6 Facebook Mistakes You’re Making for your Small Business

You’ve been killing it all through 2020, working hard and surviving the pandemic. But you have this gut feeling your business isn’t living up to its full potential. What more can you do? You have social media, you have a website, you have a storefront, you have great customer service … what’s missing? Well, I can’t speak to some of those, though I do have plenty of things to say about customer service and whatnot. What I can tell you is you probably aren’t optimizing your small business’ Facebook page. Here are fixes for six mistakes you’re making that can help your company thrive. 

1. Using Inconsistent Brand Voice

If you have a storefront and website, you took time to brand it with your company’s values, visions and goals. Why shouldn’t your Facebook Page also reflect your identity? A page can be a little casual, but you should always strive to maintain a balance between who you are and what your company represents. 

We’ve talked before about having a consistent voice as a company and being true to who you are. When you apply this to your website, your ads and your social media pages, this builds trust with new and existing customers. They know what to expect from you, and not in a dry, boring way. Your company may be very eco-friendly or veteran-led, and these are not only attributes that make you who you are, they are also messages your customers expect from you. Lean in!

2. Not Utilizing Ads

This couldn’t be easier to fix; start using Facebook Ads! When it comes to paying for promotion, many small business owners shy away, but this is doing more damage for your bottom dollar than good. 

Most ads can be created within a very small budget and, unlike traditional forms of promotion, they can be targeted to specific markets through age group, gender, location and common interests. The important thing to remember is what you want out of the ad, and the answer can’t always be “more sales.”

Keep two to three objectives in mind for an ad campaign; things like:

• Drive traffic to your website or blog
• Improve brand awareness
• Build your facebook page
• Engage with current or past clients
• Expand reach

3. Not Engaging with Your Online Community

Don’t post and forget! What was the point of coming up with content if you’re just going to ignore what people say about it? I’m not saying you have to check it every ten minutes but set a time at least once a day to answer messages, respond to comments, interact with other pages in your community and invite people to follow your page. All of what I just mentioned can be completed in 10 minutes or less while making a huge impact on your online presence. Not only will those interacting with your page be pleased to hear from you, but you’re giving that same great customer service you would in-person to every potential customer who sees your page. Don’t let them down!

4. Busy Posts

Don’t post a block of text. No one will get to the end of the post without scrolling on. It’s as simple as that; if you have a block on text to share, break it up into several posts, include a photo with some in the information or break the text up into tiny chunks for easy digestion.

5. Incomplete About Section

One of the easiest things you can do for your Facebook page is complete the About section. This section talks about who you are, what you do and how people can reach you. Sounds important, right? This isn’t something you should invest hours of time in, but it is something you want to do right. Sit down and take the time to go through each topic to ensure it reads the way a potential or existing customer would want to hear. Don’t forget to double-check your contact information, open hours, address and any menu or pricing information! Have a friend check it out to make sure nothing is missing, as a fresh set of eyes always helps.

6. No Call to Action

You have people on your page looking at your content. What now? Without a call to action, potential customers don’t know where to go or what to do so they scroll past. Adding a CALL NOW button or add your website link with FIND OUT MORE at the bottom of your post. Never assume someone knows what to do next. Make sure it’s crystal clear to your followers what you want them to do next and how you want them to interact with your page.

No matter what marketing efforts you’re using for your small business, make sure you’re optimizing them. Facebook is a fantastic tool but only if used properly, and the marketing team at Rooted Web is here to help.