I look at A LOT of retailer’s Facebook pages. I probably look at at least 100 a week whether they are my Social Edge member’s pages, big box retailers or retailers I’m trying to find examples of for webinars and live events I speak and train at. I almost always see these three common mistakes and so I’d like to share them with you today. These are mistakes are so incredibly easy to fix, so after reading this post, go over to your Facebook page and change anything that I reference if you’re doing something wrong, or could be doing it better.
Top 3 Mistakes Retailers Make on Facebook
1. No, bad or never-been-changed cover images. The cover image is the first things people see when on your Facebook page. This is prime real estate to feature products, an event, your store, staff, etc. Make sure you have a cover image and I suggest changing it at the very least monthly. When you change you cover image the new photo goes into your fans Newsfeed, gaining extra exposure for your new cover image and for your page.
*Insider Members* Log in to membership for today’s weekly tip as I’ve added examples of retailer’s who do a great job with their cover images – you can brainstorm your own cover image by looking at these examples.
2. No way to collect an email address. This is a common missed opportunity not only on the Facebook page, but on blogs and websites too. I strongly recommend retailers use email to market their store. If you have an email list, or are just starting to market using email, you ALWAYS need to be thinking, “how am I going to build my email list?”
When people go to your Facebook page, is there a clear place they can opt-in? When someone is on your website, is there an easy way they can give you their email? What about on your blog?
To collect email addresses from your Facebook page you need to use an application. Most all email service providers like SnapRetail, MailChimp and Constant Contact have an app that you can add to your page. If you don’t use an email service provider (yet! I strongly recommend you use one) then you can use something like Woobox.com or NorthSocial.com to set up an opt-in form on your Facebook page.
Note: mega missed opportunities on blogs – I rarely see a retailer’s blog that has a call to action at the end of a blog post like call us, come in, buy now or “if you liked this blog post, join our email list to the the newest post each week!”
3. Sharing links on the Timeline versus a photo, then the link. What the heck do I mean by this?! Well, Facebook’s algorithm Edgerank deems photos and videos more valuable posts on Facebook, so they give them more visibility in the Newsfeed. Links have a lower weight, so less people will see your post if it’s just a link, or text with a link.
The way around this is to first upload a photo (I suggest 90% of your posts be of a photo), then type in your status update and then paste in the link URL. Always upload the photo first!
Note: if you use a 3rd party to update your Facebook page like HootSuite, and you’re sharing a link, the update will display a small thumbnail image and the link, and because it’s a link post and not a photo post, you won’t get many people who see that specific update. If you want more people to see your posts on Facebook, you need to upload a photo first, text second, link third!
If you found these tips helpful, you’ll love Social Edge! Check it out here.
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