Increasing Employee & Client Engagement

Facebook is the number one social media based on time spent on site. It is very easy to get on Facebook (or any social media site) and look up at the clock and hours have gone by.

It can be a time suck if you let it. I suggest to people to have a strategic plan in using Facebook. Set aside a set amount of time and have a plan on exactly what they will do with their time on it.  Set out a set amount for content, set amount out for commenting, set amount for groups, set amount in growing and set amount out for responding.

A huge concern I have heard from businesses is their employees on Facebook during “office” hours. This is very important to set up guidelines for use of Facebook for business. A recent poll & survey showed, that most employees that were on Facebook at work were just keeping tabs with old contacts and not really engaging prospects & clients..

I believe Facebook is a very useful business tool, because it really is one of the most targeted advertising platforms on the web. If used correctly can be extremely powerful because you can reach your company’s message to only consumers within your target market. So before you put on the brakes and restrict use of Facebook by your employees, Really take the time to make employees aware of exactly what the vision and mission of how Facebook is to be used to enhance your company’s brand, what your expectations are in writing and who, where, what & how they should engage. Remember these guidelines

1. Value Added – Make sure all information is relevant to your target market and will benefit audience.

2. Genuine – Make sure it is in a personal voice and authentic. It needs to match & reflect your corporate values & culture.

3. Listen & Engage – Sit back and let conversations happen. There is a fine line in being responsive and obtrusive. Do not dominate the conversation. If you do, it may hinder other people from speaking. This is not one way. Their voice is more important than yours. You never want them to think, no need to answer that because the company will address that (unless it is a direct question to the company, then be quick to respond).. On normal conversations, I would have a set amount of time before the company jumps in. Then after that time expires the company can reengage, but try to be from the perspective that your voice be heard only to spark more conversation.

4. Marathon – This is a journey, a new way to market and engage your customers. This will require sustained effort and dedication.

So until we are able to get 28 hours in a day, make sure you turn off the vacuum and replace it with a timer.

Facebook is the laid back, barrier reducing, fun application but highly addictive. There is a reason that the younger generation like it… it is the cool in thing. My wife and my sisters love it and addicted to it. They love to stay connected to friends. You can find out a lot about people. People love Facebook and are there to socialize.

People do not use Facebook to see your ads.  So the same rules apply that we have discussed. Add value to the community and in turn it will increase your value.

It is relational and personal.
If you’re not leveraging that opportunity to cement relationships, differentiate yourself and make friends and connect in the mind of the consumer, you’re opening the door to competitors who are. Get engaged with people, make associations. Facebook is very personal and even though business is relational, it draws a fine line and can push the envelope. So keep it professional.

One of the biggest issues I see for business, is getting it started and forgetting about it. If you are doing it just to check it off your list and it just sits there and collects dust then save yourself the time and effort and potential damage it could do to you.

Here are some things businesses can do to keep it alive.

Create a Group or Join related groups – There are tons of groups on Facebook. Join them and engage people there.
Offer Incentives – Maybe a discount, a sample product or something for visiting.
Create Engagement – Polls, surveys, games, discussions
Support A Cause – Breast Cancer Awareness, Cancer Society, Make a Wish or whichever. Pick one and use your site to help raise awareness and money.

Facebook is still growing. It is evolving. It definitely has uses for business.  You just have to get out there in the right mindset and have fun…