Even though Facebook is an easy to use tool that will help to grow a business, mistakes can be made with it that will hurt the business. Some of these mistakes could be detrimental to the business, so you will want to avoid doing them at all costs. Inform any employees who have admin access to the page as well, so there aren’t any mistakes made on their part.
Mistakes to Avoid
1. Spelling and grammar errors.
Nothing screams out unprofessional faster than errors with spelling, grammar and punctuation. The occasional typo is forgiven, but when it is repeated it just begs to have people unfriend the site or ignore future posts because they can’t tolerate to read them. Read everything twice before it is posted to save the business from embarrassment later on by discovering an error.
2. Personal pictures and information.
There is a time and a place for personal comments and they aren’t on the business page. Post the family vacation pictures and the comments about the terrible driver in front of you on your own page where customers can’t see the gripe. When there is ever a question about if a post or picture should go up on the business page, don’t do it. Hesitation means it shouldn’t be there and on the personal page instead, if even out there at all.
3. Inappropriate information.
Having something inappropriate on the Facebook page is never something that should occur. Keep the information centered on the industry you perform in and the business alone. Keep small town politics, religion and other information away from the page if it does not pertain to your business. Nothing will drive people away from your business like posts made about politicians or religions that could cause a flame war to erupt. There is enough drama to go around, keep it away from hurting your business whenever possible.
4. Comments reflecting the competition.
There is always competition in the industry trying to take customers away from your business. No matter what they might say, do or post, keep it off of your page. Take the high road and never mention what the competition is doing, right or wrong. Posting derogatory remarks about another business will take away customers almost as fast as religious or political posts will.
5. Repetitive posts.
A joke is funny the first time it is told or read, but not so much the second or third time. After the fourth time or more, it is downright stale. Therefore, don’t repeat posts going up on your page ever. Mention something once and always strive for new content after that. The only way something should be repeated is if there is an overwhelming demand by the viewers to see it again, then there is an exception made. Then and only then!
6. Begging for likes, shares and friends.
Posts that ask to share your page are acceptable every so often, like once every month or two. Putting up a post each week and asking for friends to share the page turns in to begging and no one likes a beggar. Begging is next to whining and nagging and that is just plain annoying. Viewers understand when a page wants to get more likes are feel comfortable doing it for a contest or once. Asking any more often than that and they worry about becoming a pest to their own friends and they aren’t as likely to do it.
7. Not posting.
Busy business owners are usually time starved and posting to Facebook is the last item on the to-do list for the day. However, it should be moved up a little bit because a day without a post turns in to a week which then means a month has gone by without any interaction with the users. Posts don’t have to be daily, but they should at least occur weekly to keep your business in the minds of the friends who have liked the page. If you are in their mind, they will be more likely to utilize your services when the time comes.