I have compiled a list of all the activities that I think are considered as Facebook marketing gone wrong or in other words – facepalms.
To make matters more interesting, I’ve added +2 points to each item on the list.
The logic behind that is that the more points you have, the more you fail at Facebook.
Add them up and see how you stand!
1. Your fanpage doesn’t have a vanity url.
Instead, the web address of your Facebook fan page consists of random numbers. If that's the case, you won’t be able to successfully establish a link between offline and online marketing.
For example, if your URL is facebook.com/pages/your-cool-business/1243195150571521 then no-one will be able to memorize it.
This however means that you cannot link the connections from offline marketing to your online presence such as print media to Facebook.
You can set one up here. Pick a name that can be pronounced easily and also which features important keywords about your business. If you’re a photography studio, you should definitely use those two keywords in your URL to help with SEO.
+2 points
2. You don’t have a welcome page
All of the people who somehow find your page land directly on your wall. Oh hell no!
You should direct them to a dedicated spot where you can control the message that you want to communicate. You should add a call-to-action and a very brief overview of what your business is all about.
PS! Make it easily understandable. Few sentences is more than enough. Any more and you risk being ignored by people who are reluctant to read more than a paragraph.
Moreover, provide the users with a couple of reasons for liking your page. According to a survey by ExactTarget, more than 63% users expect something in return for liking your page.
Provide them with discounts, special offers, exclusive content and tell them what they’ll receive as you welcome them on your landing page. For some inspiration, see my post about 26 Great Facebook Landing Page Examples.
+2 points
3. Your landing page is not your page’s default landing tab.
You would be surprised how often I find a fan page with a welcome page that has not been made the default landing tab. Triple-check that you are sending the new users to the right destination which is your landing page.
+2 points
4. You are not using custom applications.
You are missing a huge opportunity if you’re not using custom applications.
These custom applications include sweepstakes, promotional information, educational information, interactive games, video content, etc.
There are some free third party applications which can be used to build your own landing pages and contact forms and so on. For more information read about our post titled 4 Free Landing Page Creation Tools.
+2 points
5. You’re only posting product information or otherwise boring content.
No-one is interested in your product – they are interested in how your product or service makes their life easier.
This is exactly why all of the plain product information is regarded as boring. If you seriously want to post some product information then do it with style – add some fun into it and tell the consumers why the product should be important to them (how exactly does it make their life easier).
+2 points
6. Your fans are not engaged.
You have more than several fans but none of them are active.
They simply don’t respond to your communication – no shares, no likes, no comments – no success.
You want your fans to be active which means turning all of those no’s into yes’.
Following this guideline might help: use call to actions and post relevant content that your target audience is likely to respond.
+2 points
7. You are not using Call-To-Actions.
You simply expect your target audience to do the desired action.
What? You should tell your audience what you want them to do.
A survey by Momentus Media found that using CTA’s increase the interaction rate by 216% which I don’t have to tell you is a very significant difference.
This kind of variance makes a huge impact on your EdgeRank score. I’ll explain why a good EdgeRank score is crucial in the next paragraph.
+2 points
8. Your EdgeRank score sucks
This means you are highly unlikely to appear on people’s newsfeed.
To increase the likelihood of appearing on the walls of your fans, you must create affinity and weight.
Affinity is measured by how much the person interacts with your brand – when was the last time he commented or liked your post.
Weight is determined by the type of your post whereas videos get the best weight. They are followed by photos, links and text updates which are the least valuable.
PS! A huge factor of EdgeRank is time which decreased in time, so make sure to always post new updates.
Use EdgeRankChecker to find out your EdgeRank score. Anything above 20 points is considered good.
+2 points
9. The last post you made was two weeks ago.
As described in the last few paragraphs, time is an important part of EdgeRank’s algorithm and if you stop posting consistently your EdgeRank score will decrease.
This means that less posting results in the drop of the likelihood of appearing on your fans’ news feed.
+2 points
10. In your sweepstakes you’re only giving out irrelevant prizes.
Some businesses make sweepstakes with prizes such as iPads and iPhones. While it might be right for some, it definitely isn’t for most businesses.
The best practice is to give out prizes that are relevant with your business. An insurance agency should give out their own car insurance policies as prizes.
Sure, you might get less fans with your sweepstakes competitions but you are making sure that the target audience you do reach are actually interested in your product.
Everyone is interested in a free iPad which defeats the purpose in my opinion.
+2 points
11. You haven’t tested the best times for posting.
You think you know the right time to publish your posts but actually you have no clue.
What’s worse, you only post during weekdays. I recommend reading Jay Baer’s article on the timing of posting.
+2 points
12. You have no photos on your fan page.
It seems that people like visual content and you’re missing out if you have no photos of your products, workplace, the people behind your business etc.
+2 points
13. You have nothing on your ‘info’ tab
It’s completely empty or the only piece of information there is the link to your website.
You should add a brief and very simple information about your business. Don’t make 5 boring paragraphs about the history of your business.
No-one’s interested in that. Yawn.
+2 points
14. Your communication style is not personalized.
You haven’t added your name or initials to your posts which means the fans really have no idea who is the real person they are communicating with.
In my experience no-one wants to communicate with a corporate entity, they are more interested in communicating with other people.
+2 points
Bonus: You're not sending traffic to your site
The best way to grow your email list and increase revenue is using optimized landing pages on your site. We're big fans of Clickfunnels and Leadpages for getting this done but also have an article on some Leadpages alternatives you can check out.
So, how many points did you get?