The ultimate purpose of any social media profile is to create a buzz in order to generate traffic and leads. Growing an online presence does nothing for the bottom line if it does not redirect traffic to the source; the company website. Small Arizona medical practices and Fortune 500 companies must be proficient at not only growing their online presence, but turning that growth into leads.
The “Like” Button
When it comes to Facebook marketing, there are things that reign high above everything else as best practices, and getting those “Like” clicks is one of those things. The “Like” button is akin to a word-of-mouth campaign. When a visitor or Friend “Likes” a page, a comment, or a story, it’s instantly posted to their wall for all of their Friends to see. Just released today from CNN.com, here is why the “Like” button is money in the bank:
After months of updates to its Like button, Facebook has released an update that fundamentally changes the button's functionality to that of a Share button. Now after hitting the Like button, a full story with a headline, blurb and thumbnail will be posted to your profile wall. You'll also be given an option to comment on the story link.Previously, only a link to the story would appear in the recent activity, often going unnoticed by users.
Though users may now think twice about hitting the button, given how prominently it will appear on their walls and in their networks' newsfeeds, it should ultimately increase traffic to publishers' websites.
The Timing
Timing is everything in this business, and Facebook marketing is no exception. The greatest mistake that a medical practice can make is to congest their Wall and the News Feeds of their Friends with superfluous and constant information. The second greatest mistake is to post at inopportune times of the day.
Hint #1: Do not post more than one comment or article within a 15 minute time frame. Congesting the News Feed with a constant flow of messages is an easy way to lose Friends. When a user visits Facebook, either from their mobile or on their computer, the last thing they want to see is their entire News Feed saturated with company information. They want to see constant messages from friends and family, and occasional messages from their Liked pages.
Hint #2: Post when your audience is online. There are proven times of the day that are perfect Facebook and Twitter posting times, and there are times of the day when a post should never be added. Facebook users statistically visit the site more right after they get to work, right after lunch, and at the end of the night. Every company will have a slightly different time frame of when their Friends and target audience will be online, so be sure to monitor your clicks and interactions to determine which times of the day are best for you.
However, statics have shown that the best times to post are when employees are just getting to work and checking their emails and social profiles, when they get back to the office after lunch and ease back into the work mindset, and at the end of the night when web users are seeing what TV shows their Friends are watching and what they missed throughout the day.