• http://www.brandignity.com Brandignity

    I think the most important thing is for businesses to think outside the box. Don’t self promote too much, be unique and share, share and share some more. 

    • http://www.harrypound.com/seminars Public Seminars

      Agree. Also, they should spend more time and money giving the consumers the reason to love them more. 

  • http://twitter.com/bluetidepro Zach Reed

    Good post but I disagree with “7. Don’t Let Users Post on Your Wall”. Disabling this feature makes your brand not very transparent and a lot of users will call you out on this. It makes you look like you have something to hide. A good brand will allow posts and just delete spam or address any negative comments right on there Facebook wall. Transparency in today’s brands are a lot more important with so many social areas for people to backlash and such.

  • RTCPhotoWork

    You miss the mark with #7. You can delete spam and other posts you would rather not have on your wall. To cut off users from posting on your page is to cut yourself off from customer service opportunities. You miss the chance to right wrongs with customers who otherwise might not contact you with their dissatisfaction. While it is less than ideal to have that in public view, other customers appreciate the transparency and benefit from seeing you handle dissatisfaction quickly and kindly. You miss the chance at a spontaneous positive review. There an missed opportunities for inquiries as well. When moderated, an open wall is good for business. We have to remember that we can’t treat social media as static media of old; marketing is very much a collaboration with the audience whereas before it was a tightly controlled outreach to the audience.

  • https://twitter.com/#!/vknipper vknipper

    On #7 – “Though you need to talk to your fans, you must not let them post to your brands wall.”

    To not allow your fans to post on the wall would essentially be a one-way conversation and simply broadcasting, in my opinion. How can they ask questions, share glowing testimonials about your products and services, post photos or communicate with the other members of the community by being blocked from sharing? 
    If a page has enough of an audience that you think they would receive a lot of spam or inappropriate posts, the brand would (hopefully) have a social media monitoring plan to deal with those types of posts. I just checked the Top 50 Branded Facebook Fan Pages January 2012 via Ignite Social Media – and only 15 out of the top 50 had their walls closed for commenting. And the ones that were closed were brands that market to a young audience – pages such as: Xbox, Playstation, Disney, MTV, etc.

    It’s understandable why brands that market to a young audience would not allow fan posts, but for everyone else… with the option to default to the brand posts and the ability for fans to click on “everyone’s” posts on a page if they want to see them – why block them from sharing? Some of the most engaging brand pages are those that allow their fans to express themselves :)

    • Eric Plantenberg

      i completely agree … we have a ton of very meaningful interaction from our customers / fans posting on our page.

  • ChiefAlchemist

    These are all good solid tips but I believe it over-emphasizes the importance of the Page itself.

    While I have no solid data other than my FB habits (and to some extent the habits of my friends and colleagues), I would guess-timate that a very high percentage of the engagement and interaction takes place while Page status updates are flowing in and through Like’ers News feeds. Actual page visits? That’s not really how the social media model works, yes?

    Before I forget let me add #8 – Always attach an image to your page’s updates. Images make the updates easier to see, they’re a means to branding, and they can also be shared. I’m not so sure a stock update (i.e., no image, no link) can be Shared. We want shares, right? Right!

    Bottom line…if your resources are limited/fixed then investing energy in apps, etc. might be a waste of time. I would say that what you say and how (i.e., #8) is more important than how unique your page is or what apps your using (that few might ever see).

  • http://www.lexi-soft.co.uk/ Umesh Ramidi

     Thanks for the post, this tutorial will help me while marketing on facebook.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jelebonio Jelly Bone

    Hi everyone!  I want to explain  #7 somehow for those who got it in the wrong way. I was talking not about FULL posts block. Comments, likes, private messages and opinions are crucial for two-way communication and brand popularity among customers. But I didn’t mean that important aspects. I was writing about direct posts from other users to your brand wall which can be either spam messages or such that spoil your reputation. To my opinion, it is a sort of a right thing. And it doesn’t influence two-way communication at all as your customers may contact you via private messages and comments.

    • http://twitter.com/lurkmoophy Luke Murphy

      I completely disagree with this method! I work for an agency that looks after the facebook pages of some huge brands in the UK, and we would never suggest straight-up banning posts to the wall, as it provides another way for fans to interact with your brand. Instead, we monitor the pages (just use the email settings, and get an email everytime someone posts) and have a clear social media policy on the page, outlining what is and isn’t acceptable. Then we can respond/delete where needed easily and efficiently. That way you are seen as being open and transparent (by not making customers go through private message) and you aren’t hijacking other comment threads with irrelevant issues…

  • cutebiz

    I’d like to add that using none fan teaser to invite “Like” so that interesting fan content can be viewed – would increase number of fan for your page. Such as “Click Like to view my hidden secret…”.

  • Akbal

    I’m working on a Facebook page for my company. We have an e-learning Platform, should we let them post on the wall? They are under 16 years old.
    Thanks for your help!

  • http://www.bed-adjustable.co.uk/waterbeds/ Waterbeds

    I think the most important thing is for business to think outside the box. Don’t self promote too much, be unique and share, share and share some more.