Facebook Best Practices Guidebook for Dance Sarasota
Management has determined the only social media platform we will use is Facebook. Our target market is college educated women, in 21–35 age range, who live in an affluent neighborhood of Sarasota, within 2 miles of our facility. Our market research and recent client survey indicates these women primarily use the Facebook social media platform.
This guidebook is to establish procedures for all employees to follow, when posting on Facebook. In addition, any employee reposting company posts must follow these exact guidelines or face possible termination. The Facebook message must contain the same brand, voice and image of the company. Our current and potential clients must get a consistent message from all our communication.
As noted in the Investopedia article on Brand Identity, “Consistent marketing and messaging leads to a consistent brand identity and, therefore, consistent sales” (Tarver, 2021).
Sarasota Dance Brand details:
Voice: Friendly, energetic, positive, encouraging
Remember, the brand voice is the “distinct personality a brand takes on in its communications” (Chen, 2020)
Tone: Will depend on the campaign strategy, but always positive
Colors: pink, blue, black
Font: Anton (34 and 38); Pony Club (66.5)
Company Hashtag: #dancetoanewyou
Your first responsibility is to review the Facebook Guidelines for business to ensure we are in compliance with their requirements and research using this link: Facebook’s new guidelines. There are many additional links which must be reviewed from that website, and which will explain the purposes of establishing a Facebook platform. An example of what we are trying to accomplish from the business help page is:
“People on Facebook value meaningful, informative stories”
“People on Facebook value accurate, authentic content”
“People on Facebook value standards for safe, respectful behavior”
The Facebook Business help also provides numerous “Dos and Don’ts” to follow. Here are a few examples:
“Do create interesting and valuable content”
“Do keep your account information safe”
“Do not post engagement bait”
“Do not mislead users through deceptive actions (cloaking, nonexistent functionality, impersonation, false polls)”
Additional best practice guidelines:
· All posts must be under 40 characters.
· Proofread all content and final approval must be in writing, by 2 levels of Management. (Use social media approval form, found in the appendix of this guidebook.)
· Be sure to ask questions and provide a clear CTA (Call to Action), but do not use clickbait language, which is not allowed on Facebook.
· Only use the Hashtag: #dancetoanewyou for fun, as hashtags are not used for metrics in Facebook.
· Video length should be no longer than 3 minutes.
· Use quality, intriguing photos which will draw the client’s interest.
· Image size should be 1080 by 1080 pixels.
· Paid ads will be used on a limited basis, due to the expense, and must be pre-approved by Management.
· Utilize User-Generated Content (UGC) at least twice a week.
· Each month we will have a focused campaign, and the goal is to bring in more members.
· Create 6 months of social media campaigns in advance and monitor on the social media communication calendar. (Use the calendar found in the appendix of this guidebook.)
· For specific social media campaigns, the social media posts must be focused, unique, timely, emotional, original, and true to our brand.
· “Utilize Facebook Insights and Analytics to Improve Your Strategy” (eclincher).
· Post at least once a day and twice a day during specific campaigns.
Suggested posting options: Post in the mornings at 10:00 and the afternoons at 4:00. Monitor responses of clients and prospective clients, then determine if these are the best times and change if needed.
· Audit our competitors posts on a monthly basis. Report findings during staff meeting, the first of each month.
· This social media best practices guide will be reviewed annually and may be amended at any time.
· Conduct client surveys each quarter, to determine if they are pleased with our services or if they want more. Be sure to follow up with each client who takes the time to answer the survey.
Any analytics reporting must be easy to use and provide detailed summary of the information. A list of the top 15 best social medial listening and tracking tools is below and found on the attached link: https://blog.hubspot.com/service/social-listening-tools
1. HubSpot Social Media Management Software
2. Sprout Social
3. Falcon.io
4. Hootsuite
5. Buffer
6. TweetReach
7. BuzzSumo
8. Keyhole
9. SumAll
10.Mention
11.Awario
12.Snaplytics
13.Oktopost
14.Iconosquare
15.Tailwind
The analytics report must be clear and colorful:
(Newberry, 2020)
Communication strategy guidelines:
· Respond to all client inquiries by the end of each day.
· Like and respond to every comment.
· Ask for client reviews to encourage and engage clients.
· Report any complaints to Management immediately.
· Do not over communicate or repeat messages.
· Be aware of current events and do not post any social media if a major news story might make the post inappropriate.
· Research both social media monitoring and listening tools (as mentioned above) and develop a list of pros and cons for each. Propose which tool you think best. Management will review your proposal and determine a selection. We must keep on top of what is said in social media. As described in the Hootsuite blog, “Social media monitoring is about the past, and social listening is about the future” (Newberry, 2020).
The following illustration is very helpful in explaining the difference between monitoring and listening:
(Newberry, 2020)
Sample campaigns we have utilized in the past:
· Girls’ Night Out with wine and cheese
· Join by month end and get 20% off yearly membership
· Dance night contest
· 10% discount off dance workout clothing if you bring in a new member
Social Media is your full time job. Treat each post as though it is the most important message you have to make. You must measure ROI using the Facebook analytics and reevaluate each communication strategy. Notify Management when you want to make any changes and once you’ve determined what isn’t working.
We will establish company goals in May each year. Our fiscal year is June 1 through May 31. Your job will be to assist in the development of the annual goals and provide input with what social media strategy will help achieve our goals. You will be evaluated based on the success of the social media, number of click throughs, etc. A sample evaluation form is in the appendix of this guidebook.
References:
Chen, J. (2020, August 4). Brand voice: What it is & why it matters. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/brand-voice/.
eclincher. (n.d.). Social Media Basics Part 1: Facebook Best Practices [web log]. https://eclincher.com.
Facebook Business Help. Facebook. (n.d.). https://www.facebook.com/business/help/718033381901819?id=20806097720086
Newberry, C. (2020, May 21). 15 of the Best Social Media Monitoring Tools to Save You Time [web log]. hootsuite.com.
Tarver, E. (2021, May 19). Create a Strong Brand to Grow Your Business. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-identity.asp.
10, A. S. S., 10, N. S., 18, M. H. S., & 8, digital marketing training institute O. (2019, March 7). Social Media Guide. Bonfire Marketing. https://thinkbonfire.com/blog/social-media-best-practices-infographic/.
