I get asked this question a lot and its the one thing I can’t really ‘train‘ someone how to do. I can help you to build and maintain your FanPage and even help you to develop a good fanbase .. but I can’t make fans talk to you.
With Charlie Moo’s I post a mixture of questions, product images, pages on my website, testimonials and news and I’ve always been lucky enough to have a valued following of interested parties. With joannedewberry.co.uk I pose questions and information interesting to small businesses especially those on tight budgets and mumpreneurs! So I’m almost guaranteed interaction. But what about businesses just selling a product or service, how can they keep the vibe going and content interesting and more important get fans talking to you. Without you looking spammy or impersonal.
As with any good question there’s no point giving just my opinion lets see what other small business think.
Product fanpages … what makes you interact and what doesn’t??
Darren Toms Coaching – I use questions and quotes on my fan page. As a coach I like to put out some interesting quotes to make people think. Don’t like fan pages that just ‘feed‘ update from other sites and ‘feel” disconnected from the actual business person.
Penny Gregory Interiors – I think you have to balance between product updates and other posts. People use FB for many reasons, but mainly to be sociable – they don’t want to be sold to 24/7. Darren’s right – questions are great for any business and quotes/shares from other relevant areas of your own sector are also interesting. I know some will disagree, but I believe that a personal approach is vital – People Buy People, after all.
Totally Laura – your ‘likers‘ are your target market, they have chosen to like your page so want to know about offers, news and general goings on
But this opens the question up to .. are they?? Are all your likers your target market?? I use a few business forums and have seen it on twitter before whereby people ask you to like their page in return for liking yours. So aren’t these people just building up numbers??
Darren Toms Coaching – I like to interact with the business owner. I may not buy at that point (or ever) but I would certainly recommend if I knew others who were looking for the same product.
This is vital to take into consideration also as word of mouth/recommendation are gold dust to business .. its FREE PR.
So what top tips have we learnt:-
- Post interesting questions or quotes.
- DON’T over post site links and product images you start to look spammy/disengaged from fans.
- Do something different – Totally Laura – “I posted a video of me unpacking a brand new product, the likers loved that as they felt they were right there at the heart of the business, watching the new products arrive before even I had seen them”
- Ensure your wall settings show all posts and that you are clearing answering questions comments by fans.
- Be yourself .. like Penny said People buy from people …
As always feedback appreciated.
Found this useful wondering how you can show me your appreciation? Well, there are some ways you can say thanks and support my website: ➡
If a friend has liked will probably take a quick look. Subject of interest and the speed of the pages opening will make me read further.
It’s interesting to read what people think when they see someone else’s fanpage. Thanks so much for the insight.
Many thanks for pointing me towards this article. It is really useful and has made me think about my own attitude towards my “business” fanpage. I think the mistake I made was thinking it was purely business on that page and seperate from my own facebook page. I will work on personalising it more. Thank you Joanne xx Hope to see you at Cybermummy ?
Glad to have been of assistance … I think we forget that if we constantly post product updates and oh my aren’t we busy … we are sort of putting customers off. they do want to feel like part of your business. On Charlie Moo’s I post new products and fabrics and ask the fans opinion .. I would say the majority of the time I get orders this way. I think its a more friendly approach than just saying here look what I’ve got. Good Luck and shout if you need anymore help.
I’m a liker, I don’t have a business, but just to give an insight from “the other side” my favourite fan pages are ones that post questions or experiences, one of my favourites is “its a preemie thing” its a very bespoke business, but her questions and comments give a lot of insight into how her business works, and gets people talking. Her page is more than just a promotion for her business, and I think this in turn has generated more business than if she’d kept it purely professional.
Thank you Kylie thats really useful to hear from a ‘liker’ rather than a business.
My pet hate on other fan pages is when people refer to their ‘likers’ as ‘likers’ it makes people feel like a number, & who wants that?!
Very good point ..