Facebook has been around since 2006. That’s right – most of us have children (or grandchildren) older than this. The roller coaster ride of the Facebook explosion has been surreal, and it’s only going to continue on. But how does your chapter utilize Facebook marketing? Does it have a group of fans that it caters to, or do you have the chorus following itself? Social networking, while new, is how many new members can not only be found, but kept. But only if you are doing it right.
Keep On Target
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Most any marketing program,requires goals – Facebook marketing is no different. They don’t have to be complicated, nor do they need to be lofty – just keep then realistic, and measurable.
- Increase your likes by 20 people per month
- Boost your total reach by 15% a week
- Get one new visitor per month from social media
Once you set your goal(s), start looking into all the various ways to obtain those goals. Will you purchase an ad? Very affordable, and low maintenance. With the new “boost post feature, Facebook marketing has become really simple to engage new networks you have not tapped into, and would never find with print or email.
Facebook Marketing Should Be Engaging
So what does ‘engaging’ even mean? The goal of a post is to get your audience to do, well, something. Watch a video, click a link, comment on a post. Facebook often becomes somewhat of just an announcement page where we end up just shouting at people and hoping they will listen. I fall victim to this as well – it’s easy to use it as an announcement board. But what if we started using it as a way to interact. Try asking questions. Do you sing in the shower? You just said yes didn’t you? Maybe you get my point?
Sometimes it just doesn’t work, and you get no response. That doesn’t mean Facebook isn’t working for you – it means you aren’t working with it. Don’t give up – it takes 5 minutes a day to post something quick to engage your audience. Just keep talking with them, not talking at them, and you will see the reward.
Keep It Different
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Most importantly, keep a variety of things to say and do. Funny pictures, text only, links, videos. There are so many ways to engage with your fans. When is the last time you simply recorded some of your rehearsal – maybe a really emotional part of a song, or something funny that happened. Would your audience watch it? You bet they would! What if you posted a short video… every day? You would turn quickly into the most annoying page…ever! It’s ok to withhold some things for later date. An application I like to use is called Buffer. It’s free (with limited usage, but most would be fine with the limit) and essentially, it can help you space things out and manage your Facebook posts. It also does twitter – in case you are doing that as well.
Essentially with Buffer, you can schedule what time posts should be sent out to Facebook. This will help you space out posting, and do it automatically, so you can write a bunch of things at once, and it will post on your behalf until it runs out. You can reorder the posts, change the schedule, and even send it out immediately if you want. I recommend looking into it – it can really help you out by letting you spend a little more time and plan out the week’s posts.
Things to Avoid
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This is going to be either really funny to you, or it might hurt a little. We all do things that someone would consider “bad form” for Facebook. Luckily – they have added a delete button 😉
- Stop posting really long posts. Most people these days are on a mobile device, and are not even going to see past 180 characters with out clicking – which they won’t do. Keep it short!
- Don’t post internal information. If it’s not going to benefit everyone, don’t bother. Your fans are probably not going to care to see your rehearsal plan or coach’s notes. Use instead a private group and invite just the chorus members. Leave the fan page for the fans.
- Using bad cover photos. The cover photo is your first impression. Use a photo that makes a statement you want to say, and not something straight from “Awkward Family Photos.”
- Posting without some kind of plan. Nothing can be worse than completely random, unplanned postings. They don’t call it marketing strategy for nothing.
- Not doing anything. If you don’t think Facebook is for you, that’s ok, however consider the possibilites? You have the potential to reach an audience you have never talked to, in ways that are easy and fun. The easiest way to keep your self a secret, is by not talking. Tell everyone who you are, and what you do, and have fun doing it.
Facebook shouldn’t be scary, or difficult. Just keep it light, conversational, and varied. I promise you it’s worth the effort.