How Marketers Screw Up While Using Facebook

Allowing Their Page to Become a Ghost Town

This mistake is most commonly made by marketers who jump on Facebook without first using the site for themselves.

The way people use Facebook is much different than Google. When someone goes to Google, they follow a structured search path. But when someone gets on Facebook, they commonly don't start with a specific goal in mind. Instead, they browse through their news feed. When they see something interesting, they click that link. They continue to casually browse around Facebook, regularly returning to their feed.

If you want people to remember your page, you need to regularly update it. This will ensure it shows up in people's feed. However, as you'll learn from the next mistake, regular updates aren't an excuse to just blast out anything.

"Pushing" Their Marketing

Facebook is great for engagement. However, many marketers seem to have forgotten that engagement requires giving people something to care about. This usually means providing something of value. Whether it's a free download or premium content, smart marketers realize that you need to give before you can expect to get anything.

If you're approaching Facebook marketing like a used car salesman shouting during a TV commercial, you're doing it wrong. Fortunately, one of Seth Godin's books can fix this problem for you.

Not Creating Their Own Website

Facebook can be a great tool for marketers. The same goes for Twitter. However, this doesn't mean you should have your company's entire presence on just these sites.

Even though the media may not be buzzing about standard business websites, having one is just as important as ever. While there are limits to what you can do on another platform, you can do exactly what you want with your own website.

Having your own website is also crucial because it allows you to rank for search terms. Although Facebook pages can obviously rank, having your own website allows you to create precisely targeted pages for specific terms.

While it's great to utilize Facebook, don't make the mistake of putting all your eggs in one basket.

Using a Shotgun Approach to Event Invites

UnMarketing.com includes a screenshot showing the type of un-targeted events that have become all too common on Facebook. Of the 5,000 people that were invited to a singles evening, the event only received 3 yes and 19 maybe RSVPs. That's a dismal 0.004% positive response rate.

Marketers seem to have forgotten that Facebook event invitations aren't a magic bullet. In order to make any event a success, you need to make sure you're targeting the right people. This means people who are within a reasonable range of the event. If someone on your list of friends lives in Houston, they're not going to care about a restaurant special in Phoenix.

It also means the right demographic. For example, the author of UnMarketing was invited to this singles event even though he's not single. While this information can be found on Facebook, too many marketers blast out invites without taking the time to prune down their friends to a targeted group.

Guest post by: Brian Waraksa is founder of Raxa Design, a Houston Internet marketing firm. Brian has been in advertising and marketing small company branding since 2002. His firm also provides Houston SEO services.

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