31 Jan 3 Lessons We Learned with Facebook Location Pages
Around here, we get excited to test new things. If you’re getting our ‘Social You Should Know’ updates, you know that every week we manage to have a few updates to share from the social world.
Last year, you probably got an update about the new Facebook Location pages and you might’ve even followed our team when we walked you through how to create them. If you still haven’t decided if it’s right for your brand, luckily, we’ve been experimenting for you and we’ve learned a few things.
While we still stand by the fact that “implementation is as simple as contacting your Facebook rep…” we have some insights for the aftermath.
Lesson 1: You’re Going to Need a Few More Hands On Deck
When you’re in the beginning phases of deciding if you want to pursue setting up Location Pages, you should consider the time investment it’s going to take to manage, not just your main brand page but all Location Pages. It might seem simple when you only have 2 locations but if there is a chance for expansion consider the difference in time it will take to manage 90+ location pages.
There is a good amount of automation available, with the option to publish posts from the main page to all location pages, this approach will definitely increase the number of monitoring hours. Without a centralized page, there will be an influx of engagements and complaints. Brands should be prepared to monitor multiple pages, respond to local specific posts, and not neglect the main page posts.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed now, not to worry and see below: I know a few skilled community managers who can handle that reactive!
Lesson 2: There is Risk in Forgetting Your First Love
There is a wonderful opportunity to have rich, hyper-local content and also a terrible opportunity to lose your brand voice. We highly recommend “pushing down” all main brand page content to each location page and selectively identifying one-off Location Page specific content. You’ll likely get requests from team members, employees or others in your organization to post every event or every picture taken at a specific location. It may seem like less of a risk because of the smaller fan base per page but resist! Location Pages are still representing the brand and therefore all content should reflect that.
Lesson 3: Fans like to be a part of something exclusive
Location pages allow a brand to share specific location events happening with select fans. They also provide an opportunity to reduce frustration from fans or followers who saw a post and then later found out this wasn’t available at their location. Imagine the feeling of walking into a location, looking for the item that’s 50% off, only to find out that the deal isn’t available at the location you stopped in.
Location pages help eliminate that potential frustration and provide an opportunity for selective engagement with people who feel connected with this local content.
