Managing the Company Facebook

By Meg Kramig, Copywriter and Advertising Associate

Facebook. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s possible that you’ve spent the last 10 years 200 miles under the Baltic Sea. (Welcome back if that’s the case.)

Currently the most popular social media site in the world, Facebook has over 800 million users. To put this in perspective, as of July 2011, the population of the United States was just about 300 million.

So are you on it? And what is your company strategy?

Here are some tips for managing your team
and optimizing your business’ Facebook presence.

1.) Facebook Management

The biggest question here is WHO is managing your Facebook? Or who will? You have two choices: solo or the team approach.

If you choose solo, that’s understandable. The solo Facebook admin has a consistent voice, knows the history and is knowledgeable about the statistics and insights. Solo is a very good approach when it comes to consistency. The problem is sick days, vacations, job switches. Once your expert is gone, there goes your social media celebrity.

A team of multiple administrators is another approach. Just make sure that your “team” has a unified voice consistent with the brand. Allow your team to input multiple viewpoints, but keep consistency when communicating the major message.

You can also get Facebook management tools to help schedule posts ahead, track comments, manage across social media platforms and more. A good free social media management tool is Hootsuite.

2.) The Plan

Know your audience and make building the things they love about your company your primary focus. Also important, establish how to handle issues such as customer service complaints, questions about competitors, how to questions and industry rumors.

If you are using the team approach, make sure that you are posting when your community is most engaged. You can figure this out using “insights” on your Facebook page.

3.) Take the Time to Listen

What do your fans care about? If you don’t know, ask through a post or by setting up a poll using the Facebook Questions app on the left hand side of your Facebook homepage.

When thinking of topics to discuss, think community, information sharing and problem solving.

Acknowledge feedback. If someone posts on your wall, post back. If the comments are negative, be responsive and pleasant. Don’t erase bad comments unless they are threatening or abusive. Responding publically is the best route, but more contentious issues can also be handled by providing a phone number or e-mail.

Even the hardest critics can be turned into fans with the right amount of good service.

Also, if someone gives you a compliment, don’t be afraid to spread the word through sharing. Boasting your brand through the eyes of your followers is a great way to establish credibility.

4.) Maximize Facebook’s Potential

Facebook is constantly adding enhancements to their offerings. The latest being Timeline. Make sure you are always up to date on the latest Facebook apps and add-ons, using your Facebook page to its maximum potential.

5.) Discover Your Voice

Social media is about the conversation. You’ve probably heard that a lot. So what does that mean? Your audience wants to have a conversation, not stare at a wall post’s version of a print ad. Be conversational, personable and human.

Also, match your tone and language to your brand. Remember that you are representing the company. That also means that your best bet is using “We” instead of “I” in your posts.

6.) Use Your Stats to Your Advantage

One of the many advantages of Facebook is tracking your posts in the “insight” section. What are your viewers responding to most? Are they responding? Are they interacting with your posts at all?

Review your insights, track them, and post information similar to what is giving you the most impressions, comments and shares.

Got Questions for Our Social Media Mavericks?
Call Graves Advertising Plus at (714) 879-1993.