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Facebook Cover Photo Ideas for Your Business Page

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Your cover photo is one of the most noticeable parts of your page. In fact, it is the first thing most people would look at when they visit your Facebook page.  Don’t you want to make it impressive?

We understand that finding the perfect Facebook cover photo can be a challenge. You only get once chance to make an impression so you need to get it right. Here at BIMS, we’re all about sharing information that can help your business grow. Here are 4 Facebook cover photo ideas that will make an epic impression on your fans. Pay attention.

Show them what you do

With millions of users from all over the world, Facebook is one of the best places to establish your brand. Your cover photo is a great way to promote your business, your services and yourself. Use this space to show people what your business is all about.

Take advantage of this space to show people the products and services you offer. If you are an artist, feel free to display some of your work. If you have a new product line or an upcoming event, this is the perfect place to put it.

Put your customers and fans center stage

Instead of using this space to promote your business, use it to highlight photos of your fans. You can also use testimonials from customers to your advantage. This adds a human touch to your company and shows the credibility of your business. Plus, it’s a great way to show your fans that you value and appreciate them.

Introduce yourself

While most companies would showcase their products and events, why not shed a little light on the amazing people who works behind the scenes? It makes your business much more personable and gives viewers a more intimate look into your business.

Call to action

Including a call-to-action to your cover photo urges people to instantly respond to your request. Social media is an effective tool when it comes to lead generation. Use your cover photo to encourage people to visit your site, leave their email address or buy your products.

 

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Tips for Proper Social Media Etiquette in the New Year

BIMS_1.5As 2015 draws to a close, many of you are probably preparing for the biggest party of the year. Whether it’s a family event, work party or a purely social gathering, there’s a social media embarrassment waiting to happen.

A careless Facebook post or tweet can alienate your loved ones and damage your social and professional image. Start the year right by paying close attention to your social media profiles and activities.

Take a good look at these tips for proper social media etiquette.

Take your complaint offline

We understand that you’re frustrated about a company’s customer service or the long lines, but you don’t have to post it on social media for everyone else to see. Rather than slamming them on Facebook or Twitter, it is better to contact them privately and settle the issue offline.

Avoid over-sharing

It’s okay to share how awesome your dinner was or what your cat is up to occasionally, but sharing every single bit of activity you did all day is the fastest way to lose your friends and followers. You are free to share a few times a day, but be sure to space your posts.

Use caution in posting and tagging photos

You may look good on a particular picture, but if a friend’s hair looks like a rooster and your sister’s skirt is twisted, then you shouldn’t post it. No matter how good looking you are at that picture; please think about the others before posting and tagging them. You probably don’t like it when someone tags you in candid or unflattering photos, so why would you do that to them? If you really want to post the picture, then crop it. Your friends will thank you for it.

Be respectful

Avoid engaging in aggressive debates online and sending out potentially offensive tweets. Remember, there’s another person on the receiving end. If you wouldn’t speak to the person that way face to face, then you shouldn’t do it online.

 

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Social Media Tips for the Holiday Season

BIMSThe holiday season is the busiest shopping time of the year. According to the National Retail Federation, the average American adult usually spends about $810 during the holiday season. Because of that, retailers and brands are fighting for consumer’s attention to drive up their sales.

Incorporate the excitement and spirit of the holidays into your social media campaigns. Here are some tips on how to take advantage of the holidays with the help of social media.

Help your customers get into the holiday spirit

Most people are sprucing up their homes and putting up lights and ornaments around their home. Why don’t you do the same and add some seasonal touches to your website and social media pages? Update your Facebook cover photos, Youtube channels, Google+ images and Twitter backgrounds where possible.

Holiday promotions

While the shopping season usually starts in September, most people don’t start until November. Others would wait until the first week of December before they start shopping. It’s never too late to capture a holiday shopper.

Share holiday promotions with your followers and give them something to look forward to.  Take advantage of social media advertising options such as Twitter sponsored tweets and Facebook offers if you really want to bank on your sale.

Give back to the community

Truly get into the spirit of giving by adding a charitable element to your holiday campaign. Use your platform as a business leader to draw attention to a cause. Get your employees on board and give back to your local community.

Give away prizes

The holiday season is a time for giving. Since people interact with businesses more frequently during the holiday season, this is also the best time to run a contest.

Contests and giveaways are a great way to create buzz around your product. They also help increase social sharing, engagement and fan base. Ask for shares and likes for entries into the contest for a chance to win. The monetary value of the prize is totally up to you, but make sure that you provide them something they will value and appreciate.

 

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How Facebook Ads Can Grow Your Fan Page

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Increasing Facebook likes can be a tricky process. With the algorithm changes, Facebook page engagement decreased over time; thus, making it difficult for business owners and marketers to reach their fans.

Since Facebook is one of the biggest and most popular social networks, you should be looking for ways to increase the number of people who like your page. Advertising using Facebook ads is one of them.

Facebook ads are the easiest and most effective ways to increase your likes. If you don’t already have some good Facebook ads strategies, you better get started.

Ability to reach smartphone users

Facebook has about 1.20 billion active mobile users as of December 2014. That’s a lot of people, and the number of users is increasing over time. Because of that, mobile should be your priority. By advertising on Facebook, you’ll be able to reach your audience right at the palm of their hands.

Enhanced audience targeting

There are billions of people on Facebook. That said, you need to make sure that you use at least the most basic of targeting when you set up any ad on Facebook. Otherwise, you’ll end up advertising to the wrong people and waste money in the end.

Facebook advertising allows you to target a specific group of people based on their age, gender, geographical location, interests and more. This gives you the chance to be more precise in your audience targeting. Think about your ideal customer and what they’re interested in. Decide who you want to reach before creating an ad.

Heightened audience engagement

Before, you only needed to come up with great content and wait until you get all the likes you deserve, but all that has changed over the years. Now, you have to promote your content to ensure that your existing and potential customers see it in their newsfeeds.

Your primary goal is to capture the attention of your target audience and get them to engage with your posts. In addition to ads, you need to make sure that your content are interesting because users only see posts from pages they engage with. Build trust with your followers and get them to share, like or comment on your posts.

 

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Easy Ways to Expand Your Facebook Reach

BIMSFor many businesses, generating lead is one of the biggest advantages of creating and maintaining social presence. You create content that would pique the interest of your target audience and hope that it goes out to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, the days of posting and reaching all of your fans are gone.

The last year has brought many changes to social media. We’ve heard complaints from several businesses about the drop in organic reach for Facebook pages.

Using the right tactics will give you better results. Follow these tips to ensure that your posts can reach the audience you define.

Create awesome content

Like Google, Facebook puts a lot of emphasis on content quality and relevance. Being one of the biggest social network platforms, there’s a lot of competition out there. If you want to capture the attention of your target audience, then you need to provide them with killer content.

Higher engagement can increase your reach. The more people engage with your page, the more likely are they to see your posts. But if your content is not that interesting, you suffer the consequences of losing organic visibility.

Ask questions

One of the best ways to engage your followers is by asking them a question. Your goal is to start a conversation so be sure to start with an interesting question. Now that you got people to air their opinions, it is important to keep the conversation rolling.

Asking questions does not only help increase reach, it also provides answers to questions that may be crucial for your business’ marketing and sales.

Add call-to-action

Call-to-actions are a great way to get people to engage with your posts. Believe it or not, your audience tends to respond better when they are told what to do. However, most marketers and business owners fail to include a call-to action with their status updates.

Use better visuals

We’ve all heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. But it’s actually worth more than that in social media.

Videos and images often get more likes, shares and comments as compared to text-based status updates. ForCall  a more powerful post, consider placing your message along with the photo.

 

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4 Things We All Need to Stop Doing on Social Media

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The growth of social media continues to expand. Facebook has over 1 billion users; while Twitter and Instagram has over 280 million and 200 million active users respectively.

Many of us flock to these popular social media sites to give and receive the latest scoop on pretty much everything. We all love to post different events in our lives to let everyone know what is going on, but some people gets overboard when it comes to using social media.

Whether you’re using social media for professional or personal use, here are 4 things you should stop doing.

Oversharing

You probably have a friend who updates their status every 15 minutes or so. It can get irritating sometimes, especially since your news feeds is full of their postings. We hate to break it to you, but no one wants to be that clued in about your life.

Using more hashtags than words

Hashtags are great for giving your campaigns their own special theme, finding and jumping into conversations and categorizing your posts, but piling on the hashtags just looks desperate. Please keep your hashtag usage in check.

Automated messages

It may seem like a good idea to send a thank you message to users who follow you, but I’m willing to bet that some people consider it as spam.

While there are some people who say that sending automated messages has helped grow their follower count, it may come off as detached, lazy and out of touch for some. Remember, genuineness wins when it comes to earning the trust of your target audience.

Adding people to groups without their permission

Groups are a great place to talk to people with the same interests as yours. Just because you created a group for golfers, doesn’t give you the right to add your golfer friends to the group without their permission. If you think some of your friends would be interested to be a part of the group, consider sending them a message and tell them what it’s all about.

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Handling Negative Comments on Social Media

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Social media is a powerful tool for businesses of all types. It helps you engage and connect with your audience and eventually establish a relationship with them. In addition to that, it also helps increase traffic to your website, increase brand awareness and ultimately, increase sales. However, social media is not perfect.

We live in a world where everyone has a voice. People can talk about their experiences, whether it’s positive or negative, with your business and post them online. Unless you’re perfect, you’ll have to deal with negative comments or feedbacks sooner or later. What should you do when negative reviews come in?

Here are 4 principles to guide the way you deal with negative comments on social media.

Do not delay

Negative comments and feedbacks should be addressed as soon as possible. Mind you, words travel swiftly on social network. This can damage your reputation so be sure to act fast.

Most people post negative comments online because they believe that no one wants to listen to them. Show your customers that you care for them and you’re willing to listen by responding quickly. Also, reassure them that you are willing to set things straight and solve the issue in the soonest possible time.

Own up to your mistake

We are humans, and we all make mistakes. If someone is complaining about your products or services, do not be afraid to say you’re sorry. Recognize the complaint, apologize publicly and then settle things privately.

Offer an incentive

Sometimes, offering a discount, free merchandize or business service can help calm the situation. If your product failed, replace it and offer discount on their next purchase. If it was a dining experience, refund their check. Try to make things right, even if it costs you. This is a great way of showing your customers how much you value them.

 

 

 

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How to Increase Fan Engagement on Your Facebook Page

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Not long ago, writing a Facebook post and asking people to share, like or comment is all it took to maintain an active business page. But with Facebook’s algorithm changes, capturing the attention of your target audience becomes increasingly difficult.

If you’ve given up hope of ever reaching your target audience, then we’re here to help you out. Read on and we’ll show you how to increase fan engagement on your Facebook page.

Use visual content

Like the old adage says, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. But for a business owner like you, it’s worth more than that.

Survey revealed that visual contents get 180% more engagement as compared to other types of content on Facebook. This is because they are easy to digest, clear and concise. Post infographics, quotes, memes, tips, people, places etc.

Post more often

If your goal is to reach more people, then you have to be active on social media. We suggest that you post at least 4 times a day. This way, you’re giving your fans 4 chances to see your posts.

Feel free to post photos, talk about news, ask questions etc. Also, publish useful content with a consistent voice that your community knows.

Post interesting content

The simplest yet most effective way to capture the attention of your target audience is to publish great content and entice them to engage.

Make use of your knowledge and experiences by giving helpful tips to your fans. You can use past blogs or newsletters and turn them into quick tips. You can also share your knowledge by creating video tutorials and sharing them on Facebook.

Include call to action

Most people would browse quickly through their news feeds. Always include a call to action if you want them stop and take action. Sometimes, all you need to do is ask, but try to be as non-salesy as possible.

 

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How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Event

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Business owners know that holding events are one of the best ways to get customer through the door. If your goal is to get as many people interested in your event, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can be an excellent way to spread the word to your customer base, followers, family members and friends.

This week, we’ll give you 4 easy ways to use social media to create a buzz-worthy event and increase the number of attendees.

Engage

Social media is an ideal channel for initiating conversations. But before anything else, you want to identify your target audience and the types of people you’re trying to reach.

Post your event on Facebook and encourage engagement. With over 1 billion users worldwide, it is an ideal place to interact with potential attendees and speakers.

Promote early. The earlier you promote the event, the greater your chances are for success.

Hashtag properly

This is an important element of your event marketing strategy. When creating a hashtag, be sure to keep it short, unique and relevant. Don’t forget to do your research so as to make sure that it hasn’t been used previously.

The hashtag is a great way for attendees to follow conversations about your event, engage with speakers and each other. So, be sure to use it every time you post something about the event.

Create buzz

Create buzz by highlighting your greatest assets, your guests of honor. Considering that these people are admired in their industry, they already have loyal fans. This makes it a lot easier for you to get people to attend the event. You can also mention them in your tweets, in the hopes that their followers would see it too.

Be sure to incorporate the official hashtag and call to action at the end, urging people to register or buy tickets.

Updates

Set up a blog and post short updates to give attendees an idea about what to expect. Include photos and videos in your blog post to build traffic and engage your audience.

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4 Ways to Use Facebook Groups for Your Business

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Since business owners have discovered that they could make fans through their Facebook page and market through a broader group of consumers, many of them have slowly abandoned the Facebook groups and focused their time on managing their page.

With so many changes taking place on the said platform, business owners have assumed that groups are no longer effective. But as soon as they abandoned the groups, they seem to forget about the “social” in social media. They focused on paid advertisement, limiting the interaction between the company and it audience.

So how do you use Facebook groups for your business? Here are 4 ways.

Exchange ideas with group members

When thinking of creating a group, one of the main reasons should be to keep in touch with your audience.

While a business page allows a company to broadcast new products, services or content, Facebook groups is a good place to ask questions or start a conversation with actual customers without posting a sales pitch.

Gather people of like interest

We do like to converse with people with the same interest as ours, right?

Through Facebook groups, you can gather people of like interest together. Here, you can ask questions, tell stories and offer advice to others. As the conversation evolves and as you start building a relationship with the group members, they might consider inviting some of their friends to the group.

Provide customer support

For small businesses that are still not capable of hiring people and offer customer support round-the-clock, having an active Facebook group is advantageous as it gives customers a place to share, collaborate and connect with others. Here, people can offer support and advice to fellow customers, even if you’re not online.

Create a secret group

A secret group provides you the chance to interact with your loyal customers. Here, you can give them exclusive updates to your newest products or services. Plus, it gives an incentive to customers who have supported your company through the years.

 

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