How to write content for your business Facebook page

What is Facebook?

If I have to answer this question then you’ve been living under a rock some place cold and deserted. Find out more about Facebook here.

What is a Facebook fan page?

Facebook allows businesses to create fan pages in order to engage with their target market.  A fan page is similar to a profile in that you can have information about the entity on the page as well as provide interesting and relevant updates.  While ‘interesting and relevant’ may not always be true for personal Facebook profiles, a fan page, if updated correctly and used as it’s meant to, can be a valuable marketing tool with which you engage with your market, exchange information and gather insights into your market – all for free…

There are two areas where you need content on a fan page:

Company Information:  This is the ‘about page’ for your company.  DON’T just copy and paste a page from your website, take some time to write a succinct and interesting bio about your company, making sure you clearly state exactly what it is you do or offer.  Make sure you also include your website URL, phone number and email address.  And please, make sure you have the content checked, nothing screams ‘unprofessional’ more than a spelling mistake on your company info page.

Status Updates:  This is your opportunity to share interesting information and to encourage engagement with your fans – this is NOT an opportunity to hard sell anything or to speak about yourself exclusively.

Facebook - Flickr Sean MacEntee

Tone and Style of your Facebook fan page updates

The best advice I can give here is to imagine that you are speaking to a client face-to-face with your fan page.  Not too formal because you want your readers to connect with your business and see that it’s a real ‘person’, while you still need to maintain a level of professionalism. It is very important to make sure that your updates are inline with your brand voice to maintain continuity.

Content that works well on fan pages includes:

  • Industry-related quotes that are funny, encouraging, or interesting
  • Links to online resources (other than your own) that will interest the fan base – these can be articles, blog posts, research, or other resources. Note that these updates can also include images and videos.
  • Questions or polls related to your industry – this is a good way of encouraging fans to engage
  • Information about new products, promotions and events (but not every update!).

Things to remember when creating Facebook updates

  • Know your target market! Ask yourself what they like, what will appeal to them, and what life stage they are in.
  • Avoid updates that are too long. Say what you want to say directly and with enough facts or information to make readers act (relevant actions include: commenting, clicking on a link, or sharing the update on their wall).
  • Think of the things you tend to respond to on Facebook, and apply the same rules for your fan page.
  • Always check your spelling and grammar
  • Make sure that any information you post on the brand’s Facebook page is factually correct.
  • If you want to reference another brand or person in your Facebook update, then use the “@” sign before their username and Facebook will automatically tag them in the update.

Facebook is one tool in the online marketing toolbox which you can use to great effect, just make sure it’s done properly and if you don’t have the skills, then make sure you get a professional copywriter to create this content for you.

 

 

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