Are you getting it wrong? Part I
As Facebook quickly approaches one billion active users, it is becoming an essential marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. Jewelry stores are using social media and Facebook in particular to attract new business and connect with customers – but many are finding it to be nothing more than a great waste of time!
If you are one of these, I do understand your frustrations with Facebook. But the problem lies in the method, not the media! Facebook is simply a tool to be used in your marketing toolbox. Like any tool, if used properly it can be indispensable, used incorrectly and it is worthless. For example, a screwdriver is very useful to turn a screw, but completely useless to drive a nail.
If you are having trouble developing new sales from your Facebook marketing, the problem is not with Facebook, but from your approach to using it. If done right, Facebook can be a very effective advertising method to bringing customers into your jewelry store and in an extremely cost-effective manner.
There are 3 approaches for local small business to benefit from using Facebook as a marketing tool. They are:
- Word of Mouth Advertising
- Branding
- Lead Generation
In this month’s article we will take a look at the first one, Word of Mouth Advertising, and we’ll cover the last two next month.
Word of Mouth Advertising
Many small businesses forget that Social Media is Social.
Mathematicians tell us that because of Facebook the 6 degrees of separation has dropped to only 4 degrees. This means your connection to everybody in the world is only separated by 4 people. For local businesses the news is even better. The degree of separation for your geographical area is even less. You can reach your entire geographical area by simply reaching out to the friends of friends of all your fans.
Facebook has been described as a huge cocktail party where all your customers are telling all their friends about your store. It is Word-of-Mouth advertising on Steroids!
However, in order for this to take place you need two things:
1. Get all your current customers involved on your page.
2. Provide interesting and valuable content for them to share.
Many Small Businesses Get Both Of These Wrong!
First, most businesses take the wrong approach to building fans. They work to build the number of fans with little to no regard to who is becoming a fan. All they are focused on is the total number of fans. Instead of being captivated by the large number of fans they should be focused on developing a small number of quality fans – people who love your business and are eager to tell others about it.
Having a large fan base of people who do not engage with your page is actually detrimental to your Facebook Marketing. It does more harm than good.
The lower your percent of engagement on your page, the lower your Edge Rank score will be (the score that determines if your messages will be placed in the newsfeeds of your fans and how long it will stay there). Facebook looks at it this way; if people who are fans of your page don’t think enough of your messages to like them or share them, then your message must not be very important so why should they spend their resources on sharing it.
However, if you have a small Fanbase of quality fans who regularly engage with your page, your Edge Rank will rise. Your message will not only get into your fan’s newsfeed, but by their engagement it will get into the newsfeeds of all their friends as well. Your message will go viral.
Second, many small businesses don’t share information on their Facebook page frequently enough to generate engagement. And many times the content they do share is the wrong kind of information to be beneficial to their business.
When you create a status update on your Facebook page it goes out into all of your fan’s newsfeeds. This does not stay long. As more and more of their friends make status updates your message is pushed down further and further until it no longer appears at all. If you are only posting once or twice a week, by the time your fans log on to Facebook your message may be gone and they never see it. All the work you did to get your message into their newsfeed is wasted because they were not there to see it.
You need to post at least daily to your Facebook page and at times when your fans are most likely going to be there. 60% of all Facebook users ONLY access Facebook in the evening and on the weekends. If you post early in the morning when you arrive at work, you message is gone from your fan’s newsfeeds by the time they log on later that evening. Posting daily in the late afternoon or early evening hours and several times over the weekends will increase dramatically the number of people who actually see your message.
Asking your fans what movies they like, what books they are reading, or what they plan to do this weekend, may get them engaged in your page, but it is not going to help you get them into your store to buy your jewelry. If they share your message with their friends, what message is being shared? Having your fans share a list of great movies to see, books to read, or weekend activities does nothing to build your business. These are all great topics to share with your friends on your personal profile, but should not be a regular part of your business page.
Facebook can be a little confusing when it comes to using your personal profile to market to your network of friends and using your business page to market to all your fans. A good rule of thumb for what to share where is to consider what you would talk about in your store to a customer who you do not know personally. This is what you should be sharing on your store’s business page with all your fans. Things you would only discuss with customers who are also your personal friends should be reserved for your personal profile and shared with your friends.
Jewelers are very fortunate when it comes to having content to share on their pages with their fans. There is an unlimited supply of information to share from current fashions, to jewelry care tips, to diamond and gemstone facts. There are stories and folklore to tell about the history of jewelry, gemstones, and famous jewelry, and the list goes on and on.
Share interesting information about jewelry, and your fans who already love jewelry will look forward to seeing your status updates and will freely share your information with their friends. And the best part is when you post information about the jewelry you sell and it is shared across Facebook you look like the authority on the subject and THE place to go to buy jewelry.
Lastly remember that you are also a fan of your page. You don’t have to wait around hoping that your fans will share your post. In order to get the buzz started you may need to get the ball rolling yourself. Once you make a status update on your store’s business page, go to your personal profile and share the post with all your friends. Go back several hours later and make a comment on your post. Sharing and commenting on your store’s status updates as your personal profile sends the message out to all your friends, and your comments go back out to all your fans exposing even more people to your message.
If you want to learn more about Facebook Marketing, Brad Simon has developed a new training website Facebook for Jewelers providing tutorials and other training materials on using Facebook to market a retail jewelry store. To learn more go to www.FBforJewelers.com.
