Tuesday Tips Revisited: Post Seasonal Related Topics

This is an updated reprint from last year.  Since it is this time of year and the information is still viable and useful - especially if you are new to social media, I see no harm in revisiting it.

Christmas, and the holiday season in general, is upon us.  Christmas eve is tomorrow and Christmas day follows and that is quickly followed by New Years Eve and Day.

It doesn't matter the holiday you are celebrating, be sure to engage your customers/fans with a seasonal related post.  It can be something as simple as - we'll use today as an example - "Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas"  or "Happy Holidays" or "Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas".  The message doesn't have to be this generic, but it can be.

Or you could go a step further and create a custom graphic with the message to present to your customers.  Images are often liked and shared and creating a quick single or double image Christmas card isn't hard to do.

It's also good to engage folks with questions leading up to holidays and after holidays.  For example, on  one of the gaming pages I maintain, I have scheduled to ask "What games did you get for Christmas?" After Black Friday, we asked gamers what games they snagged.  On another of my blogs and facebook pages, I asked about what books or programs were on their Christmas wish lists.

This type of interaction shows that you aren't just about business and engages users in a different way.  If you are a creative type, you can even share custom holiday images, company holiday photos or a digital card with your followers.

That being said, we hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and you get what you were hoping for.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Friday Facts: The Hard Truth About How The Facebook News Feed Works Now

Once again, another article I'm linking to offsite that provides a lot of information about changes Facebook made in December 2013. If you're like me, you noticed the number of people viewing your posts drastically dropped after December, no matter how big or small your Facebook Page was.

Few people understand how the new algorithms work, and this article doesn't totally explain them either - but it does provide proof that Facebook wants you to spend money to market your brand, large or small.

Just to quote a small section of the article:

• Facebook's guiding principle is that the News Feed should be full of stuff Facebook users want to see.
• Facebook has changed its mind about brands. It has decided that users do not really want to see a News Feed full of updates from brands – Tide, Dove, Pampers, Nyquil, etc. 

Not sure about anyone else, but if I like a page or are friends with someone I -WANT- to see what they're posting, not have Facebook decide what my feed should be full of or not full of.  And you may have also noticed that you see far less from friends who you know post regularly and your feed is now a few select people instead of everyone you know.

If you're interested in learning more, I strongly suggest you read more here: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-facebook-news-feed-works-2014-2#ixzz2tJKpHMGP

Important News: Name Change

Well this was an unexpected and sudden change when I finally got around to writing a tutorial on how to create a webpage fan page for Facebook.  Using this blog as my goal for the page, I started creating the Facebook page with the original name of the blog for the page's name: Facebook Marketing: Hints and Tips.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised to see that Facebook wouldn't allow the use of their name to create pages.  Go figure.

Thus we have ended up with a similar name, which means an update of links and an update in name to "Social Media Marketing: Tips and Hints."  That also means I have a broader subject area to write about as well.

Images accompanying the titles of articles will help you determine whether the article is for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ or whatever else is out there.

As always, I welcome questions and hope to hear from you soon!

Tuesday Tips: Post Seasonal Related Topics

This is a pertinent one since today is Christmas Eve.  It doesn't matter the holiday, engage your customers/fans with a seasonal related post.  It can be something as simple as - we'll use today as an example - "Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas"  or "Happy Holidays" or "Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas".  The message doesn't have to be this generic, but it can be.

It's also good to engage folks with questions leading up to holidays and after holidays.  For example, on  one of the gaming pages I maintain, I have scheduled to ask "What games did you get for Christmas?" After Black Friday, we asked gamers what games they snagged.

This type of interaction shows that you aren't just about business and engages users in a different way.  If you are a creative type, you can even share custom holiday images, company holiday photos or a digital card with your followers.

That being said, we hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and you get what you were hoping for.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Respond to and Interact With Your Customers

Many people underestimate the impact of interacting with their customers/fans via Facebook.  You must remember that every like on Facebook is a customer and every customer can lead to a number of other potential customers via likes, shares and comments that their friends receive.  Responding in a positive (even if the commentator is negative or rude) and timely manner can impact your brand.

People who interact with a page like to see their interaction recognized.  As you respond or like their posts, they see that and are encouraged to like more.

Every like, comment and share is important whether you are a new page or an established page with a significant following.  Not to mention, if you respond, Facebook sees it as an interaction and boosts the number of people who normally see the post.

Interacting with customers/fans isn't hard and is as simple as answering questions they post to your wall, responding to comments they leave on posts, liking comments, etc.

Facebook is, for some companies, the front facing communication tool. Be sure to be polite and courteous and not let angry or trolling users aggravate you and make you respond in an undiplomatic way.  Remember, what you post on the internet can last forever - even if you delete it.  One goof up and most will forgive you.  Repeated slips and you will earn a bad reputation.  So the key is to interact in a positive manner and if someone makes you angry, don't reply till you cool off.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.

Types of Articles You Will Find Here

Facebook marketing can be confusing to those who have never worked with social media before or don't understand the terminology used by Facebook and by social media experts to talk about Facebook, marketing and how it all works.

This blog will contain a number of articles explaining not only terminology, but how to set up a branded page, regular tips and hints on how to engage users, things to do and things not to do, and how Facebook works in general from a marketing stand point.

Whether you are an experienced social media manager and marketing specialist or new to the world of Facebook marketing, this blog should provide you with a plethora of knowledge - in layman's terms - to help you out.

As always, if you have a question, and we haven't covered it yet, please feel free to leave it in the comments and it may be answered in a future article.