Emily Post Meets the Facebook Post: Business Etiquette for Facebook

Published on October 14, 2021

"Literally." "Like." "Epic." 

Are you word nerds out there squirming yet? 

Everyone (like, literally everyone) can think of a misused or overused word that drives them crazy. For us here at Geek, it might be the word "legit." (As in, "That taco place was really good, like, totally legit," or, "Last night's show was legit.") 

It's in moments like these where we think back to our favorite line from The Princess Bride.

One genuinely legitimate way to use the word "legit," however, is when you're talking about your business' Facebook page. When users look up a business online, there's a good chance that they're using this social media site to find information.

That being said, having a Facebook page makes your business more legit and gives you a chance to interact with your consumers while expressing your product or service's usefulness. 

Here are our top 6 "dos" and "don'ts" when managing your professional Facebook page:

1. Don't put a profile where a page belongs. 

Yes, perhaps this is level one Facebook knowledge, but make sure that you know the difference between the two: Profiles are for people and pages are for businesses. Make you sure you're following this distinction to get the most out of your Facebook use. 

2. Do post more than pictures. 

According to Business Insider, Facebook is preparing to seriously compete with Youtube in terms of video streaming and storage.

Because Facebook's algorithms now favor video to promote this shift, this publication noted that:

"[P]hotos had the lowest organic reach (the percentage of a page's fans who see a post without the page owner's needing to pay for advertising)...with an average of just three out of every 100 (3.7%) page fans seeing a photo post."

This is compared to an organic rate of 8.7% with video. 

3. Don't post click-bait.

You'll be AMAZED by how INCREDIBLY short the attention span of a Facebook user actually is! 

No, really, 80% of Facebook users choose to read articles based upon the usefulness of the title. Make sure that the point of what your posting is clearly conveyed, rather than just a ploy to get clicks.

4. On that note, Do post well-crafted articles. 

The team at Hubspot did a study to find the optimum number of posts a business should put up per month and found that "companies with less than 10,000 followers that post more than 60 times a month receive 60% fewer clicks per post than those companies that post 5 or fewer times a month."

Yep, this means you need to pay attention to the quality of your content. 

5. Don't have multiple Facebook accounts. 

First of all, having multiple accounts is against the Zuckerberg rules. This means that upon discovering your two pages (even if one is thriving and the other was a mishap from years ago), the site will shut them both down. Then, you're back at square one. 

Having multiple pages is also confusing for your audience and might make it seem like your business doesn't really know what it's doing. Double pages are a double no-no. 

6. Do post on the weekend. 

Trackmaven found that posts that go up on Sunday get 25% more likes and shares than those that go up on Wednesday. Think about it - Are you in more of a sharing mood after brunch or in the middle of the workweek?

Consider your own patterns. When do you check your phone in the morning? What is the subject matter of what you're posting? Is it urgent or relaxed? Context can have an effect on quality and clicks. 

By following these rules of the Facebook road, you can ensure that your visitors will keep coming back to your social media party (and remember your brand when they need your product or service). If you have more questions about getting your social media started, contact us or sign up for our newsletter!