5 Facebook Mistakes Killing Your Page

Are you making these common Facebook mistakes?Sure, we've all stumbled at some point. It's part of the learning process while building and implementing our Fanpage marketing plan.Then there are a few not-so-common ones that will bite you in the butt, causing many to hightail it out of this fantastic social platform.Below is a list of a few DON'Ts when building your brand and attempting to grow your following:

5 Facebook Mistakes Killing Your Page

• Not Responding to Comments

Similar to blogging, social media platforms require your involvement. If you have a Facebook page but rarely respond to your fans, you will quickly drive a wedge between you and them.Have you wondered why your following is stagnant or has shrunk? Look no further than your consistency in managing your page. Your Facebook Page is there to present you in your best light: It’s up to you to live up to the picture you’ve created.If you meet your fans with dead silence, what are they to think? Even if you just hit the “Like” button after a reader’s thoughtful or eager comment is enough to flatter and acknowledge them. You’ve now recognized their comment making them feel “heard.”

• Taking Your Anger Out on the Page

Lose your temper or patience once with a fan or blast someone on your wall and even the best-looking page in the world won’t save your image. People will look at your flawlessly created Facebook Page afterwards and conclude: “You’re a big phony!”This isn’t to say that you can’t express frustration or unhappiness about an industry update or news article, but it should always be done to share, warn or inform rather than venting. Your ranting might appeal to some, but not for long. Think about those people that frequently explode or spend their days whining about how unfair life is. How does it make you feel? It makes you want to run for the door, right?!Keep your tone true to your page and don’t make your fans want to run for the “dislike” button.

• Bad-Mouthing Your Competition

It’s one thing to share your success stories with your fans; it’s another to rub it in the face of your competition. For example, let’s say you bring home the Top Producer award for your company. It’s exciting news to share with your followers and something they will enjoy celebrating with you. Where you cross the line is to say “I was up against agent x in my office and he doesn’t hold a candle to me. Everyone can see he’s a poor imitation.”Reducing someone else in the eyes of others only to raise yourself up leaves you looking shallow and self-absorbed. Not exactly the image you should be hoping to portray.

• Posting to Your Page and Forgetting to Monitor Response

Having a page and forgetting to “work the room” is a huge mistake made by many new Facebook Fan Page Admins. You schedule your daily post and then move on to the rest of your day failing to return and respond.Just like mistake #1, not monitoring your page is similar to ignoring the analytics of your page. You can build your fan page and sure, you might even gain a few followers but if you neglect the needs of your fans your page will quickly lose steam and fall into the great Facebook abyss.

• Spamming the Feed and Friends

I’ve talked about this in previous articles and the abusive nature in which many Fan Page Admins wield that “suggest to friends” button.You may have made an initial good impression, but again, that will quickly evaporate if you spam your readers with endless emails or Text Messages. However, a little-realized fact about this is that people who spam often don’t realize their followers are perceiving it as such.What’s really wrong that gives off this false perception is not your relentless drive to force people to buy… but a lack of planning and scheduling.Scheduled posts and announcements about your Facebook Page offers or changes won’t feel like “too much” of a good thing. People will have subliminally adjusted to the “rhythm” of your regular posts.Building your brands online presence will not mysteriously happen if you haven’t committed to “showing up” on a daily basis.It’s to your benefit to choose who you want to be known as and then represent that person through your online presence each and every day. The important part is to identify your follower’s needs and then satisfy it.The goal is to spend less time trying to figure out Facebook and more time attracting exactly the fans you are looking for!Here’s to your expanded Facebook following!