Brand awareness is likely one of your goals when you set out creating profiles and managing social media for your company, am I correct?
So you wonder, “How do I promote my business without appearing like I am marketing in my Facebook timeline. You know, the subtle way?”
We’ve seen these friends, right?
Also, you do not want to break Facebook’s rules, don’t you?
Wait, rules? What rules???!
The Facebook Profile Rules
You probably have not read it (*raises hand* same here), but when you and I joined Facebook, we tacitly said “Yes” to all their rules/guidelines.
So how can a business owner like you make your Facebook profile and Facebook pages work hand in hand to boost your brand’s popularity? The tips are below.
I structured the tips this way:
Good: For the type of posts that you and I may often see on Facebook.
Pro Tip: Simply put, it means there’s a better way of using your Facebook profile’s feature to increase brand awareness for your company.
Frequency: Number of times you should be doing the tip. Why is this important? It is because your friends would want to hear from YOU, not ONLY about your business. Also because of THAT rule, you just read.
If you already know the difference between a Facebook profile from a page, scroll down to read the five tips right away. Alternatively, if you just want a refresher, read on.
First…
What is a Facebook profile
According to Facebook:
“Your profile is your collection of the photos, stories, and experiences that tell YOUR story. Your profile also includes your Timeline.”
Do not confuse your profile as THE company page. It is a personal timeline. You meet and engage with friends here.
What is Facebook Fan Page
Again, according to Facebook:
“Pages are for brands, businesses, organizations and public figures to create a presence on Facebook….”
Facebook‘s business page is a tool where companies engage with clients, potential leads and brand’s business community. It can be used to grow engagement, brand awareness, customer satisfaction, web traffic and leads.
A couple of ifs…
- If you are employed, check your employer’s social media policy. Be in the clear about that before going all out in social media. If in doubt, ask your supervisor.
- If you are a social media consultant for a company, check with your client. If you have an NDA, honor it.
Tips to Increase Brand Awareness
YOUR WORK SETTINGS
GOOD: You added your company to your work information, but the privacy level is “Friends” only.
PRO TIP: Change work settings to show your business to “Public.”
FREQUENCY: Once.
The work section tells your friends (and their friends) what you do, and where you work.
To use it well, hide the other ones that do not matter, or could just be a distraction. Set it to “Public.”
Anyone who happens to come across your profile can click that link to your company and check your business page on Facebook.
Set it up immediately, and you are done.
YOUR COVER PHOTO
GOOD: You did not leave the cover photo blank.
PRO TIP: Use a cover photo creatively that tells your friends about what you do.
FREQUENCY: Moderate.
My Facebook business cover photo is not going to be relatable to my friends. It is an in-your-face sales cover photo.
It will serve me, not them. That is NOT how “social” media works.
I know my friends like MY nature photos, so I use it as my cover photo with my company URL as its watermark.
Here is another way to use the cover photo too. The idea from one of the webinars I attended a couple of years ago.
(Click image to enlarge).
Now, go ahead, grease the gears of your imagination. 🙂
TIMELINE POSTS
GOOD: You post to your timeline regularly about the haps in your life.
PRO TIP: Share posts from your company to your timeline that is that are relatable to your friends.
FREQUENCY: Moderate.
The company profiles/avatar and logos that interact with you are people too. Share to your Facebook profile posts from your page that gets interaction. However, don’t make it just any random post. Choose those that are relevant and relatable to your friends.
I have seen the timeline of some my business friends that have nothing but their sales posts and business activities. I understand we have to market and sell. However, is that what YOU like to see when you visit your friends’ timeline? Be truthful! 🙂
How do you know that the Facebook post is relevant to your buddies? Do either of the following:
1. Quick Survey Of Your News Feed
When you scroll down the news feed past the drama, rants and posh vacation photos in the news feed, you will notice that your friends are also sharing posts from companies, right?
What are the themes of the posts from those Facebook companies that your friends share? It may be about lifestyle, motivation, finance, dining, productivity – and cats!
I do not have a cat but I love ruh-ruh kind of posts which you would see us often shared on our Facebook company page, and some of my friends do too, I notice, so I reshare that particular business post to my profile page.
Do you have contents that your friends can relate to?
2. Facebook graph search
The graph search is replete with information at your fingertips. Its results can give you insights on what’s out there and what types of social media contents you can leverage to increase brand awareness.
Note that a graph search reflects your Facebook habits, interests, friends and location. What you see is, also, relative to the privacy settings of people.
“LIKE” YOUR PAGE INVITATION
GOOD: Send your friend an invitation to like your page.
PRO TIP: Send friends within your target location a personal message with a link to like your business page.
FREQUENCY: Occasional.
Here’s a tip:
Invite friends to like [Facebook business page] and help you connect with more people. When people like your Page or posts, their friends may discover you, too.
Facebook.com
The number of likes metrics is often viewed and bashed as a vanity metric. However, there are instances when it will come very handy. Thus, you would need to make it go up.
Send that invite very judiciously by inviting only those within your geographic location; more so, if you are a brick-and-mortar company or a business whose target is confined to a particular country or county.
When sending an invite, some will respond others will not. Don’t take it personally, OK?
By the way, before sending a friend an invitation to like your page, check if they may have also sent one already. “Like” requests often fall into some black hole and don’t get past the array of notifications you get daily on Facebook. To check if a friend sent you an invite, check your Facebook Invitations section.
LIFE EVENTS
GOOD: Post about a group event in your timeline.
PRO TIP: Write a “Lifetime Event,” check-in to your company and tag those people that work with you.
FREQUENCY: Moderate.
You do not have to make it a PR event. Just write it the way you would tell your friends a story. Include photos, if you have any. Tag those people you want to be tagged (and if it is OK for them to tag you).
Here is how I shared to my friends our recent company anniversary.
Roughly 60 people liked and commented on that post at the moment of writing. Say if each of these friends has 60 friends, that would mean that about 3,000 of their friends have potentially seen them liking/commenting about my lifetime event.
Do I see idea bulbs flashing there? 🙂
In summary
You can use Facebook profile for your business to boost your brand’s popularity without annoying your friends and without violating Facebook’s rules on profile use.
Make posts from your page to your timeline relatable, and in moderation.
Now, how do YOU use your Facebook profile to increase brand awareness?
Here is a video summary of how to grow your brand’s fame using Facebook.
