The harsh reality of managing a Facebook fan page

Should I have a Facebook fan page for my business?  Good question and a question I’m asked regularly. I also see people setting up fan pages without really putting some serious thought to what they want to achieve, what their strategy will be and what it takes to manage a Facebook fan page.

I don’t believe everybody is cut out to have a fan page or should I say set up a fan page.

One of the biggest reasons for this is because getting people to engage on your fan page is one of the hardest things to do if you are a small business.  Your time is already stretched and unless you have someone helping you, you will not be able to set aside the time and energy it requires to have a fan page.  Yip that’s the truth!

Facebook requires a lot of creative thinking, research, support and engagement and relationship building time.  It is like having an entertainment junkie on your hands that constantly needs an entertainment fix.  People don’t like your fan page because they want to constantly be bombarded with what you have on offer.  People like your fan page because you are a friend, or because your are someone famous, a well known brand, a customer or you really offer super interesting and entertaining content.

Facebook expert Marie Smith says that the typical engagement ratio is just 2%.  In other words if you are getting a 2% engagement result on your fan page, that means you are doing well.

Another factor is Facebook’s Edge Rank.  This is Facebook’s own algorithm and this means that Facebook pretty much decides for you what you can see in your news feed based on what and who you engage with on a regular basis.

90% of people will like a fan page once and never to return again because they never get to see any updates in their news feeds and this is due to how much they engage on the page.

My question to Edge Rank is:
“If I like a fan page, then surely I want to see their updates?”

I don’t generate any business from my own fan page. I don’t use my fan page to generate business. I use my fan page to continue building my brand and to raise brand awareness. The aim of my fan page is to provide useful and helpful information and tools for those who feel overwhelmed with the online world. I also use my fan page to reach my Twitter account for the more than 140 characters limit. This is what I decided with it because I know that most of my leads come via Twitter and LinkedIn.

How I generate business on Facebook is purely by building relationships while at the same time reminding people of what I do. I spend time in certain groups I belong to on Facebook because ultimately Social Media is all about networking. Make friends first and business will come.  It may not through all the people you meet but it certainly does bring about opportunities.