The 6 mistakes that most businesses make on Facebook (and how to avoid them)

Since its launch over a decade ago, Facebook has evolved dramatically.  Not just for its users, or the devices they now prefer to check their profile (and newsfeed) on but also for businesses as vast marketing opportunities have been created by Facebook. 

So why is it that the very same traits that fascinated users and businesses alike when Facebook was first made publicly available, still forms the basis of success for businesses using the platform a full decade later?  I'm talking about Likes and Shares and Engagement and Fan numbers (yes, that's still a widely measured metric!).  

But why?  

Facebook quickly realised that companies would stop investing advertising dollars into its platform of the only measurable metrics were non-revenue linked such as Likes and developed their advertising platform to counter this, so it's mind boggling to believe that today, thousands, if not millions of businesses are still using these metrics to measure success today.  I understand that many people aren't aware of the power of Facebook - especially for businesses using it as a marketing platform, so this article will hopefully shine some light on the mistakes that brands make on Facebook and what they should be focusing their attention on.

First, the mistakes...

Mistake 1:  Focusing on increasing 'Likes' or 'Fan' numbers

While there is a huge vanity issue here ("my Facebook page has more likes than your Facebook page"), the reality is that this number is beginning to mean less and less.  Yes, it may prove to be a indication of your business' popularity, but the fact that these numbers can be purchased either through Facebook directly or via less honourable methods, means that very little or no attention should be paid to this number.  

Mistake 2:  Focusing on Engagement

This one might be seen as slightly controversial!  A lot of people justify their activity on Facebook by using engagement figures as an indication of success.  While I certainly agree that engagement can be used to gauge success and is a better gauge than than number of likes a page has, I still think that this is a weak metric to use.  

Engaging followers on Facebook is important, but how do you know that the people who are engaged with your brand on Facebook are customers or likely to be customers in the near future.  One could argue that it's more important engaging those likely to spend money with your business than working on those.

Mistake 3:  Relying on organic reach of content on Facebook

As many people know, the organic reach of posts on a business page on Facebook is now less than 1.5%.  That means that if your page has 1,000 likes, whenever you post a message, an average of only 15 people will see this content.  

Even though we know this, a surprisingly large number of businesses continue to invest time and effort into creating content on Facebook without spending any additional money to make sure that more than 1.5% of their audience will see it.  Our recommendation on this is clear.  Unless you have even a small budget to apply on Facebook, spend as less time trying to engage your audience on this platform as possible.  I understand that businesses want to show that they are active on Facebook in case a potential client visits that page, but ask yourself this.  What impression is that page likely to make if every post on the page has virtually no interaction or engagement in the form of Likes or Comments?

Mistake 4:  Not considering return on investment as one of the main metrics of success on Facebook

Facebook has incredible targeting opportunities that allows businesses to get close to their target audience using content.  It's therefore incredible to believe that very few companies actually measure return on investment (ROI) from this platform.  

Using Facebook's advertising platform, companies can get their message across to those who they believe are potential customers and then drive these customers to carefully crafted landing pages or websites (we prefer landing pages to websites for this type of targeted advertising), where they can start a meaningful conversation with this audience.

Mistake 5:  Not retargeting your website visitors on Facebook

Facebook allow businesses to re-target their website visitors on Facebook and offer this capability with limited technical requirements.  They honestly make this process as easy as they possibly could - so why is it that most businesses don't take advantage of the opportunity to continue talking to those who have shown an interest in your business previously.

In addition to this, the cost of communicating with retargeted website visitors is considerably less than what Facebook charge to target new ones.

Mistake 6:  Not using Facebook's List Marketing to communicate to your database

Almost since the start of the internet, email marketing has been the most consistently used communication tool between businesses and their customers.  But what if we told you there was something better?  Something that allowed your email list to see your business more frequently than a single email; a method that beats junk mail filters and email blindness in case it does manage to make it into your subscribers inbox.  Ladies and gentlemen, Facebook allow businesses to upload their entire subscriber or customer databases, from which they will match your records with theirs using email addresses and mobile phone numbers and then produce a new database audience that you can communicate to on the Facebook platform.

This is an incredible tool and means that whatever your message is, those matched users on Facebook will see your message at least 1 or 2 times more than a simple email communication (that may never even be opened).  What's more is that Facebook will also let you build a look-a-like audience of people from your database that it believes has similar characteristics of the database records you uploaded.  This means that if your database was 10,000 strong, Facebook could offer you the chance to reach 75,000 people that it believes are similar or have similar interests as your original 10,000 people.

What should your marketing look like in 2016?  If you're still trying to answer that question, you're in luck!  Download our free E-Guide now: