It's no surprise that Facebook is still one of the hottest social networks around.
Check out these statistics published by Facebook as of March, 2016.
- 1.09 billion daily active users
- 989 million mobile daily active users
- 1.65 billion monthly active users
- 1.51 billion mobile monthly active users
- Approximately 84.2% of daily active users are outside the US and Canada
As with anything in life or business, when there is opportunity for goodness, there is also opportunity for risk, and even damage to your brand and business.
Facebook's no different. Facebook presents tremendous opportunity to nurture relationships, establish and grow community, increase brand awareness and even your business bottom line. However, if you don't understand the ecosystem, how you can best fit within it to build relationships and your brand, you may wind up hurting your brand more than helping it.
As such, it's important to understand not only the best practices for the platform, but also the worst practices that can damage your personal brand, corporate brand and business success.
Here are 15 things that smart, social savvy business marketers never do on Facebook
1. Post spam - Know the difference between real value and content that is spam. If you have to question whether it's spam you're posting, then it probably is.
2. Spam the Facebook News Feeds of your friends - You know the type of person I'm referring to here. The person who you haven't talked to in years, yet all of a sudden you get 3 posts in your News Feed sharing their latest book or goods and services. Respect the feeds of your friends if you want to keep them your friends.
3. Connect with new people so you can spam them - This is the worst way to hurt your brand more than help it. Don't invite people to be your friend so you can sell your services to them and spam them. Instead focus on connecting with people you can learn from, people who you can share mutual value and have relevant, meaningful conversations - not only on Facebook, but also in real life when possible.
4. Auto tweet everything from Facebook to Twitter and other social networks - Every social network is different. The norms, the language, the tone of content - everything is different. For example, Facebook posts don't usually perform well and are not highly appreciated on Twitter, which has 140 character limit. Take the time to make sure the content you post is relevant for the platform to which you're posting.
5. Create a fake persona so you can spy on other people or spam them - There's only one you. Be that person, period. The truth will only come out when you try to play fake like, click and troll games online.
6. Invite people to play games with you - Don't spam business contacts with your game wins or ask for points. Make sure to check your game feeds and notifications privacy settings. Unless this is part of your business model and persona, it's usually best to keep them private.
7. Take credit for other people's work - Don't just scroll your Facebook News Feed in the morning looking for ideas to steal. If you find something interesting, give credit where credit's due. Doing so will also help you build relationships and connect with influencers in your community and networks who are helping you learn and grow.
8. Post things just to get attention - Remove the drama. Most of your Facebook friends don't want to hear about the fight you had with your spouse, neighbor or kids. Walk away from your desk, take a breath, get some fresh air outside and think about what you're posting and why. Come back when you have a clear mind. Facebook is not the place to constantly vent about your life and business problems.
9. Accept friend requests from people you don't know just because everyone else accepted their friend request - Be very careful with this. Not only does it put your personal security at risk, but it may also clutter your News Feed, making it harder for you to connect with the people who really matter to you in both life and business.
10. Have conversations in a public forum that should really be happening in a private conversation - Bottom line, if the conversation should be private, keep it that way.
11. Constantly compare yourself to others - Quit worrying about your competition. Focus on your customers, your business and your brand. Your time is much better spent on this versus looking over the fence worrying about your competition.
12. Setup personal Facebook profile as a business page - Facebook has very clear terms and conditions regarding the setup and usage of Facebook personal profile pages. A profile page can not be used for a business page. If you do so, you assume the risk of Facebook being able to remove your profile at any time. We've seen this happen with many clients who come to us to help them get the profile under their control. Instead use a Facebook business Page and you'll be just fine.
13. Post bad pictures of yourself and others - Sometimes what happened in Vegas should stay in Vegas. Always seek to make your client and others look good.
14. Spam groups with content or invite people to groups unknown - Be careful with the use of groups on Facebook. Don't join 20 new Facebook groups so you can spam them your latest product, service or job openings. If you want to post a job opening, there are plenty of groups setup and designed specifically for such. Make sure your posts are relevant and fit the group guidelines.
15. Boost irrelevant posts that appear as spam to others - Be careful which Facebook posts you boost, and the frequency with which you pay to boost your posts.
In this episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast, I discuss the 15 things you should never do on Facebook.
Episode Highlights
- 15 things you should never do on Facebook
- Focus on relationships over spamming
- The importance of managing your privacy and being careful who you let into your Facebook network
- Be yourself and never fall to tactics that waste time stalking and copying competition
- How to ensure you don't lose people at 'hello' when inviting them into Facebook groups
- The importance of giving credit where credit's due when sharing other people's content
- The differences in how you communicate and post content to Facebook vs Twitter
- The importance of customizing content for your Facebook audience vs blasting the same content to every social network
- How to avoid the drama and negative posts and conversations on your Facebook Page
- Why you should never setup a personal Facebook profile to use to solely promote your business
Supporting Resources:
- Digital Body Language: 105 Factors Impacting Your Personal and Business Brand (white paper)
- Do You Really Know Your Audience? (episode 4)
- Fake Followers, Spam, Trolls & Bullies - Quit Faking it Until You Make it (episode 37)
- Social Trust Factor: Ignite Results with Trust and Authority (episode 20)
- Brand Humanization in a Nutshell (episode 5)
- Brand Humanization: Authenticity vs Transparency (episode 16)
- Social Trust Factor: Igniting Results with Trust and Authority (episode 20)
- Launch & Influencer Marketing Strategies for Startups, Entrepreneurs (episode 35)
- 15 Things the C-Suite Must Do Before Hopping on Twitter (episode 45)
- How to Convert Facebook Personal Profile to Business Page (blog post)