7 ways businesses fail on facebook

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7 Ways Businesses Fail on Facebook
If one of your goals f or 2013 is to have a stronger presence on Facebook, don't make the mistakes that
too many businesses make:
1. T hey break the rules. Facebook changes the rules of ten. And unless you are diligent about staying
up-to-date by f ollowing blogs like Socially Stacked or AllFacebook, some rules might change and you
won't know it. Even if you inadvertently violate Facebook's terms of service, your Page may be removed -
- along with all your content and the connections to people you've made over the months or years. To
save yourself a headache, bookmark Facebook's Terms of Service and read them periodically along
with our blog, of course - - and make sure you're playing by the rules.
2. T hey ignore their fans. Remember the #1 tenet of social media? It's the "social" part of the equation
that matters most. If you have f ans who leave you messages and ask questions on Facebook, you must
answer them. No two ways about it, and there is no such thing as a stupid question (or at least you
shouldn't make your f ollowers f eel like their questions are stupid). Another thing to remember is that on
social media your f ans/f ollowers expect a response f airly quickly. A question asked on Facebook is not
the same thing as a question asked via email. At the very least, when someone directs a positive
comment your way, "Like" it it's a pretty easy way to let them know you're paying attention.
3. T hey post inconsistently. If Facebook is part of your marketing ef f ort, attend to your Page. It's that
simple. You have Likes and f ollowers because people are sincerely interested in your business and what
you have to say. There are tons of studies out there suggesting the best times of day, and the numbers
of times each day or week to post, but there are so many variables to consider that it's tough to say
there is a hard and f ast rule. Aim to post at least once a day and remember the 70- 20-10 rule: 70% of
your Page’s content shared should be inf ormation that is valuable and relevant to your Facebook f ans.
20% of your posts should be shared content, i.e. content that comes f rom other people. The f inal 10%
is Facebook posts that are promotional: sale announcements, new product alerts, events, etc.
4. T hey leave URLs in Status Updates. If you're linking to your website or some other content, remove
the extended hyperlink or at least shorten it bef ore you hit post. Why? Once a pasted URL appears
in the body of the unpublished Status Update, the link appears in the status box so you can saf ely
remove the link without af f ecting the content. Leaving in the the URL just clutters the post.

Which looks better? T his:
or this?:
5. T hey forget to include a visual
wit h every post. According to a
recent Fast Company article, "44
percent of respondents are more likely
to engage with brands if they post
pictures than any other media." Why?
Pictures help us sort and understand
the piles of inf ormation we're exposed
to every day. Plus, they can be f un!
Which would you rather see? T his:
or this?:
6. T hey don't add basic *free* apps.
There are dozens of f ree apps you
can add to your Page to make it more
engaging f or f ree. Using the def ault
apps, such as Events and Photos is a
good start, but why stop there? If
you're a retailer, you should have the
Pinterest app; if you're in the service
industry, install SnapGuide and create
step-by-step guides f or cooking,
building, f ashion, etc. that you can
share with your f ans.
7. T hey don't create custom apps.
Obviously this one is near and dear to
my heart, but create custom apps to
make your Page stand out! It doesn't
have to be dif f icult or time-consuming.

With a third-party provider you can
create contests and promotions - - as
many businesses know but also
newsletters, calendars, reservation
and appointment requests, f orms that
let customers request more
inf ormation about your business,
maps, customer support, testimonials,
surveys and the list goes on.
Connect:
Authored by:
Jim Belosic
Jim Belosic is the CEO of ShortStack, a
self -service custom app design tool
used to create apps f or Facebook
Pages, websites and mobile web
browsing. ShortStack provides the
tools f or small businesses, graphic
designers, agencies and corporations
to create apps with contests and
f orms, f an gates, product lines and
more.
Jim started his f irst company at age 22,
a graphic and web design
See complete profile
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