared as a link by someone else, with a tag to your page as a thank you for sharing. It's a win-win situation!

5. Respond to comments or questions. If someone posts a question or a comment on your page, reply. It sounds simple, but some people don't bother to visit their own page to see what is happening on their wall.

Engaging with your visitors is an ideal way to establish rapport and build up a following of loyal fans who will love to hear from you.

If you do this, chances are next time they have a question in your field of expertise, they’ll ask you. Their friends will also see that they’ve posted on your Facebook business page wall and some will click through to see why.

Your aim when building a Facebook page should be to generate traffic to your page as a source of potential leads. Your challenge is to keep them interested when they get there. Make sure to keep them engaged, and keep them coming back.

Wendy Moore is the founder of www.savvywebwomen.com and creator of the Savvy List Building Blog, a resource that shows business owners and entrepreneurs how to get in front of an audience that wants to buy what they are selling. To receive your free special report and weekly how-to articles to expand your online List Building toolkit, visit www.wendymoore.net.

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