Brands need to take charge of their Facebook page

Brands need to step up and ensure they are making the most of Facebook as a communication tool. Facebook now has over 1 billion active monthly users. That is a staggering amount of people who brands could potentially be actively connecting and sharing with. Many brands have obviously recognised this, as VentureBeat.com has reported that in March this year over 15 million business’ had a Facebook page. However, this also means brands cannot just ‘talk the talk’, they have to actually put efforts in when it comes to standing out amongst those 15 million other brands. Coca-Cola, Amazon UK and Skittles are among a few brands that have managed to master the art of Facebook communications, and according to Social Bakers they are the top three Facebook brands in the UK. After looking through a number of the top brand pages, I have compiled a few tips for brands that are looking to upgrade their Facebook profiles.

• Facebook is active, so be active! And be active everyday not just once a month. This means sharing, interacting, posting etc. [caption id="attachment_3585" align="alignright" width="300"] Philadelphia links with Oreo on Facebook page[/caption]

• Try partnering with another brand (NOT YOUR COMPETITION) that has a similar target audience to increase activity, shares, friends and likes. Philadelphia cheese and Oreo done this very well. They combined the two brand names (both from the Kraft’s Food Company) and offered tasty recipes that included the two ingredients and then got their fans to try making the recipe. This allowed two different fan groups to interact with the other brand in a fun and active way, and potentially increase likes, shares etc.

• An obvious but underestimated tip – Know the consumer, what does your audience want! Empathise with them, engage with them. And, if you don’t quite understand what they want, ask them.

• Build a Facebook community – Get your valued customers to become official ambassadors for your brand on Facebook! Manchester United football team done this well by starting a ‘WE ALL FOLLOW UNITED’ campaign, which for a while only allowed fans to follow one football team. This encouraged fans to join their Facebook and it paid off as they now boast of 36,225,205 million fans. Inviting blog influencers on your brand subject to contribute to the Facebook page is a great idea too. This would work well for a fashion brand for instance. [caption id="attachment_3582" align="alignright" width="300"] BMW regularly asks their fans to rate the brand products![/caption]

• Promote all your products, not just the new ones. This will keep your page fresh. Disney is great at this. They include postings for their new films due for release but will also engage with their fans about the Disney classics. This also ensures a sense of longevity and community.

• Use videos! People are more likely to share a video on Facebook over a branded image for example. Red Bull uses video really well, posting interesting clips that are attention-grabbing, therefore gaining them more time with their customer and in turn makes it more likely to be shared around Facebook.

• Humor can work really well (but not if your brand is based on a serious tone). O2 ensures humor is a key feature in their social work.

• Engage with your customers! Create, debate, and discuss, just like BMW. They encourage people to post pictures of their BMW’s and get their fans to give opinions. They also ask fans to comment on products, new and old.
• Design for your audience – No point having a wacky template for a simple brand. Extend the brand identity don’t change it. Heinz Beanz UK is a perfect example, the Facebook page is current with a Halloween theme and matches in colour and design to the brand identity.