Learn more about building your brand and growing your audience with our comprehensive guide to marketing on Facebook. The Facebook Marketing Bible is available at FacebookMarketingBible.com

Managing a Facebook Page can be a daunting task. Once you’ve set up a Page for your business or brand, how do you keep the content you share fresh, engaging, and social? For Facebook marketers, mastering the way you share content on your Page’s Wall – arguably the most important feature on Facebook, since updates flow directly to users’ home pages – is crucial. Here are eight tips for effectively updating your Facebook Page.

1. Know how to use the Publisher.

The Publisher, which sits at the top of your Wall, is the tool you use to generate Wall posts. It seems simple enough to use, but we’ve seen Page after Page not getting it right. The main comments field allows you to introduce your story and add context to the content you’re about to share. Below this box, you’re given the options of attaching links, photos, events, and videos. Mixing up the media formats that you share your stories in will ensure that you’re fully maximizing the media-rich potential of your Wall.

2. Don’t lead with a URL.

A common mistake some Page owners often make is copying and pasting URLs into the comments box instead of attaching it and adding your own comment. This is almost worse than forgetting to add a comment at all. Leading the Wall post with a comment builds the organization’s voice.

Leading the story with a URL…

…instead of a personalized comment: you miss the opportunity to color the story and build rapport with your fans.

Notice that you can choose a thumbnail of your choice to go with your link. Many times, we’ve seen Page owners associating the wrong thumbnails with links. Make sure the two match.

3. Balance between stories that drive fans back to your site vs. build community on Facebook.

There are many Facebook Pages that aggressively push their page fans to their own websites upon clicking on Wall posts. While this is a valid strategy for many marketing programs, it must be balanced with the fact that doing so may not be the best for building a following or community on Facebook. Take time to share miscellaneous facts with your fans, or get users to generate content on your Wall via competitions.

Coke’s Facebook Page shares a random fact with its fans.

4. Use your Wall to cross-promote other Facebook campaigns (e.g., applications, virtual gifts).

At the beginning of this year, Ben & Jerry’s partnered with nonprofit organization Common Cause through the Causes application. The “Yes PeCan!” drove traffic between the Causes app and Ben & Jerry’s Facebook Pages, which gained 33,000 new fans and saw a 5-times increase in page visits.

Virtual gifting campaigns have been popular. Create Wall stories that allow fans to send virtual gifts in a few simple clicks.

5. Reward your fans by letting them in on special promotions.

By fanning your page, users are associating their Facebook identities with your brand. On a viral platform like Facebook, your fans become influencers who share the content you generate with their friends. Offering special promotions is a great way of growing your fan base because your current users will feel that they are getting substantial value out of being your fan, while potentially sharing these promotions with friends who will then become more likely to fan your page.

To celebrate its 300,000th fan, Papa John’s thanked its fans with this special offer.

6. Know who your fans are and make an effort to engage in conversation with all of them.

If you’re an international brand, this may mean that many – if not the majority – of your fans live outside of the U.S. and speak in languages other than English! Post stories in other languages occasionally to give a shout out to your fans in other countries. Using Page Insights, determine the demographics of your fan population and use this information to tailor your stories in appropriate and fitting ways.

7. If you import content to your Facebook Wall, make sure to do so in a seamless fashion.

For example, if you’re importing your organization’s blog to your Facebook Page via the Notes application, make sure that the Wall is not automatically generating Wall stories as you’re manually posting to the Wall. This will lead to duplicate Wall posts, giving off the impression that you’re being sloppy.

8. Don’t just watch: actively participate in Wall activity.

1-800-FLOWERS has done an impressive job of becoming part of the conversations that are taking place on the Wall, from replying to customer complaints to commenting on photos that fans are posting. In doing this, brands can become increasingly accessible to their customers and understand how they think and interact with their products/services at a level of efficiency that was not possible before the rise of social media marketing.

Conclusion

Learning how to optimize the content you share on your Wall is crucial to improving your Facebook marketing efforts. Some more sophisticated advertisers may want to make their own analytics tools to triangulate data provided by Facebok’s Insights dashboard. At the end of the day, learning how to use your Page’s Wall to engage your fans is crucial to making the most of your connections to fans on Facebook.

Related Resources:

• The Facebook Marketing Bible: The Guide to Marketing Your Brand, Company, Product, or Service Inside Facebook
• Best & Worst Facebook Marketing, 2009

Learn more about building your brand and growing your audience with our comprehensive guide to marketing on Facebook. The Facebook Marketing Bible is available at FacebookMarketingBible.com