When brands want to do social media marketing, they usually go to Facebook. The world’s largest social network offers brands a wealth of marketing features. It helps them target specific audiences at the right time, using content, ads, or a mix of these.
Many brands worry that they don’t market enough on Facebook. That they don’t post enough content or run enough ads. But sometimes, the opposite is true.
Marketing too much on Facebook can hurt your brand image. More than that, it can undermine your marketing efforts on other social networks.
In this post, you’ll learn more about the pitfalls of too much Facebook marketing. You’ll also learn how to advertise a business on Facebook without annoying anyone. Are you ready to get started?
Facebook for Business Marketing – How Much Is Too Much?
Before we look at the drawbacks of too much Facebook marketing, we need to agree what too much actually means. It differs from brand to brand. For some brands, posting every day on Facebook is not too much. For others, it could be way too much.
A simple way to tell is by checking engagement levels. If you’re not getting enough engagement, you could be posting too much. The definition of too much in this case would be a lot of content that doesn’t generate enough engagement. When that happens to a brand, they clearly have a problem.
Now let’s look at some of the specific effects of overmarketing your brand on Facebook.
All that content washes out your brand’s image
People don’t see Facebook as a marketing channel. They may follow brands, like their content, and follow their links. But the average Facebook user doesn’t log into his account to check a brand’s ads.
Sometimes an ad or a piece of content catches their eye. But people use Facebook for what it’s meant to be — a social network. Brands who market relentlessly on Facebook often lose points with customers. Few things are more annoying on Facebook that seeing a brand hammering on the same old marketing message in its content and ads.
You end up spending way too much money
Established brands all take their social media content marketing to Facebook. Big brands like Coca-Cola or Apple put a lot of money into their Facebook campaigns. For marketers, Facebook is more competitive than smaller social networks.
If you focus too much of your marketing energy on Facebook, you may end up spending a lot of money. You could be seeing similar or even better results marketing on a combination of other social sites.
Facebook marketing mistakes can reverberate through your other social media pages
Most people who use Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram are also on Facebook. If people feel overwhelmed by your Facebook content, or offended by it, they can take that judgment to other networks, too. Even if you post something unique there, they may receive it with preconceived notions about your brand.
Increases your chances to offend others
The sort of creative marketing you need on Facebook to get noticed may sometimes backfire against you. A remark that for you is witty or clever may offend a particular demographic. Even when you run your social media content marketing through a tight filter, you may still end up of receiving negative comments on some posts.
Encourages customers to have unrealistic expectations about your customer service
More and more customers today take their support questions straight to social media. While Facebook Messenger bots are now smart enough to solve simple customer support problems, many customers still expect a human response. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course.
But when you’re very active on Facebook, your customers may think you have a whole Facebook team. They may expect lightning-fast responses. What happens then if a lot of questions come in when your one-man social media team is on his day off?
Facebook ads annoy some and upset others
Facebook ads can be effective at generating traffic and improving conversions. But many customers today prefer brands who do content marketing rather than advertising. Run ads all the time and they’ll think you have nothing better to offer. Digital ads don’t click with users like content does.
Makes you a bore
When you post and advertise all the time on Facebook, you can easily burn up your best ideas. Even if you have a creative genius on your team who consistently creates great content, they’ll eventually need a break.
That will interrupt your content streak. Your fans may feel the difference like a blow to their good taste. By contrast, when you post less, the longer gaps between the posts can moderate expectations. They may even generate a sense of expectancy.
Wrap Up
When you use Facebook for business marketing, it’s important to consider how much is too much. Maintaining an active and vibrant presence on the world’s largest social network can improve your brand’s image. But if you focus too much of your effort into Facebook, you risk becoming salesly and even worse — a bore.
You may want to consider developing instead a more balanced marketing and advertising strategy. Use Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, and any other social network relevant to your brand.
And don’t forget the power of blogging. Platforms like WordPress and Medium have integrated content feeds that can deliver your content to a wide audience.
In the end, don’t forget that social networks are crowded places. While there’s plenty of room for everyone, you don’t want to weigh down your page with too much of what people have already seen before.
Take the smart route to social media content marketing success. Focus on quality, not quantity, and monitor results. Adjust your content and schedule ads accordingly. You’ll see better results.
To find out how to advertise a business on Facebook even when you’re on a budget, check out this post. If you’re more interested in Facebook social marketing instead, you can check out this post.