10 Tips To Be Successful On Facebook:

written by Socialminded Media Group intern, Claire Belizidsky

Everybody thinks that being successful with Facebook is easy, but this social media platform takes more than just posts to conquer. Below are 10 rules to be a true Facebook Guru: 

1.     Define your goal with Facebook. Even if you can’t measure your ROI in dollars, you will build relationships and remain top-of-mind with your existing followers.

2.     Plan a commitment, like 3 posts/week.... and stick to it! Having an editorial calendar can help keep you organized and on track. Also, tools like Hootsuite let you schedule your posts in advance and more than one at once!

3.     Decide what image of your brand you want to portray, and be sure that your posts are always connected with this image.  

4.     Share pictures and videos as much as possible, they have a better engagement with users than just text. And make them REAL photos of you when possible - not stock images (like below!). People can connect with you more when they see into your world. 

5.     Like and comment on the posts of your community. But when you comment on a post, be sure to add value, so people reading it will want to follow your page. 

6. Be Familiar With The Facebook Terms of Service (TOS)

If you are going to giveaways or contests on your page - be sure to review the Facebook TOS first. You can find your page shut down without notice if you violate a rule. Yikes! Also, terms are always changing, such as cover photos dos and don'ts. Visit Facebook to learn more https://www.facebook.com/policies.

7.    42% of Facebook users, the first reason why they decide to unlike a page is irrelevant content, so be relevant ! And for that, understand your audience well: Think about what your followers will want to share, and analyze what they like the most in your posts. Using the Facebook Insights for this can be a valuable tool. 

8.     Respond quickly to the comments on your posts, questions, or private messages.

9.     It’s normal to share with your community blog posts, news articles, pictures.. but always give credit where credit is due! If you use someone's photo, be sure to credit them, and as always NEVER use photos just googled from the internet. (read up on copyright infringement rules here). 

10. Tell people where you are! It sounds basic, but are your social media links in your email signature? Newsletters? Website? Business card? Make sure to be available for your audience.