6 Steps to Facebook Marketing Awesomeness

I have reviewed a couple dozen Facebook Pages during the past month, and I find that my recommendations stick to a common theme. I thought it would be helpful to share my thought process with you in a blog post.

I have a very structured approach to reviewing Facebook Pages. After reading through a completed two-page questionnaire that provides background on your company and current efforts, I focus my attention on six main categories. That approach is detailed below.

Want your Facebook Page to be awesome? Do these six things…

1. Basics

The four “basic” things I look at are…

• Page Name
• Username
• Brief “About”
• Long “About”

Is your Page name less than 25 characters so that it won’t be cut off in ads? Is it consistent with your other properties? Will people find it easily? Is it spelled correctly? Does it use abbreviations unnecessarily?

Do you have a username? Is it easy to spell and remember? Is it consistent with other social media usernames that you own?

Have you filled out the “About” section under your profile photo? Is it complete, or does it cut off mid sentence? Do you embed a link at the end of it?

Have you adequately completed the long “About” section that is indexed by search engines? Have you provided details of your services? Do you include relevant keywords? Do you embed links to your website where possible?

2. Imagery

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, right? It’s not always fair, but how your Facebook Page looks will often determine whether a visitor becomes a Fan or checks out.

I focus on three main areas:

• Cover Photo
• Profile Photo
• Tab icons

Is your cover photo high quality? Does it tell a story? Does it add background to who you are and what you do? Is it clear from this photo what makes you unique?

Is your profile photo close up? Is it square? Is it cropped unnaturally? Is the branding consistent between your profile photo and cover photo?

Do you carry over the branding of your profile and cover photos into your tab icons? Is there a common theme or color scheme? Do you use third party app icons? Do you customize the mini icons that appear when you expand to view all tabs?

3. Tabs

After the cover photo, profile photo, title and brief description, this is the next area that visitors will look. Do you take advantage of this real estate?

Here, I look at…

• Focus
• Consistency with Company Goals
• Driving Actions
• Value and Effectiveness

Do you try to accomplish 10 different things in one tab? Do you focus on accomplishing one goal?

Do the top three tabs act as the navigation bar of your website? Are you funneling visitors into areas that are company priorities?

Are you asking visitors to do anything on these tabs once they visit? Are you driving sales, increasing conversions or building a subscription list?

Are you giving visitors what they want? If there is something specific that someone will want to find or know when they visit your Page, will they immediately find it here? Does it work?

4. Content Strategy

This one covers all of the main content types that you share on your Page…

• Variety
• Readability
• Engagement
• Consistency
• Volume
• Value

Are you only sharing links to your blog posts every day? Are you mixing in photos, status updates and videos? Are photos ideal sizes for your Timeline?

Do you write one long paragraph? Is it easy to read? Do you use proper punctuation and spelling?

Does your content beg for engagement? Do you ask questions or use calls to action?

Do you post often enough? Too often? Do you post on a schedule or use themes?

Does your content provide value? Is it boring? Is it interesting? Are you only promoting yourself?

5. Other Functionality

Next I take a look at whether you utilize any of the following pieces of functionality (these are self explanatory)…

• Highlights
• Pin to the Top
• Recommendations
• Checkins
• Milestones
• Events

6. Advanced Tactics and Growth Strategies

Finally, I take what I know of your business and current activities and make some recommendations for ways to grow. Depending on your business, this list may include…

• Offers
• Promoted Posts
• Sponsored Results
• Sponsored Stories
• Basic Ads
• Custom Audiences
• Other Promotion Off of Facebook

Do you have a product or service? Do you have a website? Can you offer discounts?

Do you have enough Likes to qualify for Promoted Posts? Could you benefit from them?

Do you have competitors who are already successful on Facebook? Could you steal some of their Likes in search?

Do you have an engaged audience that you can leverage?

Do you still need to build a foundation? Do you need a viable audience?

Do you have an email list? Do you have a known list of customers who have already bought from you?

On and on… and on…