Don’t Write Like C-3PO & Other Data-driven Tips For Facebook

I’ve been a speaker at a few Social Fresh Conferences now and along with being great events, these conference always spawn great conversations off-site on Twitter, Facebook and, of course, the Social Fresh website. This week founder Jason Keath sent out an email with an invite to a terrific eBook called 64 Facebook Tactics. This is a great list of tips for social media managers, data-driven marketers and those just curious about ways to optimize Facebook initiatives.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorites from this list and share our own perspective as well:

3. Post like a friend, not a brand: Humanized language gets a better response. Trademarks and press release styled writing destroy the potential for a relationship and turn fans away.

How often have you visited a brand page on Facebook and noticed the language looks like it was written by C-3PO? Not cool. Cut the jargon, kill the clichés and talk like a person, not a robot. Why did you start using Facebook in the first place? To connect and communicate with friends, right? Well that same approach can work for your brand.

28. Consistently post photos: Find an opportunity to publish images regularly. Think product photos, customers enjoying products, graphs or data from your industry, event photos, etc. Find a consistent source.

We’ve written about incorporating photos into your social strategy before (see: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words), but this is another great reminder. Sometimes a status update isn’t enough to grab your fans attention, so include an image to convey your message or post a picture of a new product or, better yet, get fans excited about the upcoming launch of a product by allowing only fans to see exclusive images.

36. Test update frequency to determine how many times per day you should publish. Research suggests anywhere from once every two days to 3 times a day. Find your community’s sweet spot.

You’ll only be able to really find the sweet spot by testing and analyzing different approaches, which is essentially our mantra. Test, compare results, analyze and repeat.

61. Make your Facebook page part of a larger contest or campaign: For instance post clues on your wall as part of an online scavenger hunt that includes your Twitter account, blog, and Youtube channel.

Integrating your social media channels is something we’re constantly preaching. By connecting your social channels you can build traffic and user involvement. Perhaps your Facebook fans have no clue you have a YouTube. Let them know through Facebook, then on YouTube alert users to your Twitter page. Connect and integrate your channels.

There are plenty more great tips on this list, so take a look and be sure to attend one of the upcoming Social Fresh events in Baltimore – 2011 (TBA), Charlotte – 2011 (TBA) or Atlanta – 2011 (TBA), that Levelwing will be sponsoring.