Tool, App or Toy?
Facebook is not a sales or marketing tool; it’s a connection tool. Facebook should be used to attract people who you naturally get along with, which should make selling your services to them much easier.
So, how should you use Facebook?
Facebook is an app best used for finding new friends and reconnecting with old ones. From a business standpoint, it should be used to connect with people who can relate to you as a single entity, even if that single entity is actually a plural of people who work for a single entity.
An effective & efficient corporate Facebook page will attract followers who can best relate to your company. They see the world through the similar frames.
After all, this is about YOU, right? And by YOU, we mean your company.
Facebook is for finding your Tribe.
PPC, SEO, SM and your website
This is your business. This is your business on the Internet.
Any questions?
Today, when people do research on a company, one of the first things they do is research the social media channels of the organization, to see if that company’s values align their own. They are seeking to connect, in order to validate their desire to do business with you.
The best analogy for the various aspects of your digital marketing plan can be summarized like this:
- Your website is the mind of your business.
- PPC & SEO are its Qi (vital energy).
- Social Media is its personality.
Everyone will agree that it’s hard to make friends if you have a crappy personality. In fact, it’s hard to do anything with people, if your personality sucks.
If you have NO personality, you can probably still be a success at business (relative to one’s perspective), but you probably won’t have many meaningful connections, thereby limiting the overall potential of your business’ success. The ability to connect with people is what keeps them coming back to do more business with you.
Therefore, if social media is the personality of your business on the Internet, if you have no social media presence at all, you can still be successful, but your success might be limited.
Worse yet, if you have a confrontational social media presence, your business will almost certainly FAIL.
Social Media & Facebook, as they relate to the Sales Process
Bro. Do you even need a website?
It can be argued that social media plays a part in every step of the digital sales process, and can also determine whether or not people do business with you again.
To keep things simple, let’s look at the most basic element of a good sales strategy, and how social media plays a part. Then we’ll look at how Facebook comes into play.
Posting on Facebook and other social media… uh… mediums.
Let’s talk.
Connecting with a person is the first step of the sales process and is arguably the most important. But how do you get there?
Social media is simply a place to start the conversation. One post can tell you very quickly who’s watching you and how well you will get along with them. It also gives the world insight into how you think and what your interests are.
Posting on Facebook simply gets the conversation started, so that you can begin the process of building rapport, showing empathy and connecting with your audience, followers and potential customers.
Rapport
The first step of the first step… of the sales process.
While advertising may bring “all the boys to the yard”, it’s the ability to connect with people that actually leads to revenue generation.
Social Media helps with rapport by showing your brand’s personality to the world and reach people who feel the same way that you do, on a variety of different levels. At the very least, you should show them that you are approachable and friendly.
Empathy
Everyone is selfish.
Empathy (if we’re being honest) is the understanding that everyone is selfish and has their own agenda for their lives. Being empathetic is important to functioning in the world. Empathy for others helps you to connect with people to reach a compromise, to get what you need while helping others get what they need.
Connecting with people means that you first give them what THEY want (which is to be seen and heard).
We say that salespeople “need to be able to empathize”, because to “sell” someone is to give them what you have available, while making it feel like they’re getting what they want. Many people will buy from a salesperson just because they are being seen and heard.
With the entire world just a keystroke away, how many people do you need to connect with to be the top 3PL in the United States?
Facebook vs LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram (and every other SM platform)
The Internet is like new fallen snow: No one really knows what’s under there.
For real people, your personality is a coping mechanism for dealing with various types of personalities in a variety of different situations. Home alone, you may be more relaxed, lost in thought, planning, or unwinding. At work, you’ll be more professional, making eye-contact with your peers while appearing focused on the tasks at hand. With your children, you’ll be more alert to your surroundings and your language, while alone with your spouse or significant other, you’ll be less guarded.
Like your real personality, social media platforms have unspoken rules of engagement. LinkedIn tends to be more professional, while Facebook should represent your company like it’s at the mall with its friends (have fun, but don’t be an a-hole.)
Your Company on Facebook
So, now we get to the real meat of the issue: What should we post on social media? Or, more specifically, what should we post on Facebook?
Many businesses fail miserably on Facebook. They’re either using it as a fulltime coupon-board, or their profiles simply tell the world that they are all business, all the time. They don’t laugh. They don’t feel. They are a corporate entity full of soulless people.
Knowing your demographic helps you to know what language, images and tone to communicate with them in. When you speak their language, your tribe will find you.
Effective marketing on social media needs to be a very soft-sell, consistent-drip strategy that connects you directly with the people who can best take advantage of the products & services you provide.
Who do you want in your Tribe?
Here’s how you find them.
Posts vs Ads
While Facebook is a great tool for marketing and selling, how it fits into the sales process depends on which arm of the platform you’re using.
Posts are great for showing the “real” you, while ads are for advertising your services.
Posts are just us being us, sharing things that represent our personality. Posts are for building rapport and connecting with people, while ads are for finding (self) qualifying leads.
Like real people, you don’t need to sell your personality or advertise your services to your friends. Both ads and posts will help refine your audience and bring genuine members into your Tribe.
So, what type of content should we post?
3 ways to bring people into our Facebook Tribe
Most companies have a core demographic of people who can relate to us. Let’s find them.
Here are 3 ways to bring people into our Tribe, using Facebook:
- Advertising our services (FB Ads)
- Posting original content
- Blog articles (we’re are experts in our field)
- Memes (we have a sense of humor)
- Corporate events (we’re more than a website)
- Corporate news (we’re notable & important)
- Sharing content that is related to our:
- Business/Industry
- Values
- Community
How often should we post?
“You can have it all. Just not all at once.”― Oprah Winfrey
There is no formula for how much you should post, but there are times of the day when posting is more beneficial than other times. Outside of traditional working hours, more people will be scrolling through their Facebook feed. However, half of all active Facebookers will be checking their feed throughout the day, even during work hours.
The best way to touch as many people as possible, is to post relevant, meaningful, engaging content multiple times throughout the day. The exact number of times is limited only to how much relevant content you have.
Brand Ambassadors &, Influencers
Your best customers are your Brand Ambassadors
PEOPLE influence the behavior of other people. Advertising may inspire people, but ultimately it takes someone to be the first, and to share their experience.
Facebook is still the king of all social media and has the best platform for sharing and reviewing experiences with our company.
It’s important that we have a person who is actively engaging with our followers, to help identify potential brand ambassadors and to show humanity behind the brand.
Don’t Sweat the Haters
“The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.”
― Bette Midler
Like Every business on the planet, there will be Haters who want to see you fail. Some of those people probably work in the very company they claim to be supportive of.
Your entire strategy of social media is to find those who want to be a part of your Tribe. There will always be someone who complains about what you’re doing. If you try to please everyone who wants to see you fail, then you will be ignoring those who want to see you succeed.
Sometimes it’s hard to spot, but a good indicator of a hater is someone who NEVER pats you on the back or compliments your efforts.
The beauty of Facebook is that you can block the haters.
The goal of every social media strategy should be to CONNECT & POSITIVELY ENGAGE with fans of your brand.