How to Develop Your Business’s Facebook Content Strategy

When developing your content strategy for your business’s Facebook Page, remember that your Facebook fans want a different stream of updates than your Twitter followers, and your website visitors would be better served with more product-focused content. Here are some ways to develop your content strategy on Facebook:

Post to engage fans. Although some content you post will be purely informative in nature, such as broadcasting a particular price promotion to your fans, engagement posts are designed to garner feedback and participation from your fans. You want to engage your fans and solicit responses from them so that you can benefit from the viral effect: Every time a fan comments on your Facebook Page, a story publishes to her News Feed, which ends up on her friends’ News Feeds.

So tactically, these stories provide links back to the original post and often generate additional traffic to the content. In this way, your fans invite others along for the ride. But there’s also another reason to foster fan participation: to build an engaged community, one comment at a time.
Provide discounts and special offers. Facebook marketers are discovering great success through extending discounts, special offers, and giveaways to attract Facebook fans. Ads that generate the greatest responses on Facebook offer something of perceived value for very little effort on the member’s part. Often, these offers are based on a prerequisite, such as completing a form or liking the Page.

When developing a promotion, keep in mind that the offer must interest your target audience. Sometimes, the offer doesn’t even have to be tangible, but merely the chance to have a shot at glory. In this figure, Klondike appeals to its fans’ competitive nature, offering them a chance to beat their friends’ scores in the Bar Slinger video game. The Page even shows their high scores.
Deliver content in a format accessible to your audience. When developing your content strategy, consider the range of media at your disposal. Facebook allows you to publish content in a number of formats (including photos and videos), making this content accessible directly through Facebook with a click of the mouse. Why not take advantage of the convenience of having everything in one easy-to-access location?

Likewise, if your fans enter into a dialogue on your Facebook Page’s Wall, continue to use Facebook as your communications channel. Don’t reach out to that individual on Twitter, LinkedIn, or some other social network unless requested to do so by the fan (otherwise, you could seem too aggressive).

The culture of Facebook is formed by young, digitally fluent adults who understand when they’re being talked at versus engaged in a conversation. So the key is not to interrupt them with a continuous stream of messages, but to instead use content to encourage participation. By creating a steady stream of rich content, you can engage the right audience and get them to interact with your brand.