Discussion Thread: Effective Posting on Facebook

After today's webinar, join this discussion on "Effective Posting on Facebook"! As today's presenter, I will join this discussion thread for 30 minutes to answer any questions you may have! So ask any questions you may have, discuss any of the examples I shared, or discuss any other aspect of posting on Facebook.

Did you miss the webinar? You can still watch the video! Just register here .

I just had a question on posting pictures of community events on your facebook page. My main concern with that is are we supposed to get permission from each person in a picture before we post them or is it a matter of as long as its not inappropriate and its in regards to the community function we dont have to have permission. :unsure:

I'm the one with the 500 unit property and can't seem to get my residents to follow me. I've tried Bingo games with prizes, questions of the day, etc.... Maybe I have my page set up incorrectly? I had many webinars on facebook and was told that you should only allow likes and not friends. Is that my problem? They can post by I receive an e mail alert before it can post.

Great question, Shelley!

Technically, you are supposed to get permission. I've seen communities post a sign at the entrance of the event saying something along the lines of "by entering the event, you give permission to share pictures, etc, etc". I don't know the legalese of that, however. I frankly think that it should be an addendum to the lease so you never have to worry about it.

@Whitnall Pointe - I would recommend getting the social media assessment . It will definitely be worth it for you. There are so many aspects, and we go through all the different points that make a FB page succeed or fail.

Have a document that the residents signs at move in giving permission to post pictures. I think I have one I can upload to the 'Files'.

For the person asking about the "Leaderboard" app, it is called " Top Fans ". As for the custom HTML pages, we still use the original FBML app, but I think that is a very old solution. To be honest, we focus most of our efforts on the wall and a few other tabs, such as events and Top Fans, so I simply don't have a great answer for you there. I would definitely check out Fetch Fans , however!

That would be fantastic, Gerry!

Already did and thanks for your input.

I have the same problem as the other poster about getting people to like the page.

That would be great if you could send me that form! That has been my one hesitation in posting pictures. I just didnt want to post one and my luck, it would be the one that I get questioned on! I will also think about the sign in for our next event maybe it could be in their invitation or the RSVP or something where they sign a waiver allowing us to use any pictures for our property website and FB page or our monthly newsletters.

Mindy,
I find that it often helps to take it step by step: 1) Is your awareness level high enough? (If you do an online newsletter, you can track clicks) 2) Is your "what's in it for me" high enough? 3) Do you have proper calls to action to actually click like?

Also, it could be a function of the herd mentality - if you don't have many fans, then it makes it hard to get more fans. So is there a way to temporarily drive more conversations to help showcase the interaction, in order to get the ball rolling?

Let me be honest ... I did not want to be the one who is responsible for social media, but here I am and I have found it to be a lot of fun! So, I actually followed people on my Twitter account to learn how to create the FB page because I didn't know how to do it as a Fan Page instead of a personal page. (Thanks, Charity Hisle!!!!) So, anyway, now that I took your webinar (really, I am not trying to suck up) I learned some new things about what to post. This property has a pretty savy, young demographic so I thought our FB page would really take off. I think it will get better. I will also add the button/widget to our actual website. The owner didn't want the widget (however you spell it) so I had to take it off.

I'm glad I was able to help, Mindy!

Hi Brent! When we first set up a page on Facebook it was done as a personal page. We have kept the personal page up in addition to our somewhat newer fan page. All of our "friends" on our personal page are also on our "fan" page. How should we go about getting rid of the personal page and only keeping the fan page? Or should we? Thanks so much!

Thanks, Brent! P.S. I just added the widget again to the website... Cross your fingers it helps

@Jennifer - If you have both at this point, I would frankly keep both! I would make sure that another profile is also an admin of the page, just in case FB does something with the profile. But that profile can be very effective at active engagement (i.e., inviting to events, asking questions, tagging photos, etc) and should be considered very valuable.

You can also use this to actively direct residents to your fan page. In other words, you friend them through the profile, and then suggest the page to them. I realize this is not kosher by FB standards, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but this does work. To make this work, make a new friend list within the profile. When someone friends you, or you friend them, add them to this list. That way, you can track who you have suggested the fan page to and who you have not. You simply clear out that list whenever you invite them to the fan page every so often.