Respond In A Timely Fashion

This may seem obvious, but its a best practice ignored more often than you’d think. If a client or potential customer reaches out to you with a specific inquiry or comment, they’re expecting a timely reply: Don’t leave messages sitting in your inbox, particularly if your page is public and is seen to be regularly posting. Its also important not to ignore comment threads on individual posts, which can be easy to lose track of as they’re replaced with new ones. Even if you don’t have an immediate answer to a question you’re posed, its always advisable to let the person know that you’re in the process of following up. Punctual response is always appreciated, and is simple as a few keystrokes.

Remain Calm

One arguable drawback of social media’s personal nature is that things can get publicly (and easily) combative in the event of an upset customer. When put on the spot by someone unreasonable , it’s important to keep your cool and remember that your entire base of followers are watching. Show your audience that you’re able to deal with conflict in a collected manner, and they’ll respect you for it. If all else fails and the person is antagonistic, you can always block or report them to the platform administrators. The key is to always be aware of your audience and never risk presenting yourself as unhelpful or rude.

Speak Succinctly

The reason platforms like Twitter are designed around brief messages is because they operate on the assumption that web users have short attention spans. If you can transcend your point in fewer words without losing key details, you’re in a better position for your audience to stay engaged throughout a given post. Its fine to expand on customer queries during a private message exchange, but it’s best to write your public exchanges in an uncomplicated manner, under the assumption that your answer will be useful to many people watching.

Often, non web-savvy business owners will hear about how popular Facebook is, assume they need to be represented there at any cost, then whip up a quick and dirty profile with no ongoing management plan just to be able to say: “My business is on Facebook”. Needless to say, this can risk you projecting a confusing image, or worse, appearing lazy/lackluster for not committing to a regular posting schedule.

The reason I’m focusing on this topic is because it’s in every business owner’s best interest to really think hard about their business before making the jump to Facebook. Some questions you should ask yourself:

1. Do I have the ability to make my field of business come across as “interesting” to my target audience?

2. Do I have enough time and shareable content to be able commit to a regular posting schedule?

3. Is my business’s image engaging enough that I can jump right into Facebook without a significant rebranding?

If you can honestly answer “yes” to these three questions, then chances are you’re ready to start a Facebook business page. Social media users are notoriously short attention-spanned with the content they consume, so the more “interesting” your field comes across as, the more likely you’ll be able to craft a brand message that appeals to this audience. This isn’t to say that any business can’t have an engaging Facebook presence, but it really comes down to what product/service you have to offer and how dedicated your social media manager is.

So how do you decide when your business is ready to make the jump Facebook? First, consider your audience’s relation to your product. Are they excited about it or is it just something that they need, but don’t necessarily have an emotional connection to? Is it something they begrudge (a clamping/tow truck company)? Something “mundane” (a laundromat)? Or perhaps something that’s controversial (a political cause)? It’s up to you to decide on whether the public perception of your message makes it worth the time commitment and overall effort.

To conclude, one of the most engaging part about a business’s Facebook page is it’s voice. Even having just cautioned businesses in fields where upkeeping a Facebook presence might prove challenging, it still stands that a competent social media manager can write a compelling brand message regardless of business type if they’ve done their research and understand their target audience. So, to answer the question posed in the title of this post: “yes”, as long as you are fully committed to establishing a compelling voice and have the time/resources to follow through on it. Otherwise, it might be time to seek outside help.