Are you suffering from Facebook fatigue?
Are your marketing efforts feeling like you’re walking in sling backs through mud and getting nowhere fast? Try these solutions before you give up.
Yes, Facebook fatigue is a real issue
I work with many small business owners who are struggling with Facebook. There have been some big player exits. Copyblogger made an announcement last week they were quitting Facebook because it just doesn’t work for them. That’s the clue. Every SME and micro business needs to think seriously about the best platform(s) for their product, brand or service. What works for one may not work for another. Think about your own social media habits and what you use different platforms for. Exactly. It’s horses for courses. However, if you want to continue with Facebook here are some tips to help you tweak your strategy and avoid Facebook fatigue. I take it you do have a strategy!
9 Tips to improve your Facebook engagement
- Be relevant to your niche. The important thing to combat Facebook fatigue is to publish something that either informs, entertains or prompts an action from your fans and community. It sounds obvious but we can all get into bad habits and stray away from hard nosed business marketing in favour of posting videos of puppies and kittens. Get the mix of fun and informative posts right. Never stray from what it is your audience wants and needs. Make engagement easy and that’s not by always tagging a post with: ‘What do you think?’ or ‘share this if you agree’. We all suffer Facebook fatigue when we keep seeing the same old, same old. Keep it fresh!
- Use incentives. Have you thought about giving a prize to fans who share your page. We can’t just expect people to do this anymore. Social media is no longer new and different. It has already become integrated into our lives so like any other business we need incentives to prompt us and avoid Facebook fatigue or burn out.
- Crowdsource new ideas, products or services. Ask questions like they really do matter. People like to think their opinion or experience can change something.
- Make use of contest apps. Take a look at TabSite for example or Shortstack that make contests so easy to manage and promote. Award discount vouchers or really useful things; it can be cheaper than advertising and lead to actual conversions. You can also track the results of your campaigns easily with a promotional code. This avoids the Facebook fatigue associated with always reading ‘ share/like this’ etc.
- Use insights for everything. Facebook offers some great insights so use them. You can rank all kinds of stats like reach and shares. Consider what time promotes most engagement and experiment with posting at those times. Use the post schedule facility. Find out where your fans are coming from geographically. Put a lead generation page on data that attracts most views.
- Use your cover and timeline effectively. Have you added a call to action on your cover? Do you change your cover regularly? We all reach Facebook fatigue status when everything looks the same.remember too, you have just a couple of seconds to inform your audience of the essentials. You can announce promotions here but they must be simple and look inviting so take care.
- Use the boost post feature. Facebook’s algorithm can generate a massive audience if you pay. It may not be highly targeted or subtle but it will allow your post to reach many people a a kind of heads up. Therefore consider the type of post you want to boost very carefully. Craft posts you want to monetise with precision; it’s an exact science. Here are further details from a brand new post about boosting reach on Facebook.
- Use the right language. When dealing with fans be relevant. Speak the language they expect form you. Attract targeted fans. people used to buy fans. This is not encouraged. Much better to have a small and loyal community who cares about you and want to engage. That way you are likely to reduce Facebook fatigue amongst people who like what you do. So reward fans who tag your business or link to an article or video. Note what they have done and say thank you.
- Create a lead magnet which is often a free giveaway. How do you do this? By looking at biggest pain points within your fan base or customers in general. Your lead magnet needs to solve a problem. It needs to be irresistible. develop a lead capture page so you get email address in exchange for a giveaway. Create the Facebook ad whose focus is the lead magnet and target. Track your ad and then follow up with email marketing as appropriate. That way you will start to overcome Facebook fatigue.
Vivienne Neale is a social media strategist and web content writer. If you need a Facebook audit and some inspiration to move your Facebook marketing forward then contact here here.
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