Editors note: The following is a guest post by Kelli Davis, Social Media/Web Products Manager at IDEA Health & Fitness Assocation.
1. Don't just post about yourself. Your Facebook fans want you to engage with them, not just talk about yourself. You can post about your Boot Camp or yoga class, but be sure to also ask your fans questions and encourage them to comment on your posts. Not only will more people see your page this way because of Facebook's ranking algorithm, EdgeRank, but they will also be more likely to look forward to seeing updates from you.
2. Monitor your Facebook fan page regularly. The Admin Panel at the top of your page gives you useful information about your page's activity. You'll see who liked and commented on your page recently (be sure to respond to comments!), the new people who have liked your page, any private messages you've received, and specific numbers on how each one of your posts are doing. These analytics include how many people your posts reach, the number of users engaged with your posts, how many people are talking about them, and their virality.
3. Mix it up. Be sure to post a variety of updates on your page. Do your clients like motivational quotes? Great! Feel free to post those quotes, but also sprinkle in other information. Some examples include linking to health & fitness articles, posting photos, asking fitness questions or fill in the blank questions, or giving advice on how to stay on track with their goals.
4. Consider offering a discount. Recent research has shown that the biggest motivator for liking a brand on Facebook is to get access to promotions/discounts. Think about running a promotion that offers a discount on a training session or class that you host. Check out this infographic for more fascinating information about how consumers interact with brands: http://mashable.com/2012/09/24/facebook-brand-page-value/
5. Give as much information as possible. Be sure to include your facility's address, hours, description, phone number, and website on your page. You'll also want to update your cover photo regularly and claim your vanity URL. Your vanity URL is the URL that you give out that will go directly to your page (for example, IDEA's is www.facebook.com/ideafit). Facebook allows you to claim your vanity URL once 25 or more people like your page.
Bonus Tip! A recent study from Buddy Media‘s “Strategies for Effective Wall Posts: A Timeline Analysis", found that posting between 8 pm and 7am got a 14% higher interaction than those published between 8 am and 7 pm. In addition, posts on Sunday got the most interaction, while posts on Wednesday got the least interaction. This doesn't necessarily mean that it will be true for your audience though. Test out posting at different times and days and monitor your likes, comments and shares to see which posts do the best.
Good luck!
Kelli Davis
P.S. Want to see more social media posts on the IDEA FitnessConnect blog? Let us know in the comments!
Comments
On Oct 08, 2012
On Nov 10, 2012