Facebook is a powerful marketing tool for any sort of company. It’s also a great way to take what was 5 free minutes and look up 3 hours later to see you’ve just watched 14 different videos of cats riding remote control cars. That being said, if your business Facebook page is working well it can drive traffic to your website and business to your company. At the very least it’s a research tool for consumers to see what your company is about and to make sure you’re still around. One post from 3 years ago doesn’t help that image by the way. However, Facebook can also be a very tricky beast to tame and the last thing your company needs is to make the wrong Facebook post. Those are tough to come back from.
I can spend all sorts of time and energy giving you the do’s and don’ts of Facebook posts but outside of some common sense information like don’t post nude picture and don’t yell at your clients/fans (like these idiots did), I think the biggest piece of information I can pass on to a business for their Facebook page is to remember that you’re speaking as a business not an individual; Plain and simple. It’s the business voice that is speaking, not yours.
That means unless you’re in politics don’t get political. Sure you might be very passionate about your republican or democratic views but your business shouldn’t be. Remember that no matter what your stance is about half of your current or potential clients feel the exact opposite. Inside you may think they are stupid and ridiculous for thinking the opposite of you but last I checked their money is the same shade of green as yours. Keep them off your timeline. The same goes for religious posts. They are called personal views for a reason. Keep them that way.
Guess what else a company doesn’t do? Gossip. It’s a business Facebook page, not a high school locker room. Do not tell us what you think of so and so or what a mess your client Susan’s house was when you were there doing work. A business wouldn’t talk about something like that because a business wouldn’t care. A business might playfully say something like “How ready are you for a zombie apocalypse” but it definitely wouldn’t get on everyone’s bad side by ruining the latest episode of the Walking Dead with spoiler chit chat. Keep that stuff to your personal page. Actually don’t even do that on your personal page. Nobody likes having their shows spoiled on Facebook.
The point is to remember that not everyone shares the same views as yourself and having your business Facebook page echo your every thought and opinion is a great way to anger existing customers and deter potential ones. Keep your business posts upbeat, entertaining and engaging not catty, opinionated or rude. If you can’t do this yourself then hire professionals to do it for you. Nobody likes getting their emotions poked…especially on Facebook.