When you are getting started on Facebook for your business,(yes, there are still many folks who aren’t on board) one of the most challenging tendencies to overcome is acting as if you are speaking to a group or population. Using words like “everyone” “you all” “anyone” is very impersonal and ineffective.
You will get more engagement when your Facebook updates (conversations) are directed at just one person, your customer or client. And, the key is to know that customer really well. That means you’ve done your homework and know your market. So let’s take a look at what you might want to know (and if this is a friend, you’d know this and a lot more!)
1. Is your market male or female?
2. Is your market married? Single? Divorced?Does your market have children? If so, how many? How old are they?
3. What level of education does your market have? High School? College? Graduate School?
4. Is your market business owners? Career executives? Stay at home moms?
5. Where did your market take their last vacation?
6. What does your market do for fun? (Golf? Knit? Garden? Cook? Entertain? Restore cars? Remodel homes?)
7. Where does your market live, geographically? (When you are brick and mortar this is regional and limited. When you are online this is often global.)
8. Does your market eat fast food or five star?
9. What is your market’s lifestyle?
The more in depth you go, the more targeted you will be in your communications and the more relevant you’ll become. For example, if you are sharing updates about living the single life and your market is stay at home moms, you are missing the boat. Your message must match your market and be personally social.
That means that instead of “Hey everyone, what do you think of this room design?”
You’d post “Love this romantic bedroom, click like if it’s your fave too!”
Oh and use your conversational language. This is nothing more than a written conversation. It isn’t an email, an article, or a paper. Don’t be too formal, do use good grammar, but you can relax your spelling to include how you sound. Words like “right backatcha” aren’t proper grammar but work in “written social” conversation.
Notice in the revised post, I’ve added a clear call to action. These days we are all over run with to do lists, so to beat overwhelm, we are eager for someone to tell us what they want us to do. Tell your “likes” (Facebook Fans) specifically what you want them to do. Train them to interact with your posts. This training is preliminary to getting them to buy.
Go on now and check out your own business page on Facebook. Look at your updates, notice if they have first person appeal or you sound like you are broadcasting to a population. Make the shifts necessary to go one on one.
Hey, as always, I want your COMMENTS below! What has worked for you on Facebook? What hasn’t? How well do you know your market?
