Facebook is a great tool for small businesses not only to sell their products and services but also to connect with existing and prospective customers in a more personal way.
While Facebook marketing may seem a great way for Ugandan businesses to grow their sales and revenues, many businesses that patronize this giant social network are using it the wrong way.
As it is with other sales medium, Facebook marketing also has its own perks. Understanding the do’s and don’ts of Facebook as a marketing tool can help small businesses maximize their returns and improve customer experience or it could leave their business at the same state before they signed up or even worse.
Also read;18 reasons ecommerce businesses in Uganda are failing
The Top 10 Facebook Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses In Uganda Make
Below I highlight 10 Terrible Facebook Marketing Mistakes brands in Uganda should avoid.
1). They Don’t Update Their Facebook Pages
Nobody cares about a website, blog, newspaper brand or even a social media page that is not updated regularly. When people choose to like or follow your Facebook page, it is because there is something about the page that either inspires them, entertains them, adds value to their lives, educates them or motivates them to make a purchase.
Your page fans want to return to return to your page hoping to find there something new. If you do not constantly update your facebook page, you prospective clients would get tired of visiting it or even unfollow it and will totally forget about your brand.
In the event of any of these two negative outcomes, your facebook marketing efforts will be rendered useless.
2). Their Facebook Pages Are Too Boring
The key to a successful Facebook marketing strategy is regularly posting interesting content to your page. Small businesses mostly post official statements for their companies, product images with prices and other too serious stuff that are not anywhere close to anything that can be called fun.
From time to time, people love to learn facts, solve riddles, solve puzzles, watch your team’s out, see behind scenes of your business, see your operations in office, join your giveaway campaigns and experience a lot more engaging and fun activities.
If you can brighten your customers and prospects every time they visit your page, you can be certain that these people believe in your brand and are willing to buy from you anytime.
3). They Use Their Personal Profiles As Their Facebook Page
This is a very big mistake many Ugandan businesses make on Facebook. It is the holy grain of all Facebook fails. If you own a business and wish to promote it on Facebook, setup Facebook page for it. Do not your personal profile account as an official Facebook channel to promote your business.
Your personal Facebook is not meant for business. In fact facebook has constantly warned its users that anyone found using a personal profile to promote a business risks having the profile disabled. Yes, you heard that right!
While personal accounts can be good for individuals to connect with their friends and family, they come with limitations that only a Facebook page can exceed. For instance you can only run paid Facebook ads, contests and surveys on a Facebook page. With a page, you can also access Facebook insights which can help you learn a lot about your customer habits.
When executing your Facebook Marketing strategies, ensure that you run them from a Facebook page. This would give a professional touch to your business.
4). They Don’t Collect Emails
Before you process any order for your business on Facebook, ensure you collect the customer’s email address.
Collecting emails from your customers would enable you to a highly robust and successful email marketing campaign.
With your customer’s email data, you can connect with them off facebook via mail by sending them exclusive deals, tips and several valuable services. This would make your relationship with your customers grow even much stronger.
5). Not Responding To Comments And Enquiries
When a prospective customer comments on a particular product or inboxes you making an inquiry about your products and services, they would expect to get a quick reply from you.
Quick and timely replies to inquiries may turn prospects in buying customers. But if you don’t respond or take ages to respond, you would lose them to your competition.
Since customer service is the most essential service your business must deliver right, responding to customer inquiries on Facebook in fast and timely manner is very important. Show your customers that you care about them and respond to their questions with satisfying answers.
6). Irrelevant Facebook Advertising
The other make small businesses in Uganda make is setting up Facebook ad campaigns the wrong way. They setup Facebook ads targeting the whole of Uganda with all interests selected. These mistakes never bring in any sales.
Here is a scenario of how a small business should run Facebook ads: If your company for instance deals in sale of fashion items, the best way to promote your store would be running Facebook ad campaigns targeting users located in major cities like Kampala, Arua, Jinja, Wakiso, Mbarara, Gulu, Entebbe, Soroti, Fort Portal and Mbale. These 8 cities are known to have the highest conversion rates in Uganda.
The next strategy would be targeting people that indicated an interest in fashion. The other metric would be targeting that are aged between 24-45. This would increase your chances of only reaching the working class customers who are likely to buy your products. Over 90% of online purchases are done by working class who dominate the above mentioned cities.
Also read; 5 Big Mistakes New Ecommerce Businesses In Uganda Are Making
7). Posting Personal Things On Your Business Page
Many business owners miss out on this. They post personal stuff on their business pages. Your business page should strictly have content that relate with your business. If you feel like you want to post a photo of your baby, do that on your personal account not your business page.
8). Aggressive Spam Marketing
Some business think Facebook marketing means going around Facebook with their page link asking everyone to share, like or invite their friends to like their page. Or massively posting your products in Facebook groups. Such spam marketing will only affect your credibility and will hurt your business reputation. Facebook marketing should be done in a professional and peaceful manner. The best way to promote your business on Facebook is using paid Facebook ads which go for as low as only $1 per day.
9). Not Having A Social Media Manager
Some people think they can run their business single handedly without the help of other professionals. That’s wrong, nobody knows it all. If you are not an expert in social media marketing, you should hire a professional social media manager to handle that for you.
Also read; Why Every Business In Uganda Should Hire A Social Media Manager
10). Not Budgeting For Page Promotion.
In order to increase your business visibility on Facebook and more targeted people, sometimes you have to pay for it. Things like Facebook targeted ads and promoted posts cost money, but they can be a worth an investment that would increase your sales.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that Facebook is an online representation of your business and should be treated as such. Take time to create an executable social media strategy and avoid stupid mistakes that would hurt your business. Developing a Facebook strategy can be an overwhelming task, and if you can’t do that on your own, hire a digital marketing expert to do that for you. If you can avoid these mistakes or learn from them, your Facebook presence will reach far more of your audience and this will enhance your brand image. Happy Facebook Marketing!
What are your thoughts on these 6 Costly Mistakes Ugandan Businesses Make On Facebook? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
I love u’r aproach