How to be Conversational Online: Facebook

www.facebook.com

In my last post, about how to be conversational online, I focused on blogging.

This week is about that social media staple that everyone from my college friends to my pastor to my grandmother is using: Facebook. With its own movie coming out (a la “The Social Network“), Facebook is as popular as ever. As an iCME at Incept, I have a Facebook page specifically for work that I use to communicate with my coworkers, get to know other businesses that are in the conversational marketing and blood donation industries and get updates from Incept (like what the dress code is for the week or who splashed into the dunk tank at the company picnic).

When I have conversations on my professional Facebook page, they’re very different than the ones I have with my friends on my personal page. If you’re interacting with your customers, clients, co-workers, and/or supervisors on Facebook, remember these rules:

• These are professional relationships so keep it professional! Write on Facebook only what would be appropriate to say to face-to-face to your customer.
• Choose your language carefully. Promote yourself in the best way by avoiding slang and cuss words.
• Use the skills you learned in high school English. Everything makes an impression, including correct spelling and proper grammar. That extra effort can make you stand out!
• Limit emoticons. I use a or a all the time on Facebook. While the traditional “smiley face” and “sad face” emoticons are universally understood, others are more complicated and can be misunderstood. If you use an emoticon to communicate with a client, you might not be taken as seriously. Avoid misunderstandings by simply writing that you’re satisfied or dissatisfied.
• Avoid acronymns and abbreviations in your Internet lingo. Your boss might think that “LOL” you sent him means “lots of love” instead of “laugh out loud.” The consequences of that go without saying!

Here is where conversations – productive or otherwise – happen on Facebook:

• Private messages: messages that are sent to the other person’s inbox and are seen only by him or her. Use this feature if you don’t want your conversation to be seen by all of your Facebook friends.
• Chats: instant messaging with your Facebook friends.
• Walls: every Facebook user has their own wall where you can leave public comments.
• Status updates: start conversations by stating what you’re up to today (what you’re reading, where you went, what you ate for breakfast, etc.)

So what does this all mean for conversational marketing? For a business, the best part about Facebook is that you can create your own fan page. Your employees, clients and customers can visit it to start conversations and learn about your services. It can be a jumping point to your company’s official website. Use the same conversational marketing skills on Facebook as you would use face-to-face or over the phone: listen attentively (read that status update carefully) and offer results (write short, easily understood, helpful responses). A conversation on Facebook is productive when both parties are on the same page with Internet lingo, are on the level of privacy the conversation requires (talking on a “wall” or in a personal message) and pay close attention to the words being written (as if they were being spoken).

If you’re like me and find it hard to keep track of every conversation you get involved in on Facebook, sign up to receive email notifications and use your email account as a to-do list. When I receive an email from Facebook, notifying me that someone commented on my status or photo, or even “poked” me, I don’t delete that email until I’ve responded back. That way when I look at my inbox I can see what I have to do.

Do you have any advice for having productive, meaningful conversations on Facebook?

Further Information:
Online Conversations: It’s All About How You Say It
iCME Social Media Toolkit