Writing for Facebook

Facebook no longer imposes a character limit on their status updates, at least not one that anyone is ever likely to hit, but that doesn’t mean you should start using your status updates as your new blog space. The most engaging Facebook posts are under 80 characters – that’s even shorter than uber-limited 140-characters that Twitter allows you! Does this mean you have to keep your posts to 80 characters or less? No, of course not. But it does serve as a reminder as to what people are looking for on Facebook.

First and foremost, people are looking for “you” on Facebook. They want to know that the pages they’re interacting with are run by real people with real personalities. Work hard to avoid being overly stuffy or formal. Facebook is a fun, informal, and conversational platform, and that’s how people expect you to act. That’s not to say you should be unprofessional, but it is possible to be professional and fun at the same time.

So what should you be writing on Facebook? A good start is asking questions to spark dialogue. Posts that contain questions generate twice as many comments as posts that do not.

Along the same lines as question posts are Fill in the Blanks. Both types of updates are asking your followers to provide information. The first is by directly asking for it. The second is more playful. You might post, “I can’t believe my dog ate my ______” and then sit back and see what your fans come up with.

When creating a standard status update it’s best to keep it to no more than 4 lines, and 1-2 is better. People will be seeing your updates in the news feed on their home pages more often than they’ll see them on your Timeline. It’s helpful to keep them short enough that people will be able to see the entire update without having to click the “more” link to reveal the whole thing.

Be sure to stay positive whenever possible as well. Phrase your updates in a way that will make them “like”-able. There is no dislike button yet, so even if people agree with what you’re saying, they will likely not intereact with the post if it is written in a more negative tone.

Finally, keep in mind that not all of your content needs to be unique. Include links to photos, articles, and videos that your fans might want to share with their friends. If you see a photo or video that you think is funny, or an article that you think is interesting, chances are your fans will feel the same way about it. Share it on your page and give them the chance to do the same.

Writing for Twitter

Twitter has become the place for sharing links to great content. But, what you share on Twitter is not just about the value of the content that you’re sharing, but whether or not your tweets are getting noticed in the first place. So what gets a tweet noticed? A really great headline.

There is an old rule about headlines called the 80/20 rule. This rule says that 8 out of 10 people will read a headline, but only 2 out of 10 will actually go on to read the content that the headline is describing. This rule applies to traditional headline environments like newspapers, magazines, and web pages. Once you move to email inboxes and Twitter feeds, the numbers get even worse due to the amount of competing headlines and the nature of the environment.

So how do you make sure your headlines are getting noticed and your content is getting clicked on? A good way to make sure your headlines offer a compelling reward to those who click them is by using the 4U approach which is taught in the American Writers & Artists accelerated copywriting  program.

1. Be USEFUL to the reader
2. Provide the reader with a sense of URGENCY
3. Convey the idea that the content is UNIQUE
4. Do the above in an ULTRA-SPECIFIC way

It’s also important to ensure that your headlines are as short as possible. This is not only because of Twitter’s 140-character limit, but also because you want to leave room for people to retweet your content with their own comments.

To learn more come to our webinar Social Media Content IS Different: What to Know.

First, let’s take a look at why some people may think that a Facebook-only approach is the way to go:

• Facebook does have more than 845 million active users as of this month. By putting your page within the realm of this monster of a network, it follows that you may be more likely to gain some traffic, which will then build on itself as people ‘like’ your page.
• It’s also very true that Facebook is a great place to start building your identity if you need to have something up and running while you’re website is in the works. Having an identity on Facebook as well as Twitter, Google+, and any of the other Social Media sites that are out there today does increase the SEO of your website and will help people to find your business. Though ‘OF YOUR WEBSITE’ is really the operative phrase there. If you don’t have a website, then your business could be on the cutting edge of all of the Social Media sites and still not see any SEO benefit.
• Facebook pages are also much easier to maintain than a website. Clicking the ‘edit page’ button on your page will allow you to change anything and everything that you could want to change. Everything is presented as WYSIWYG, or ‘What You See Is What You Get,’ so there is no confusing code to contend with. It’s simple.

So Facebook is good, right? Absolutely! Facebook is a wonderful tool to have in your online marketing toolbox. However, making it your only tool is a really bad idea. Why? Keep reading…

1. We’ve already mentioned SEO, but I want to expand on what was said a little bit. It is true that your Facebook page may turn up in some search results, but only if a user is searching for your business name. If you are the type of business that relies on keyword searches to find new clients, and as a veterinarian you are, then you will likely not be found without a website. Why? Because on your website you control what search terms and keywords will help people to find your page. Your website content can (and should!) be written with search engines in mind. Your Facebook page, on the other hand, can not be as easily optimized. Your search results are at the mercy of Facebook.
2. Functionality is another problem with Facebook. Sure, Facebook will allow you to add tabs, photos, and video to your page. You can post content to your wall, or use the Notes app to create a mini-blog within Facebook. The drawback is that Facebook decides how all of these things will be displayed once you’ve posted them. You have very little control over the look and feel of your page. Yes, you can design 3rd party tabs to install onto your page to help reflect your brand, but those tabs all need to meet Facebook’s requirements. And if, as it has recently with FBML Tabs, Facebook decides to no longer support a format that you’ve installed on your page, you will lose all of work that you put into it.
3. Now let’s talk about analytics. You can add Google Analytics to your website and get a wealth of information about the visitors to your site. How many visits have you gotten? What page has the most views? What links get clicked the most? Which pages tend to lead people into your online store to make purchases? Age, gender, location, what browser they’re using, what search term they used to find you, how long they stayed on each page… The list goes on and on. Facebook has a similar offering with its Insights tool, which has generally improved in recent months, however it is still nowhere near as robust as the options that you have to track site traffic and conversion rates on your own website.
4. On to paid advertising. Your website provides your customers and potential customers a place to learn all about you without being distracted by paid advertisements. And if you do choose to allow advertisements on your website, you also get to choose who will be allowed to place their name and logo on your site. That same choice is not available to you with Facebook. On your Facebook page your information will be sharing the screen with paid advertisements selected by Facebook. And because of the way Facebook ads can be targeted to people with certain interests in a certain geographic area, chances are good that your page may be sharing space with your competitors’ advertisements. This would never happen on your own website.
5. Last of all, remember that Facebook is still just Facebook. It is a Social Networking site that happens to be the largest in the world right now. But the same could have been said about Friendster and MySpace at one point in time. Oddly enough, we do not hear many clients asking whether or not it makes sense to replace their website with a MySpace profile. There are more and more social media sites being introduced all the time, and the chances of Facebook staying on top forever are pretty slim.

So should you steer clear of Facebook for your business? Absolutely not. Again, it’s a fantastic tool for your online marketing toolbox. It’s a great way to help find and engage with your customers and potential customers online. The point of Facebook, as is true with all social media sites, is to help share content that you’ve created and are hosting on your own website.

On your website you have total control of your content. You can decide when, where, and how it is being displayed. You can optimize it for whatever search terms you decide are best. And when you have great content, you can share it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and on any other site where you have a presence to ensure that it reaches the maximum number of people possible, and steers them back to your website. Because your website is where the party is. Social Media just provides people with an invitation to come over and join in.

If you’d like help with your online presence, contact us for a free consultation.

Business owners tend to become overwhelmed with managing their brand. Typically, the first question is where to start? To help with what to look for when doing a quick review of your online brand, I have created a checklist. First, sit down at a computer and grab a pad of paper and pen to go through this exercise. It might help to have a person who is an outside observer walk through this process with you to give a different perspective.

1. Do a search for your town, state, and the word “veterinarian.” Is your business listed on the first page of Google? Do you have reviews? What do they say about you? Remember, 70% of people use online reviews when making a purchasing decision. If you have more negative reviews then positive ones, would you want to use your business services based on this information? Neither do the people who are researching you.Are other reviews placed with other review services? You can see by either scrolling your mouse to the right of your listing, triggering a fuller listing of your business to pop up, or by doing a search in Google for the name of your business with the word “review” after it, such as “ABC Veterinary Hospital, Anytown, State, Reviews.” What pops up? Typically, there are multiple places people are leaving online reviews about your business. Remember, you cannot turn these review places off! The only option is to take control of these sites by encouraging happy customers to post reviews and engaging with the ones who do post via responses to reviews.Can people also click on this search engine/review results in Google or elsewhere and go to your website? Or does it go nowhere? If the click cannot take people through to your business website, then your marketing circle has a big disconnect and people will most likely pursue another search result.
2. If you can click through to your website, is the correct logo showing? Can you read the name of your business? Are the animals in the logo the species you see at the hospital? When was the last time your logo was updated? What does it say about your business? Current? Out of date? Fun? Serious? Is this what you want people to glean from your logo when they view it?
3. What about your website? Does it look out of date? Are social media icons listed that enable people to leap to the next point in your marketing circle? What about a blog? Sign up for a newsletter? YouTube videos? What about your services? To see an example of the newest model of website design integrated with social media, look at www.animalmedical.net. How does your website compare to this one?
4. Finally, Facebook and Twitter should be accessible from the business website and from each other, and the website should link back to both. These crosslinks help complete the marketing circle. For an example of how this would look on Facebook, please visit www.facebook.com/NapervilleAnimalHospital. Questions to ask about these platforms are:
   • Does your business have a Facebook page? If so, who are the admins for the page? The owner of the business should be one of them.
   • Has the Facebook page been used to its full potential, meaning graphics, links to other pieces of the marketing circle, and pictures added?
   • On Twitter, has a custom background been added?
   • Has the Twitter account been slaved to the Facebook page—at least to start if there are not enough resources in the hospital to manage both platforms?
   • Has a marketing plan been created that focuses on a single message from the hospital brand per month? If so, is one person in charge of this message or are many going in different directions?

How did your business fare? Any disconnects? Please let us know how we can assist in making your marketing circle stronger and connected. For a free consultation, please visit http://www.beyondindigoequinewebsites.com/contact/.

1. Decide to start

   For your social media efforts to have a real impact on your business, you need to be committed to them. Simply setting up a Facebook page and then forgetting about it will not help you to develop a better relationship with your clients. You need to commit to being present and engaging with your followers. This is what will keep them coming back, and telling their friends.

2. Build your network with people you already know first

   It can be daunting to think about how to gain new “likes” on a page that currently doesn’t have any. The best way to start is by reaching out to people you already know. If you have clients who you know are on Facebook, send them an invitation to like your page.If you can’t find anyone online, ask them in person. Marketing your Facebook page outside of Facebook is a great way to get people interested. Put up a counter sign or a poster, add your Facebook URL to your business cards and clients’ invoices, put a “like us” box on your website. Promote yourself!

3. Be real

   Don’t be afraid to let your Facebook page have a personality. Talk to your followers the way you would talk to your friends (while still keeping it professional, obviously).  People follow brands on Facebook because they want to interact with the people behind the brand. They want to make a connection with you. If you make your page too sterile, they’ll stop coming back.Answer client questions, share funny pictures and videos, give advice, inform clients of events or specials. But most important, don’t be afraid to have fun!

4. Recognize and reward

   People love recognition. When your followers start participating on your wall, be sure to reward them for their activity. It can be as simple as replying to a post, or you can take it as far as offering them a gift certificate or discount to thank them for their activity, depending on the level of participation involved.

5. Monitor

   Facebook offers “Insights” to help you keep an eye on how your page is growing. You should be monitoring this once a week or so to get information such as the average age of your followers, the ratio of men to woman, and, most importantly, the reach and virality of your page posts. This metric will help you understand which of your posts are the most popular with your followers, so you can adjust future posting habits to include more of that post type.

These are the basics for building a solid social media foundation on Facebook. Keep in mind, there are other social media channels to explore, such as YouTube, Twitter, and Google+. While you don’t need to be on all of these networks all the time, it’s important to know that they exist, and do provide additional opportunities for you to reach people.

For more information register for our free webinar, Five Ways to Reach Your Clients on Facebook & Twitter. If you’d like help in setting up or managing your Social Media presence, please contact Melissa Neff at 877-244-9322 ext 100 or melissa@beyondindigo.com.

Join us for an upcoming webinar on this very topic, “Online Reviews: What Are Your Customers Saying?” to learn more about the world of online listings and reviews, how your online business reputation can be affected by these reviews, and what to consider as you navigate this influential territory. Check out the Beyond Indigo webinar page to find out details and sign up for your spot in this Wednesday afternoon webinar.

Here are a few simple rules that will help you on your way to online marketing success:

1. Content is King.

This phrase has been said so often that it’s become cliché, but that’s only because it’s so true! Just like you can count on your dog to actually sniff that fire hydrant, you can count on users to visit websites that have good and interesting content. Nowadays we are swimming in data; the key is to make sure the data your offering to your users is more interesting and compelling than that of your competitors. This is what will keep them coming back.

2. Consistency = Comfort.

We already know that your content needs to be compelling. Another key in online marketing is making sure your content is consistent. Think of McDonald’s. Whether or not you eat there, you know exactly what they offer and what you can expect from them as a brand. This is the type of consistency we as consumers have been trained to respond to. We trust brands that offer us consistency, and we’re more likely to buy from the brands that we trust.

3. Multiple Platforms Reach Multiple People.

Your clients are spending their time in a lot of different places these days, so it no longer makes sense to place a yellow page ad and think that they’ll come to find you. You need to go and find them in the places where they already are, namely: Facebook. We know it can be a little daunting if you’re not familiar with social media, but when you consider that 93% of adult Americans are on Facebook, it becomes a no-brainer. Your customers are there, and they expect you to be too. Don’t let fear of the unknown prevent your business from reaching potential new clients.

We are here to help you succeed! Call our Sales and Marketing Manager, Melissa Neff at 877.244.9322 x100, or send her an email.

Almost anything that affects your practice can be turned into a blog post. Unlike an article or pamphlet, blogs are intended to be immediate and casual. Strive for an informal, newsy tone.

For starters, try these:

Information about equine care. What are the signs of good health, how to properly groom a horse. Any general equine health information you routinely give clients can make a great blog post.

Current events or issues affecting horses in your area. Has a feed recall affected your area? A equine encephalitis outbreak? A heat wave that could pose a danger? Blogging timely issues like these help get information to your clients (and potential clients) quickly. Over time, they’ll think of your site as a place to look for answers to timely issues.

Questions from clients or readers. “Mailbag” blog posts are always popular. You probably get asked dozens of questions each day about common pet health issues. Select a few of general interest and answer them in a blog post. Better still, ask readers to submit their questions by email or give them to your receptionist. Of course, you’ll only answer those where you’re comfortable giving general information.

Changes in your practice – Just finished remodeling your boarding area? Show it off. Hired a new vet tech? Introduce him or her! We all like to hear what’s new. It’s fine to be excited to let everyone know what’s happening at your practice. The key is to keep the tone light rather than like a press release.

Local events you’re hosting or participating in. Holding an informational presentation at your facility? Attending an upcoming conference or convention?  Let people know about the event in your blog so they can participate. Don’t forget to do a follow-up post with photos of the event.

Write about what others are writing. One of the great things about blogs is that you aren’t limited to your own content, but can comment on news, articles, videos and other blog posts. Give your take on a local news story affecting horses, share a useful or interesting video, bring an article you read to your client’s attention or even comment on another blog post. Just be sure to give credit and a link to the original work.