With organic posts, you reap what you sow.

In most cases, we tend to think “organic” means natural. That is also the case in social media. Organic posts are the ones that you don’t pay to promote, but whose reach grows naturally through audience engagement. Organic posts, and the environments they are planted in, need tending and nourishment to be successful.

Here are our tips to get the most out of your Facebook organic posts by growing your following and increasing engagement and shares:

Audit your Account

First thing’s first: give yourself a fresh slate to start. It’s time to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Facebook is constantly growing and changing its features, so chances are the page you created years ago is thoroughly missing out.

Profile Pic:

If you are only going to do one thing right on Facebook, make it your profile picture. Your profile picture serves as the primary visual for your business, on and off of your main page. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Is it the right size? Facebook’s recommendation is 180 x 180 pixels, but a little higher resolution never hurt anybody.
• Does it represent your brand? When users see your profile pic, they should be able to automatically associate it with you.
• Can you tell what it is? Really? Even when it’s the teeny-tiny version in the comment sections? If you’re using a more complicated logo or a lot of text, opt to simplify.

Cover Photo:

Sizing for cover photos feels like a bad math problem from the third grade, except instead of measuring with watermelons or apples, we are working in pixels.

“If desktop cover photos measure 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall and mobile cover photos measure 640 pixels wide and 360 pixels tall. What size should our cover photo be?” 

The answer? Take the highest of both measurements for the image size:

820×360

Now take the lower of the two to fit the important parts of your image in:

 640×312

This will leave 90 pixels on each side and 24 pixels on the tops and bottoms that can be cut out.

Business Information:

This may sound a bit unnecessary and condescending to ask if you have checked your business information recently but… have you? You’d be surprised at how many incomplete businesses pages there are out in the Facebook wilderness. We’ll just say that you wouldn’t be the first brand to have hastily slapped some info onto your page when creating it and never thought about it again. Verify your contact info, hours, website info, products, service menu items, and descriptions.

‘Our Story’:

Who are you? What is the meaning of your existence? What is the true identity of your business? Once you’ve come back down from your existential crisis, post your findings in the ‘Our Story’ portion of your Facebook page. Build brand authenticity while showing visitors just what you’re business is all about. Pro tip: Writing in the first person shows confidence and familiarity that potential followers will be drawn to. 

Want to learn more about Facebook Marketing for Dealerships? Download our free eBook.

Rake in Reviews

Many of those who visit your site come from the place many hope never go; your online reviews.

Small businesses have it even worse since consumers will do more research on brands they aren’t familiar with. That might have something to do with why 91% of consumers have admitted that they look at online reviews before purchasing from a local business. Though Facebook Reviews might seem small next to the online review giants Google and Yelp, they are the first impression of your dealership for some shoppers, and you need to make it count.

We understand that you can’t control what people say about your business online. And as much as you love your customers, some can be… particularly hard to please. However, you can control how you respond to them.

Facebook Reviews Best Practices:

1. Turn them on and leave them on. Did you know that it’s possible to not have reviews attached to your business’s Facebook page? If you have your “check in” abilities turned off, chances are you haven’t been receiving reviews over the years. Though it might be tempting to turn them off completely, you’ve got to fight the urge and keep them coming. Nothing is sketchier than a business without any reviews.
2. Love the lovers. When you’ve got yourself a happy camper, make them a regular ranger. It will help those looking at the reviews feel more comfortable going into your business.
3. Thank the haters. They took the time to give you feedback after all. Ask clarifying questions to understand their concerns, and do what you can to make things right by them. We know that it would feel so good to tear into them in your reply, but it won’t feel so good when it costs you 30 customers.

Post Consistently

Any half-way decent farmer s going to tell you that the most important part of watering their fields is consistency. Too much? Your fields become soggy and rotten. Too little? Your crops shrivel up just like your dreams of being a farmer.

Having the right consistency for your social media calendar is no different. Social media is a part of our daily routines, and whether we recognize it or not, we are creatures of habit. We want to know what to expect. Here are three ways to ensure your Facebook page stays consistent:

1. Decide how much you can actually commit to. Creating content is time consuming, so posting twice a day every day isn’t for the faint of heart. If you go in guns blazing and burn out after two weeks, it’s not going to be a great look for your business.
2. Use a Scheduling Service. Platforms like Facebook Business or Hootsuite not only allow you to set-and-forget posts days, weeks, or even months in advance, but they also give helpful tips and tricks for running a successful business page.
3. Find your thing: One of the easiest ways to stay consistent is to find a weekly routine. Whether it’s Fun Fact Fridays or Cat-of-the-week Caturdays. Just find your thing and stick to it. Your followers will love you for it.

Post Natively

When one is aimlessly scrolling through Facebook, they want to stay on Facebook. Mysterious links with limited information are a huge turn off. Native posts exist only on Facebook and don’t require users to move to another page to see the content. By keeping the majority of your posts native to your site, viewers are able to stop, view your content, and continue on their scrolling journey. The easy-to-use nature of native posts might just be why they have an 86% higher reach than their link-clicking alternatives.

Want to learn more about Facebook Marketing for Dealerships? Download our free eBook.

Souces:

Bright Local (Dec 2020). Local Customer Review Survey 2020

Quintly (Oct 2017). Facebook Video Study