The perils of using Facebook for your marketing
Do you rely heavily on Facebook for your marketing? If so ….
Are you aware of the perils of using Facebook?
On Monday the Facebook page for the world’s largest social media magazine, Social Media Examiner, disappeared. Yep! Gone completely without warning! This page had over 380,000 followers and is an excellent source of information but for some unknown reason it went!
The owner, Michael Steizner, posted this message on his own Facebook page.
And this message appeared on their Google+ page.
What transpired from messages posted in response was this has happened to numerous followers ranging from pages with fans of just a few hundred to one with over 3 million followers!!!
This proves that can happen to anyone at any level. I personally know of a lady who sold handbags through her Facebook page and had just over 4000 followers. Overnight her page disappeared and she lost contact with all these prospective customers. She had to start from scratch again and in the meantime her business basically stopped.
So please don’t sit back and think it will never happen to you. Hopefully, it won’t but any business should put plans in place to protect themselves should it happen to you.
Remember, something like this can happen to anyone and any business and once your page is gone, it’s gone!! You are unlikely to ever get it back.
As a business, you don’t own your fans or your page so if your page goes you lose contact with these people.
What can cause my Facebook page to disappear
There are a number of reasons why a Facebook page can disappear such as:
- An administrator deleting or un-publishing the page. Make sure you know who has access to make changes to your page and remove anyone who should not have permission anymore.
- A breach of Facebook guidelines. So many Facebook users are totally unaware of the guidelines. One of the most common breaches I see are pages running competitions and asking for likes and shares in order to enter which is a direct breach. If this gets spotted and reported you are in serious danger of your page being removed.
- Using your personal profile as a business page. Again, this is a breach of Facebook guidelines. If you haven’t already read it, have a read of the article Facebook Business Page vs Personal Page
- Technical issues. It appears this may be the case with Social Media Examiner and their page has now been restored. However, there is no guarantee that once your page has gone that it can be recovered.
The key lesson here is DO NOT put all your eggs in one basket. Do not purely rely on one social media platform for all your marketing. Always make sure you list build so that whatever happens outside of your control, you have a database of email addresses that allows you to retain contact with your prospects and fans.
What can I do to get my Facebook fans onto my mailing list?
Here are a few tips to help you get your Facebook fans onto your mailing list:
Have an opt-in form
Put an opt-in form on your website so that when you post your blog on your Facebook page and readers get taken to your site, they have the option to sign up. Put one in the sidebar and at the top or bottom of your blog posts so that people can easily subscribe to get future news and information delivered directly to their inbox.
Offer an incentive
In order to make it more attractive for people to sign up, offer them a freebie to download when they sign up. If you are in the holiday home industry this could be something such as ‘Top 10 things to look for when booking a holiday’ or ‘A guide to choosing a colour for your home’ if you are an interior designer.
Post links to your opt-in form
Make sure you have a link to your opt-in form everywhere you can. Use Facebook apps to add one to your business page and include the link at the bottom of your Facebook posts.
Ask for email addresses in groups
If you are in a group on Facebook and someone asks a question which you take the time to answer, ask them for their email address to send some further information. Send them a little extra info and let them know you will add them to your mailing list (with the option to unsubscribe) for any future news.
Ask interactive fans for their email address
When a person comments on one of your posts you now have the option to send them a message (see pic below). Use this to thank them for their comment and to invite them to join your mailing list (remember to send them the link).
So now you know the perils of using Facebook and to how to protect yourself.
I hope you have found this article useful and please share the love and pass it on to anyone else you know who has a Facebook business page.
