If your business doesn’t have a Facebook presence yet, then you’re missing the boat. After all, there’s a good chance that much of your target market is already hanging out on Facebook and logging in multiple times a day. So why not get your content in front of them?

But hold up…

Facebook is a little different than many of the other communication channels you use. And that means a whole lot of marketers make the following three mistakes once they start engaging their marketing on social media.

Check it out – are you making these mistakes too?

Mistake 1: Talking “At” Your Fans

Social media is, as the name suggests, an interactive social platform. So if you sit on your Page with a bullhorn and just blast out ads, your audience is going to be turned off in big way.

So what should you do instead?

Interact. Engage. Create dialogue (rather than monologues).

A good way to do this is to start posting content where you specifically ask your readers for feedback. For example:

  • “What’s your opinion on this idea? Let me know below…”
  • “How would you do this differently? Share your ideas below…”
  • “What is your favorite weight-loss trick? Leave a comment below…”
  • “Are you as mad about this as I am? Comment below…”

Next up…

Mistake 2: Not Capturing Emails

Here’s the problem with Facebook: they only show your content to a small part of your audience, unless you pay to boost your post. So if you’re relying on this platform to communicate with your entire audience, you’re going to be pretty disappointed.

The solution? Capture emails. Create a “sticky” post at the top of your Page that offers your audience something really desirable and valuable for free if they join your list.

TIP: Many of the big email service providers (ESPs), such as Aweber and GetResponse, have created apps for Facebook. That means you can collect email addresses directly off your Facebook Page. Check with your ESP to see if they have a Facebook app.

Here’s another common mistake…

Mistake 3: Posting Non-Viral Content

Facebook is built in a way to make content easy to share with others. That’s the whole point of Facebook. But if you’re not creating shareworthy content, then you’re not going to get any traction.

If you want a good example of someone who has a rocking Facebook page and gets thousands of likes and shares with everything he posts, check out George Takei’s Page at: https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei

He posts a ton of funny stuff. The vast majority of it isn’t even his own. But every time he posts something funny, it goes viral – and he gets even more fans.

His audience is super-engaged because he’s sharing stuff he knows they’ll love. So when he shares an affiliate link to Amazon or a link to one of his sites, you can bet this engaged audience clicks and buys like crazy.

So the point is, create content worth sharing. This might be something novel, something funny, something really useful, or even something controversial. This engages your audience, which gets your content in front of even more people (which sends more traffic your way).

Conclusion

The bottom line is that Facebook isn’t a platform for monologues, and it’s not a place to blast off marketing messages nonstop. It’s a place to interact with your audience, engage them and build relationships. If you do these three things, then the list you build off your Facebook audience will be super-engaged and responsive.

But don’t take my word for it – try it out for yourself! I think you’ll like your results.