Creating Good Facebook Posts
The Art of Creating Good Facebook Posts
This post is part of a series titled “How To Use Facebook Ads For Business”.
“Great products, services, organizations, and ideas are enchanting. Crap is not. Preparing to enchant people means creating something great, communicating it in short, simple and swallowable terms. And working your butt off.”
Guy Kawasaki from Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions
Craft a message that engages, educates or entertains your audience
Based on your campaign’s goals and the information you’ve started compiling about your best customer, we’re going to create something of value that engages your target audience. To be engaging, you must educate, entertain, inspire, inform or enlighten.
Don’t think of this process the same way you’ve thought about billboards or print advertising. Don’t think of it as a discount or an offer. Don’t think of it as trying to sell anything at all.
Instead, think of your campaign as the start of a conversation with the right kind of prospective customer. Imagine your campaign’s message as the greeting you might share with your best customer from Chapter 2. Remember the last time you ran into her on the street. What did you talk about? Was it the TV show you both watch that you’ve discussed in the past? Was it a question about her daughter’s school or her son’s sports team? Was it about the new job she recently started? Whatever it was, we’d be willing to bet that it wasn’t something like “Did you hear about our buy one get one free special?” It was likely an attempt to engage her based upon the things you know she cares about.
Don’t Be the Worst Guest at the Cocktail Party
Ever been trapped at a cocktail party with someone who talked too much about themselves? Did you spend each second of the conversation waiting for your opportunity to escape? When you see “that guy” at future parties do you avoid them like the plague? Misuse your social media account and you’ll be that “that guy” – the worst guest at the cocktail party.
Social media makes it far too easy for overzealous business owners to be “that guy”. Don’t worry though because there’s a simple way out of the doghouse: Be a gracious host. Talk to your guests about the things that interest them. Ask them questions and encourage responses. Make recommendations that don’t benefit you financially that they will find useful. Do that 9 times for every one time you make a “sales pitch.”
Some Examples and Ideas of Engaging Content Ideas
We’re going to use the bridal audience from Example 2 as the imaginary target. The target is both future brides and members of her bridal party. Imagine some things our target is experiencing at this point in her life. Confusion. A sense of being overwhelmed. A need to purchase and research a number of products and services that she may be unfamiliar with. A desire to be inspired during her research and planning. All of these present opportunities for you, your store and your Facebook ad campaign.
- Educate: To give intellectual, moral or social instruction.
- Inform: To impart information; to make aware.
- Enlighten: To give spiritual or intellectual insight to.
- Entertain: To hold the attention of someone with something amusing or diverting.
- Inspire: To fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something; especially to do something creative.
The key word here is instruction. You’re teaching someone (i.e. your target) how to do something
Example: Tips for Choosing a Wedding Photographer
The key idea here is sharing useful information. It is not instruction. It is being a useful resource for your target.
Example – A list of upcoming local bridal events that a bride-to-be might want to attend
The key idea here is that this isn’t data or instruction. This is the philosophical component that goes along with both education and information.
Example: Tips for managing stress and not driving your fiance crazy while planning your wedding
This is self-explanatory. Make them laugh, make them cry, but engage them.
Example – The 5 Most Annoying Facebook Wedding Engagement Posts
Be inspiring. Post pictures that make your customers imagine the possibilities that your store can provide. Don’t just post a bland picture of a product that exists on hundreds of other websites. No one will take notice.
Example: 10 creative ideas for “something blue” to wear at your wedding (with 1 or 2 being products you carry)
Action Step 3: Brainstorm 5 ways to engage your audience
You know the best way to engage your audience is by reaching them on their own terms, based on what you know about them, and providing something that educates, informs, enlightens, entertains or inspires. Using the examples above as a starting point, brainstorm 5 ways to engage your audience based on the attributes you uncovered in step 2.
Above all, make sure these ideas engage your audience on their terms – don’t try to sell something! Remember the worst guest at a cocktail party, and remember the hypothetical conversation you had with your best customer. Think of ideas with this in mind.
Write your ideas down. We’ll use them in the next step to write your post.
You’re a real deep thkiner. Thanks for sharing.