Facebook can be an ideal option for your digital relations campaign; however it’s important to ensure that your content is consistent and aligned with your brand. Follow our top tips to ensure the best out of your Facebook page.

Facebook PR: Do we need Facebook?

When deciding on your digital relations campaign for your own or your client’s business it’s important to first determine if Facebook is an appropriate outlet. For example a consumer brand that has great products and good visuals will amass a greater following than perhaps an accountancy firm.

Secondly you must consider your audience. Is your target audience active on Facebook? Are they likely to engage with the brand and follow your updates?

And finally before setting up a Facebook page you must consider what your desired outcomes are? Do you wish to connect directly with your consumers, creating higher brand awareness amongst followers? Or perhaps you plan to develop relationships within the media and with bloggers? Furthermore do you plan on having a call to action, by creating lead generation applications such as filling out a form or increasing website traffic?

Setting up your shop front

Once you have established whether a Facebook page is an ideal fit and what you hope to achieve from it you are ready to set it up. This, although technically one of the easiest stages is paramount to the success of the Facebook page. From your Profile and Cover photo through to your About information and Tagline.

Ensure all the information you upload is consistent with your clients’s key messaging and branding. Creating uniformity across your social media platforms is essential to a holistic and streamlined digital relations campaign.

Now put your Editor hat on

The hardest part of setting up your Facebook page is deciding on the kind of content you will publish. Often it can be hard to get the mix right and you must think of what will interest your target audience, increase engagement and promote further ‘likes’.

We recommend that Facebook content calls for 50/30/20 rule.

• 50 percent news: Include a custom blend of third party, non-competitive content from sites that are similar to your industry. Eg. For PR we use PRDaily.com or Mashable.com but for something a bit more fun buzzfeed.com is great.
• 30 percent personality: This is key to ensuring your page doesn’t appear robotic so shine with strategic personalisation and personality through real time journalism that can only happen on your Facebook Page.
• 20 percent business: It’s now time for business – so ensure you put on the most tasteful type of branded, self promotional content.

Post regularly – at least 4-5 times a week and monitor the level of engagement with your content and how popular your page becomes. As with most things there is no set formula, you must modify your approach as you progress to reflect your audience and brand.

Maintain positivity. Most shareable content is positive – something that will make someone smile, laugh or inspire. Sharing negative content may in turn create negative publicity for your client and brand.

Keep it simple. No one wants to read 300 words on their newsfeed. Write concisely using language and vocabulary that is easy for your target audience to understand. But remember this is different to Twitter – so there is no need to write ‘gr8’ instead of ‘great’ or ‘u’ instead of ‘you’.

Curzon PR is a London-based PR firm working with clients globally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Business Development Team [email protected]