10 Lessons from Facebook Influencers for Brand Growth
Facebook, the biggest social media site on the planet with nearly 2 billion active users every month, has spawned a multitude of influencers, who are either just lucky or clever enough to see what works on the site. Influencers have a natural talent in communicating with people and making them pay attention. Moreover, they have a knack for crafting compelling and persuasive content that their audiences share around.
Influencers do what companies can’t. That’s why the latter are after them. But as an influencer marketing agency, Expaus has been exposed to the ways of these brilliant social media wielders. Over the years, we’ve learned about the best practices that make brands succeed on Facebook just like influencers do.
So here are 10 practices that will boost your brand’s presence on Facebook:
- Doing Facebook Live
Influencers do Facebook Live because they understand people like seeing them in real time. Their viewers get to see what they’re doing right then and there. Interaction happens in real time as well.
Live streaming to your audience is like talking to them in actual time. To them, it’s like watching a live feed. They get the feel of the moment, and the experience is organic and visceral.
Also, going live is pretty much a part of influencer marketing. Companies collaborate with influencers to do demos, announcements, or tours live.
If you want to go live, give your audience a notice in advance. Check the physical aspects of live recording, such as lighting and audio.
- Crafting compelling content
It’s hard to define what compelling content is. An article that is well-research and written with perfect grammar is good content for all intents and purposes. Yet very few people may spend time reading it. Today, we measure the value of blog posts or videos based on how much they are being shared around. You may not agree with that, but it’s the relevant gauge in terms of marketing.
Because content marketing and influencer marketing go hand in hand, it makes sense to invest in content marketing practices that work. What works is fresh, educational, and fun content. People like reading write-ups they haven’t yet read before. They like watching funny, entertaining, and practically informative videos. Hook them with attention-grabbing, but honest, titles.
- Post instant articles.
Brands have been posting instant articles since Facebook allowed them because they load much faster via the mobile app. Instead of the app asking you to open a link to a browser, it just simply opens a page within it. If you have not posted instant articles, it’s time you considered doing so. While you will have to spend some time setting up instant articles, your followers will definitely thank you for making their lives a bit easier.
- Respond to page posts and comments.
Did you know that out of every 6 messages posted on brand pages 5 go unanswered. That’s a lot of messages we’re talking about, considering the number of brands out there and the huge number of customers commenting on posts and posting on those business pages. Ignoring questions and comments is a very bad idea, especially if you’re a start-up business owner.
Engaging with their audience is what sets apart influencers from basically anyone else on Facebook and other social media sites. That’s one of the reasons why people stay on their pages, because we tend to gravitate to places where other people value our concerns and experiences.
Influencer marketing companies look at activity in the comments to see if the influencer is actively responding or not. Unresponsiveness is usually a red flag. It indicates page dormancy or inactivity, which eventually leads to loss of engagement.
- Vary the time you update your Facebook page.
You’ve read somewhere that the best time to post on Facebook is in the mid-afternoon, but it doesn’t work for everyone. You will have to figure out when your audience is most active by varying your posting time and checking out which hours your posts get the most likes, comments, and shares.
Survey the pages of popular influencers. They don’t have specific posting schedule. One reason is Facebook algorithms can change, and one way to know what’s changing is by testing the waters every once in a while. Also, the social media behavior of consumers can shift.
- Repurpose or republish content.
The good thing about evergreen content is you can change it into something more interesting and share it again with a fresh perspective. Facebook makes it easy by reminding you of posts shared “On This Day” in the previous years. But don’t rely on this feature alone. Instead, take note of your evergreen content as well as your most liked and shared posts. Revisit them when necessary.
Old articles that remain relevant today can be presented as an infographic. They can also serve as the backbone of a script for a video content. If you have limited time, you can share an old post again, especially if it’s currently relevant. Just add a fresh caption or message on top of it.
- Ask and you shall receive.
The best way to make people do things you want them to do is be straightforward. Just ask them to do what you want. This works when your content has inspired them.
In many cases, a well-placed call to action moves audiences into action. It drives your followers to become subscribers to your newsletter or become your customers. In addition, as part of an influencer marketing strategy, calls to action are sometimes the missing step in winning influencers and are, thus, an important influencer marketing device.
- Try the 2:2:1 approach.
Because you still need to sell your brand, albeit subtly, you have to dish out promotional stuff every once in a while. So for every five posts you’re making, two of them are educational content, like tips, advice, how-to guides, and FAQs. Then the other two posts are for promotional content. Promotion doesn’t have to be blatant sales pitch. It ideally takes the form of an informative write-up that ends with a call to action. The remaining post is reserved for other types of content, which can be polls, survey questions, memes, GIFs, among other things.
- Monitor feedback.
One thing influencers have taught us is to keep checking feedback. Never allow both positive and negative feedback and comments go unnoticed. Feedback guides your marketing campaign. Do more of the things that generate the most positive feedback. Make adjustments with the types of content that had generated the most negative feedback. Be sensitive to what your audience are saying.
- Watch out for the changes.
Change can be a boon or a bane to businesses. Those that were able to see the changes first and were able to adapt to them become survivors in the industry. Changes in trends and shifts in consumer behavior have killed so many brands.
