I often get asked why we don’t do much with our Facebook page – there’s not much more there than a few updates and links to our blog posts. We, just like every other marketing team we know, have a huge list of goals and items to execute on and at the end of the day we have to prioritize and go with what will bring the best returns both immediate and long term. To be perfectly honest with you I don’t think we’d be doing much better with Facebook even if we did put it on the schedule and push what little attention we have left over at the end of the week to it.
As an inbound marketer and SM activist I’m sometimes embarrassed that we haven’t done more with Facebook yet. But then I think about everything we have done and the level we’ve executed on. Because we prioritize and focus our energies where it pays to focus – we’re seeing returns on our marketing efforts.
So Why Twitter and Not Facebook?
We started out with Twitter for the simple reason that we saw more of our peers there than anywhere else. We wouldn’t be alone, we could build relationships that mattered. Relationships that would help us build our reputation, our community, and ultimately (hopefully) create more sales. (That is why we’re here after all).
We also appreciated that Twitter has a very low barrier to entry. We didn’t need a highly interactive, custom page. We didn’t need tabs and tabs full of content. All we needed was a few 140 character or less messages and we were up and running. Now, I’m not saying you need all that other stuff to be successful with Facebook, but it helps. It helps to have something to engage people with when they like your page – and we just didn’t have that several months ago when we started this. (R+L Carriers has a fantastic Facebook page with ongoing trivia and smart tab layouts that feed visitors over to their website)
Finally, we chose Twitter over Facebook because its consistent. Sure, Twitter gets upgraded from time to time and things change but not as drastically as Facebook. We’ve all seen recently (as recently as last week) that Facebook can and will throw out some major changes whenever they please. There’s no user guide, there’s no release notes to skim, its sink or swim while you muddle through the latest of their updates and try to figure out what to do next.
Facebook’s Not Written Off Forever
While we have our reasons for not going all in on Facebook right now, that doesn’t mean its not on the plan. We do fully intend to develop our presence and are already starting that by participating in #FBLT (facebook like Tuesdays).
We look to those in our network who are doing a fantastic job with Facebook and take notes, learning from them is the best way for us to really hit the ground running when we do focus more attention there.
And we’re already building a library of content, finding ways to repurpose what we already have and generating new and unique gems that will be Facebook exclusive.
The Moral of this Story…
…is this. When it comes to social media, you don’t have to do everything. In fact you shouldn’t. Spread yourself too thin and you won’t be developing any real relationships with anyone, and that’s really what the whole SM thing is all about.
When faced with the task (or the go-ahead as the case may be) to start a social media campaign for your organization, carefully weigh the options. Do your research and find the areas where your involvement will make the largest impact for your company in the longterm and in the short. (You’ll want to show some immediate wins for your sm strategy to help bring management onboard).
Set goals for yourself – base those goals on followers, sharing of your content, referrals to your website, and other metrics key to your company. Even if you don’t meet your goals right away, keep striving to get closer and closer. Look at others who you think are successful and emulate them, but be original and be yourself.
Start reaching those goals, gain some traction, and work to grow your community in the direction of the next social media outlet you plan to incorporate.
Repeat.
What’s your facebook or social media confession? Share it in the comments below.