After working with many companies on Facebook marketing, teaching many students, and speaking with many audiences, I’ve discovered some common mistakes that hold companies back from getting results. If you want to get better Facebook fan page marketing results, check this list and find out whether you’re making any of these mistakes.
Fan Page Mistake #1: Assuming People Go To Your Fan Page (Versus Seeing Your Posts In Their News Feed)
Most people, if they ever go to a fan page, only go there once. Some highly interactive pages get more visitors, and you can bring fans back to the page or to specific tabs with posts or ads, but usually fans see your page’s posts via their news feed.
One of the biggest surprises to me, in teaching Facebook marketing to many audiences, was that most business owners don’t understand how people use Facebook:
- When you log on to Facebook, what you see is your news feed, and this is all Facebook is, to most people.
- Your news feed doesn’t contain every post from all your friends or all the pages you’ve liked.
- You can change your news feed to show more, or everything, or the most recent from everyone, but fewer than 10 to 20 percent of people do this.
- If you have a Facebook page, all your fans do not see all your posts. The fans who have liked or comment on your page’s posts will see more of your posts.
- If you’ve done a poor job getting people to interact, you may need to rehabilitate your fan base by paying for sponsored stories.
This is also a good reason to look at Facebook Groups, because every time any Group member posts or comments, everyone gets a notification.
Fan Page Mistake #2: Expecting Welcome Tabs To Get You Lots Of Fans
Reveal tabs, aka Fan Gates, are very popular. Some people think they possess magical powers. But they don’t help most businesses very much because:
- For a welcome tab to get you fans, you have to get non-fans to go to your Facebook page, because only non-fans see the pre-like version of a fan gate.
- If you have a website with a lot of traffic, you may get a significant number of people who do this by clicking on a Facebook icon from your website.
- If you use a like box to get fans on your site, these new fans will never see your welcome tab.
- If you get new targeted fans the cheapest way there is (via Facebook ads), most of these like the page by liking the ad, so they also never see the welcome tab.
See that big circular diagram from the last mistake? Notice how many fans go to the actual page? That’s the percentage of people likely to see your beautiful welcome tab. Actually, less, because once they’re fans, they’ll go straight to the Wall.
Fan Page Mistake #3: Overestimating Apps and Tabs
Some people also seem to think creating a Facebook app is a magical move that will create all kinds of buzz and engagement. While this may be true for big companies who can get mass media coverage for deploying a clever new app, for most companies this the long way around to less results.
The Facebook app’s fatal flaw is the ominous opt-in page that requires you to share your Facebook data with the App. I can’t find any authoritative percentage of how many people bounce away from that page, but anecdotally, I know the number is high. I only became more willing to allow once I knew where to go to remove App access from my account. But this extra step means at least 25 percent and maybe as many as 75 percent of people who go to try an app will not carry through with it.
What that means is- you spend all kinds of money and time programming a new app (and programming efforts, especially if you’ve never been involved in one, are always more money and time than you expected), and may come out with less results than if you just use the incredible tools Facebook has available.
Think about it, if 100 percent of users already interact with posts and pages and groups, won’t you have a better chance of getting engagement by using those, than by using a weird new app that they have to give up privacy to opt-in to?
Fan Page Mistake #4: No Budget For Ads To Acquire Fans
As discussed above, the cheapest way to get targeted fans for your page (fans who are likely to be good customers), is with Facebook ads. The power, depth and precision of the Facebook ad platform is unrivaled and historic. And you can get fans for anywhere from 1 cent to $1.50, depending on your niche and parameters. You can’t get email subscribers that cheap anywhere, and this is the same kind of owned media.
But so many companies go to ridiculous lengths to avoid spending money on ads, or they just don’t have ad spends in their paradigm. They use a ton of time on roundabout tactics that yield fewer and less qualified fans. They forget about the cost of the employee time required to do so. And then when their fans don’t produce a return on investment, hey wonder why. Well, because you went cheap and you didn’t get good prospects. That’s why.
Fan Page Mistake #5: Posting In A Self Centered Way, Not Trying To Get Likes And Comments
You’ve seen it on hundreds of corporate blogs: post after post about them, them, them, and few comments, if any. Comments from sycophantic employees who want their company to look good. You can see it on Facebook pages too: me, me, me posts, and very few likes and comments, especially compared to the fan base. Your actual active fan base is about 100 times the number of likes and comments you usually get. How does that compare to the number of fans you have?
You would think by now that everyone would understand the lessons of web 2.0; push and pull, conversational marketing, etc. But no. So many marketers have never learned to care about what their audience cares about. You can’t communicate effectively until you know your audience. You can’t get responses if you don’t ask for them. You can’t get enthusiasm until you stimulate it.
And if you don’t get responses, you become invisible.
Fan Page Mistake #6: Not Optimizing For Impressions And Feedback Rate
If you don’t have a metric for every stage of your marketing, you simply can’t optimize your tactics for that stage. Your goals for the fan page should include:
- Visibility to as many of your fans as possible, calculated by dividing post impressions by your total fan base
- Responsiveness to your posts, calculated by feedback rate, which is the total number of likes and comments divided by post impressions
If you aren’t getting at least a one percent feedback rate, you probably are missing the mark in connecting with the bulk of your audience. Think about what passions and interests your fan base has in common, and speak to those. If you used Facebook ads to grow your fan base, you should know exactly what interests comprise the bulk of your fans and which ones were most passionate (measured by ad CTR).
A couple of caveats: I haven’t seen pages with more than 100,000 fans get one percent feedback rates, but I also don’t see pages that size using best practices in post content. Also, for pages of any size, when you post blog posts or sales-focused discounts, the clicks to your website or blog aren’t counted in this feedback rate. In those cases, a lower feedback rate is acceptable, if you’re getting sales and ROI from your efforts.
Fan Page Mistake #7: Over-Selling and Hard-Selling Without Conversing Or Arousing Desire First
This is very similar to the “me, me, me” selfish mistake discussed in #5.
Think about the typical conference. There’s a reason they have a separate area for vendors: The selling approach doesn’t always jibe with the conversational focus of the main part of the conference. And similarly, a fan page is a bunch of fans who typically are fans of something besides your offering. What they’re fans of is related to your offering. You have to continue to fan the flames of desire around that passion. My rule of thumb is to engage, converse and stimulate four times as much as you sell. Go for 80 percent interaction, 20 percent selling. There’s a wisdom to this that goes beyond Facebook.
Why does Corona sell relaxation and the beach rather than just show people drinking beer? By reaching beyond features and benefits to sell the dream implied by the offering’s benefits, playing with follow-through, focusing on the vision beyond, companies knock the ball out of the park.
Conversely, companies that focus on themselves and selling immediately end up disappointed, much like the college freshman looking for a one night stand. Not knowing the value of romance, he ends up rejected and alone. There’s a reason why it’s called foreplay and there’s a reason that flowers are a billion dollar business.
If you want, go watch my live presentation on this part of Facebook marketing replete with jokes and analogies about marriage.
Brian Carter is CEO of the Facebook Marketing Training Company, FanReach, a social media trainer, and Facebook consultant.
Photo/Image Credits:
- All Smart Art diagrams by Brian Carter
- Homeless by jswieringa, message modified by Brian Carter
Good article and tips but now that I know what NOT to do on my fan pages, how about some suggestions on what TO DO on fan pages!? Thanks!
Comment by Gary H — May 17, 2011 @ 12:52 pm
Excellent! Thanks so much!
Comment by Nancy Bain — May 17, 2011 @ 1:24 pm
I can't help finding it funny that you've listed "Expecting Welcome Tabs To Get You Lots Of Fans" as the number 2 mistake (true), while at the same time, there's an ad directly beside that one trying to sell the fact that "having a welcome tab will get you 10,000 fans". Gotta love the irony.
Comment by Kathy — May 17, 2011 @ 1:57 pm
Great points that can never be said enough. Basic, basic things that too many people forget – too much money has gone into app and tab creation and not enough into ads are money for creating solid content and community management.
Comment by Courtney Sandora — May 17, 2011 @ 2:00 pm
Thanks for the great article! It's time we start reining in some of the crazy expectations that some business owners have for social media. Facebook and Twitter are not magic bullets or cure-alls for a marketing campaign, they are one piece of a greater strategy steeped in old-school business principles but with new school tools and technologies. Articles like this will help manage unrealistic expectations (hopefully!).
Comment by @julian_jippidy — May 17, 2011 @ 2:24 pm
you're live presentation at the end of this article is just great! good talker
Comment by Anthony — May 17, 2011 @ 2:31 pm
Phenomenal post, Brian. Really laid everything out there perfectly. Best takeaways for me are (1) the effectiveness of FB paid ads, and (2) the advice on feedback rate, best practices. Thanks a bunch.
Comment by Business Blogging — May 17, 2011 @ 2:51 pm
Great post! Is there a specific case study or set of data that you are pulling the percentages from for the circle diagram? I'd like to read it and reference it in an upcoming presentation.
Comment by Terry Coniglio — May 17, 2011 @ 3:12 pm
Very informative…TYVM <3
Comment by Deborah Rinkel — May 17, 2011 @ 4:02 pm
I'd say that the 8th mistake would be thinking that more than a handful of your fans will turn into paying customers.
Comment by jonathanwthomas — May 17, 2011 @ 4:03 pm
Yes! And not being a hard sell all the time is tough to convince clients about at first. Usually they come around:)
Comment by Greta — May 17, 2011 @ 4:22 pm
I agree with most of what you mention!
However, I disaggree regarding your opinion about Facebook ads. For me, fans coming from facebook ads is something for deeper analysis.They like your ad or they are interested about your niche. But they did not do anything more. They did not see your welcome tab, in which you might have created something special for the potential audience, because they might just liked your concept in your ad.
Moreover, I have a guestion…. If a fanapge has for standard 4000 impressions per post with a range 0.30% to 1,9% feedback rate, and a post reaches 7000 impressions because of some more interactions… what will be the reaction of facebook for this change? (more impressions in the next posts? for how long?)
Comment by @JKyriak — May 17, 2011 @ 4:55 pm
very good advice as usual from the mighty brian carter-man…we've followed his advice for our Facebook "fan page" at loveonline.co.nz and it's building well…not having so much joy with FB ads but it's early days…stay hungry, stay foolish as steve jobs would say!
Comment by rob — May 17, 2011 @ 4:56 pm
Excellent job highlighting very common mistakes companies make when trying to market on facebook. The mistakes above are why most fan pages have less than 5000 fans. The tips are counter intuitive, but completely jibe with my own experience with dozens of fan pages and millions of fans.
Comment by Adam Fairbanks — May 17, 2011 @ 5:09 pm
The pie graph showing users who engage is misleading because of the scale – it's actually much worse than that image makes it look. http://twitpic.com/4yzs6m
Comment by erik@af-design.com — May 17, 2011 @ 5:15 pm
Great tips!! Thanks for sharing. Also – OVER SHARING is a huge mistake. Find the right balance..not too much…not too little.
Comment by jeffzelaya — May 17, 2011 @ 6:22 pm
Thanks for the great tips!
I agree with Jeff, over sharing/irrelevant content is probably the biggest mistake.
I like the tip about the use of "sponsored stories" to regain engagement. Huge help.
Appreciate the insights!
Mario Zelaya, B.Comm, M.A
Managing & Exec. Creative Director
li: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/mariozelaya
tw: http://twitter.com/majesticmedia
fb: http://www.facebook.com/majesticmedia
w: http://www.majesticmedia.ca
Comment by Mario Zelaya — May 17, 2011 @ 6:36 pm
Great reminder. Thanks for all the great content. Fan page owners need to take an
awareness –>engagement—conversion approach to Facebook.
Comment by @jaredroy — May 17, 2011 @ 10:49 pm
Actually the apps aren't as bad – I have successfully deployed a couple of apps already, and from people offered the application request screen around 60-70% will accept it. The trick is to inform them prior what is the purpose of installing the application, and what to expect. For one of major clients, we have improved their month-on-month Facebook Page growth rate by 66% with a fairly simple FB app.
Also, a skilled programmer will know how to use "delayed" app installation, meaning that users can be allowed to interact with it, without installing it till the point it's necessary.
Regards,
Barbara Wlodkowska
Comment by Barbara Wlodkowska — May 18, 2011 @ 2:16 am
99% of the my client still insist "me me me me & me" approach, which render their social netwok effort meaningless.
Comment by Chest and lung — May 18, 2011 @ 2:43 am
Very knowledgeable information form me. It is right most of your fan don't see your post, Make your post interesting and useful for them so they see your post
Comment by Logicspice — May 18, 2011 @ 2:48 am
Great article! Regarding Mistake #3, I have seen research data that 60-70% users would not allow an app to access their private information, with each extra permission line adding 3%…
Comment by @saumrk — May 18, 2011 @ 3:31 am
excellent
Comment by mariamz — May 18, 2011 @ 4:01 am
All articles are really appreciative.
All facebook related article are very good.
Comment by Mehboob Talukdar — May 18, 2011 @ 5:32 am
Thanks a lot. Ecactly this is my main challenge, when it comes to convince my clients about the desperately needed Ad-Budget…
Still so much to be done… Cheers from Germany…
Comment by @stimmenfang — May 18, 2011 @ 6:31 am
Great tips, I confess I am guilty of at least a couple of these FB fan page mistakes. So, save me some time…where do I go to remove app access from my account?
Comment by Eunice Coughlin — May 18, 2011 @ 7:35 am
This is so true. I just scroll past so many posts b/c of that and it's surprising how some of the big players who should know better (online companies!) share too much.
Comment by Eunice Coughlin — May 18, 2011 @ 7:37 am
This is quiet interesting man, thanks for sharing … have a nice Day!
Comment by ibouzir — May 18, 2011 @ 7:49 am
This post is a breathe of fresh air! I find myself constantly telling people that if they don't have significant traffic (FB ads) their super-duper-fancy landing page isn't going to do them any good.
Thanks for putting this together Brian.
Cheers,
Nick
Comment by Nick Unsworth — May 18, 2011 @ 9:19 am
Where's the big "LIKE" button for this? Though social marketing/media is supposed to be the next big move in market (or is it already in action), it seem clear that most are not even close to utilzing the potential out there. Interesting post. Thanks
Comment by Dean K Miller — May 18, 2011 @ 9:59 am
Have been reading your posts for some time – and this is one of the best articles I've seen anywhere on "mistakes" – thanks, am sharing (not "over-sharing")
I have a list of the Top 25 mistakes Businesses make In Social Media: http://www.socialbiznow.com/2011/04/the-top-25-re... – would love to know if you think I've missed any…
Comment by roohimoolla — May 18, 2011 @ 10:40 am
Well said, thankyou! I do think though that you're putting all apps in the same bucket. Plenty of apps exist which don't require permission for fans to interact with. I'd love also to know the stats on app abandonment though, as I also don't know anyone who gives their permission away for anything less than a one in 10 chance to win an iPad.
Angie VanDenzen
Community Manager at Circus Strategic Communications
Comment by Angie — May 18, 2011 @ 10:56 am
A very good article! Thanks Brian for sharing these thoughts on common misunderstanding that i can approve in work with my industry clients
Comment by boris — May 18, 2011 @ 1:12 pm
This is a phenomenal article.
I agree with everything here! The one thing I would like to add comes into the engagement aspect of running the page, where basically when you know your audience, you know what kind of stuff they're going to be interested in, and different media formats.
For example, some audiences might really be into to Video, some might be more into audio (so they can listen and do other stuff, and some might be more into reading. Experimenting with different formats can do great things for engagement, and help improve the overall experience.
Comment by Tommy Walker — May 18, 2011 @ 1:20 pm
7 it's a small number!
Comment by [D][S][N] — May 18, 2011 @ 1:29 pm
Great info! Thank you.
Comment by Beata — May 18, 2011 @ 2:40 pm
This is a great article. thanks!
Comment by Maureen Clark — May 18, 2011 @ 3:54 pm
"If you aren’t getting at least a one percent feedback rate, you probably are missing the mark in connecting with the bulk of your audience."
I heard .5% feedback is a benchmark for success, for that specific metric.
Comment by @digitalng — May 18, 2011 @ 4:16 pm
Brilliant! I'll check out your Fan Page, your newsfeed and your photos every day.
Comment by Web Marketing Italy — May 18, 2011 @ 4:28 pm
Awesome round up. I am pleased to say I dont fall into those categories, however, I find myself reminding clients often about #5. It's easy to do, but share other's posts and links and you'll find that you'll engage more fans by providing a good well rounded source of info for your fans. They'll come back for more. I've found a daily deal to be successful for generating revenue, but i limit this to 3 spread out months of the year, so that i don't put fans off and turn them away.
Comment by @sambeamond — May 18, 2011 @ 5:14 pm
This is an excellent article! I think I'm headed in the right direction, but I know I still have a lot to learn.
I think I may try an ad soon, but I admit I've been hesitant.
Comment by @JLynnPro — May 19, 2011 @ 10:44 am
yes me too… where is the data coming from.. i would like to know
Comment by digitalhospitality — May 20, 2011 @ 11:19 am
Lots to think about and put into action here…some of it I know because of SNCC and some of it is part of my current learning curve. Thanks for continuing to always deepen my experience of social media in a meaningful, applicable way!
Comment by Maridel Bowes — May 20, 2011 @ 1:56 pm
It's getting clients to understand it's not all about them – it's so true – great blog
Comment by Wendy Sutherland — May 20, 2011 @ 5:13 pm
Yes i would like that too?? Has anyone figured out how to get genuine fans without spamming thru fiverr??
Comment by nvwebmedia — May 20, 2011 @ 11:52 pm
Great post for undertanding facebook system and avoiding very frequent mistakes
Comment by @eugguarino — May 21, 2011 @ 1:34 pm
extra ordinary. Liked it…..!!!
Comment by Monju — May 22, 2011 @ 10:11 am
Good information for all.
Comment by Monju — May 22, 2011 @ 10:14 am
Good stuff here…learned a lot about this from a social media bootcamp I took, Social Network Coaching Club…..I agree about the apps…I am one of them….and loved your graphic…which shows the harsh reality of it all. You've helped confirm the way I look at Fan pages/Biz pages and social media in general. Its all about interaction and engaging….which my coach couldn't stress enough! She also shared and recommended we read this post:) Thanks for facts and the visual…which leave an impression!
Comment by Rita Brennan Freay — May 22, 2011 @ 10:09 pm
Haven't you read the title of this article? The point is talking about common mistakes. You can do anything you want, but take care not doing what is mentionned above… There is no magic formula, but there are things to avoid. By knowing them… you know where to go. And there are millions of post about what to do, if you mind joining the JFGI religion.
Comment by @guermica_ — May 23, 2011 @ 2:01 am
very well written article. thank you.
Comment by Vikram — May 23, 2011 @ 6:46 am
Great article.
Comment by wordjunky01 — May 23, 2011 @ 10:53 pm
Excellent article! I recommend FB ads to all my clients. A small budget really does go a long way and you can be sure that you are targeting the relevant audience.
Comment by Matt Welvaert — May 27, 2011 @ 3:21 am
Good tips Brian. Interaction is key. Point #1 is totally right on. Too many make the mistake of thinking that people will re-visit the fan page. That's not the case most of time. It's always good to think about what others think.. and that is "what's in it for me?"
Comment by Matthew L. — June 3, 2011 @ 2:33 pm
It's "fewer results" not "less results."
Comment by Linda — June 6, 2011 @ 7:53 pm
A great post. The big one is the news feed being the default and most people being unaware about the options available. This was intentional in my opinion as it's a way to filter what has seen the most interest. For marketers it's tricky and constantly tweaking and rethinking every post you make to maximize potential engagement is being pushed to forefront even more so now.
Comment by Anthony — June 7, 2011 @ 6:46 am
Thats a huge eye opener. I mean, how many people spend hundreds of dollars on the fan gate. they'd do far better if they spend the money on facebook ad to getting interested people.
What's your take on buying facebook page likes?
Comment by @SalesMaximus — June 9, 2011 @ 11:35 am
Great Post, I never know they was so much thing i need to do with my facebook page and fan page..I'm def taking those ideas into consideration
Comment by Ralph Thelemaque — June 13, 2011 @ 9:29 am
[...] every business on earth is doing whatever they can to grow their fan count. From big brands tagging the end of their TV commercials, to local merchants plastering their [...]
Pingback by Getting A Return On Investment In Facebook Like-Gates — June 30, 2011 @ 11:12 am
That's a very good article. Thanks.
Comment by Hunter Gatherer — July 4, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
Excellent article, thanks!
Comment by Martin — July 20, 2011 @ 10:25 am
Or, the Golden Rule still works.
Comment by Donna B. — August 4, 2011 @ 2:17 am
[...] topic that has been blogged to death, but is of critical importance: People don’t go back to Facebook pages much at all. They might see your posts in their newsfee…, but they won’t likely click through to your [...]
Pingback by 7 Money Saving Ways For Local Businesses To Market Themselves On Facebook — October 26, 2011 @ 12:21 pm
Yes i agree with jkyriak. I ran ads for a while and found that i was getting a decent amount of clicks and my ads were being used up but not too many likes. I have put my advertising budget elsewhere instead of facebook ads.
Comment by David — December 11, 2011 @ 1:10 pm
Great article, confirms all the conclusions i've come to on my own lately. But I disagree slightly with the welcome tab thing – if you set your facebook ads to land on the tab, at least some people will click through to that rather than just hit like on the ad. And if you put a link on that tab, you can track it. On a fashion brand we at Flod recently managed, about 15-20% of fb adv new fans clicked through from the tab to the website (using involver, it provides a unique link that you can track with google analytics). On a few hundred fans, that's notable website traffic and one happy client.
Comment by Alexandra — December 12, 2011 @ 2:42 am
[...] That’s great, but it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t interact with those who currently like your page. [...]
Pingback by 10 Ways To Keep Your Facebook Fans Following You — January 10, 2012 @ 11:08 am
Thanks a lot , small mistakes but we tent to forget , thanks for all the updates
Comment by infocusrx — January 11, 2012 @ 2:42 pm
Don't use all caps… It is considered to be 'shouting' and in audio software programs will actually speak more boldly. Good Luck!
Comment by Becky — January 19, 2012 @ 7:17 pm
#2 That's why I won't pay for a welcome page app, I just use the free one (extended info). One great thing about having the welcome tab is that 'Google images' will crawl this tab and cache the images on it… so if someone is looking to fill up their Google image search, a welcome tab is the way to go, (the free one).
Comment by Becky Lee — January 19, 2012 @ 7:20 pm
Thanks for your article. This is useful to me because we can avoid lots of mistakes done by us. Actually i haven't knowledge with facebook page and generate traffic from facebook page. These Facebook consultant ideas more helpful to our path.
Comment by redsn0w — February 5, 2012 @ 7:31 pm