CEOs and all executives in the Franchise industry are preparing to converge on the International Franchise Association 2014 Convention and a key topic again this year will surely be growing our businesses via social media. I thought I would share 4 easy tips that are working well for Franchisors right now.

These tips solve the most basic problem that we at Engage121 hear from all Franchisors: What should we put on our Facebook page and our Franchisees’ Facebook pages?

All of these tips will help improve your standing in the Facebook News Feed Algorithm. More importantly, they will attract and engage new members of your community. Those in your community may include customers, potential customers, and other very important connections.

Your activity on your Facebook page should always be aimed at one of these Goals: 1) Growing Your Community, 2) Increasing Engagement, or 3) Acquiring Leads or Customers. We will look at each tip in relation to one of these goals.

 

1. Post Regularly

Goal: Build Community

You’ve got to have stock on the shelves to open the doors. You’ve got to have content posted to have a Facebook Page worth Liking. Start today by posting something interesting once per day. Not sure what to post? Tips 2-5 will cover that. Just commit that you, your franchisees, an outside partner, or someone on your team will post regularly. And by regularly, I mean post at least 5 times per week on each page in your system.

Note, this is not for a few weeks, and then you get “too busy to succeed.” And it’s not just to get up and running, then let it drop. In fact, after you see success, you will want to step on the gas and publish multiple times per day!

  

2. Post Images

Goal: Build Community; Engagement

Who loves it when you post images? Facebook.  Who loves it more? Your Fans and potential Fans.  The recommended size is 1200 x 1200 pixels.

You should post images taken locally. Post images you’re sharing from other Facebook pages. Post stock images that fit a greeting, holiday, or special occasion. Post images of kittens and puppies. Just post images!

Blogging and marketing thought leader Bob Dunn suggests using “a photo to provoke emotions in your blog posts. Not only will you attract more readers, but they will remember your content longer.” This is also true for Facebook!

 

3. Post Relevant Content

Goal: Engagement

By relevant, I mean relevant not to you.  It must be relevant to your customers. This is lifestyle content that is not about you or your brand. Who is your target demographic? What’s important and interesting to her or him? That’s what you want to post!

Don’t share marketing messages. Share interesting, entertaining, educational, or funny stuff. Here’s the good news: you don’t have to write it. There are millions of articles, blogs, posts, and other content waiting for you to share. Do your potential fans a favor and share something interesting. They will reward you by becoming a fan.

This is the stuff your customers want to read, and even more importantly, want to share with their friends.

 

4. Post an App that asks for an email address.

Goal: Gets Leads

For many franchisors and franchisees, Likes are nice but emails are gold. It’s the simplest, easiest-to-get lead on the planet. If someone won’t give you their email address, I’ve got bad news: they will never give you their money.

Create a Facebook Tabbed Application with a simple contest, giveaway, survey, or coupon. Make it so that in order to participate, the consumer must a) Like your page and b) enter their email address.