Ten ways to get more out of Facebook

Originally posted on community.npowerseattle.org/npowering on March 22nd, 2011.

Last week I listened in on a free webinar offered by CharityHowTo.com that shared ten ways to get more out of Facebook. Some of these things are no-brainers that most of us are already doing. Some were particularly enlightening. Click here to view the slides from the presentation and below you can read my synopsis of the highlights. Enjoy!

1) Use a FB Page, Not a Profile - Profiles are intended for individuals. Asking someone to become a friend of your organization may violate social boundaries for some people (Example: “I want to support you, but maybe not show you my family photos.”). Pages are the most dynamic platform for a nonprofit because you can create donation widget, brand the page, and customize tabs.

2) Choose a Relevant Page Name – Your page name can’t be changed once you reach 100 fans, so choose wisely. If your organization’s name doesn’t completely communicate what you do, it doesn’t hurt to add a tagline.

3) Page Category – Categories are a new feature for pages, and should be changed to reflect the way that your supporters think about your organization (Example: If you are a museum, a good category might be a “place of interest” rather than “nonprofit” since museum go-ers are more likely to think of you in terms of a cultural place of interest).

4) Use Apps to Customize Your Page - There are thousands of apps available, but less is more. It is more important to encourage interaction on your wall than using a thousand apps that will take focus away from your messaging. Use appbistro.com to select apps as they are vetted for quality with ratings and reviews.

5) Promote Your Page –

• Add like box to your website
• Use the “tell your fans” feature (in admin view, under marketing, you can upload a constant contact or Outlook file to import contacts and send out a message about your Facebook page)
• Send an email announcement with a catchy subject line
• Embed Facebook page link in emails and mention it in your blog

6) Save Time Managing Your Page - Use tools like HootSuite that allow you to post to multiple platforms from one location and scheduling posts in the future. Use HyperAlerts to receive email notifications when someone posts or comments on your wall so you can follow up and encourage further interaction.

7) Use Insights to Determine What Content Your Fans Like – The goal of your page is to get a reaction. Use the insights feature to help visualize activity. Watch for peaks in activity and analyze what posts are getting the most clicks and comments.

8) Determine Appropriate Frequency of Page Updates - Start with once a day or every other day and use insights to guide decisions from there. Only post when you have something interesting to say, not because it’s been a while since your last post.

9) Collect Donations – Starting to ask for donations on your page should be timed based on the engagement and excitement of your Page’s fans, and less on the number of fans you have. If people aren’t commenting on and sharing your posts, they are not likely to give you money via FB.

10) Revive a Dying Page

• Focus on conversation trends – what’s big in the news that will get people commenting?
• Create post-event discussion to solicit feedback
• Offer something of value and then ask users to share your page
• Create a scheduled wall chat (invite people to live chat on the wall with an interesting person and covering an interesting and specific topic)