This biweekly series is dedicated to sharing real life examples of social media marketing. It’s an in-depth review of a business’s social platform with suggestions on how to optimize it. This series is not meant to criticize, but to offer insight into the complex world of social media marketing. But as the series name suggests, I will speak frankly. To have your business reviewed, click here and send me a message.
Alex Mathers of the Red Lemon Club is a location-independent entrepreneur from the UK who teaches small businesses how to attract the best customers in their industry. He blogs more than twice a week, updates his Facebook page, strategically grows his Twitter community, consistently sends updates to his email subscribers, and has self-published a few ebooks.
He’s doing great. But when it comes to maximizing his social media marketing, he’s leaving dollars, or in his case, pounds on the table.
Red Lemon Club’s Facebook Page lacks consistency, engagement, a human presence and other ingredients that make social marketing successful.
But it’s simply the difference between participating in and understanding social media marketing. And that’s why RLC is a perfect case study.
1. Profile picture.
The profile picture doesn’t fit the container, which makes it look unprofessional in the large format. But most importantly, it’s difficult for fans to recognize it in their newsfeed as a thumbnail.
When choosing a profile picture keep a few things in mind: it must be your logo or business name, be memorable enough for your fans to know immediately, and be noticeable in their newsfeed.
Suggestions:
Pick either the wording or the logo (image) to keep it simple yet consistent with branding. Would suggest using either the red lemon graphic or the name.
2. Cover photo.
The cover photo is dull and lifeless compared to the fresh branding colors on the website. In addition, the standard page name and category provided by Facebook fades into the white background and doesn’t stand out.
The cover photo is free advertising space that can be utilized to promote a special, gain opt-in clients, tell fans to Turn Notifications On so they see every update, share testimonials, etc. Take advantage of it.
Suggestions:
Choose a different background color for the photo, add in copy, promote the newest book release, flaunt the opt-in offer, explain what RLC does, share testimonies or humanize it by adding pictures of the people behind RLC.
3. About page.
The About page is filled out, but very basic.
The About page is more free advertising space for the business that should be utilzed. Go crazy, add in everything that may be of interest to a viewer and remove the address from the About section. Facebook now offers a special place for a website link.
Suggestions:
Fill out the About section fully. Add a story about how and why RLC was created, add in the human element by discussing who’s behind it, and go in-depth with it’s services. The Overview mentions content, courses, and research – explain what those are about. Detail the courses, explain what types of blogs readers can look forward to, and how RLC can help business owners.
4. Notes.
Massive props for utilizing Notes – most businesses don’t even play around with this option. However, it’s been a while since the last Note was published (2011), and that doesn’t look good for RLC since they show up on the Newsfeed.
Notes are a great feature, but one that has to be filled with unique information to entice the fan into checking them out.
In fact, I’m surprised Facebook hasn’t stripped this feature away yet with the array of apps and 3rd party apps that assist Pages in sharing information.
Suggestions:
Decide whether or not RLC wants to continue using Notes. If not, remove the Notes to demonstrate fluidity of the Facebook content. If yes, consistently add Notes – maybe once a week or when there’s an update to RLC. A fantastic use of them would be mini-assignments with action steps, how-to’s, or assignments on a book or video that fits the RLC brand.
But keep it brief. No need to upload blogs or long form content in Notes.
5. Posts To Pages.
This is the sidebar area where fans leave comments or where updates appear if a Facebook user has tagged RLC in their status update. It gives fans a place to say hi, show love or share displeasure with a page.
It’s a huge loss to RLC that there is ZERO engagement coming from them on these posts. By not engaging, the Page looks like a robot is managing it, not a human. Most importantly, it’s missed opportunities to build relationships, generate engagement and get to know fans.
A key rule in social media marketing is to treat online relationships as you would if you were standing face-to-face with them. Reply, engage and be present. When a person leaves a comment that isn’t responded to, it’s akin to walking away after someone just say hello.
Suggestions:
EVERY single post should be replied to, thanked, and engaged with – even the ridiculous people who want to advertise on a Page. Simply thank them for sharing and let that be it. The ONLY exceptions are the tagged posts that one cannot engage with.
6. Timeline content.
A page’s Timeline content should be a variety of media that gives them value and offers a balanced amount of content following the 80/20 rule. And it should be full of storytelling.
Pros:
– Great visual content. Professional photos and rich imagery.
– Solid content – RLC produces enriching blogs/ebooks for the audience.
– Lots of color.
Cons:
– There is little content variety on this page – it mostly comes from RLC.
– There is no consistent post amount – one day there are seven posts, the next there are two, the next, zero.
– The posts are not varied in terms of topic – one of the articles is shared 4 times within the first 10 ten days of August. Once the same post is shared twice in a row.
– The posts do not take advantage of Facebook’s preferred way of posting a link – the link and picture are separate.
MOST important: there is basically no engagement from the fans, and even worse, when the engagement is happening, isn’t being interacted with from RLC. Comments go without replies or appreciation.
– There is no human element to this page and although sometimes the updates say things from a first person perspective (I, my), I would have no idea who the person is as a fan.
Suggestions:
– It is essential that RLC interact with EVERY comment or share possible. Never miss an opportunity to talk with the audience.
– Consistency is of the upmost importance. Post 4x/day and parse that into 3 non-RLC posts and 1 RLC post. Post every day, even on the weekend.
– Consider the target audience – Who are they? What are they interested in? What content will help them? Make them laugh? Engage them? Put together a list of 5-7 online media communities that share this type of content and make them your go-to places for non-RLC content.
– Vary the content type. Share posts, questions, videos, photos, and links. Mix it up.
– Add in the human element. I know the owner of RLC and he is hesitant to step out in front of the brand, which is often the case with small business owners. But it would make an ENORMOUS impact on the community growth, engagement, and personality of the page. There’s no need to be visible in every post, but sharing how RLC came about, why it began – the story behind the brand would be extremely beneficial for the brand.
The key takeaways from this review are:
Consistency, content variety, engagement, and the human element. RLC offers incredible value to its audience from a business standpoint, but translating that into social media marketing will take a few improvements.
Thanks to RLC for the pleasure of reviewing its Facebook page.