In my recent experience, I’ve learned non-marketing business professionals have many misconceptions about Facebook marketing.

Conversations with business owners, general managers, CEO’s and other business professionals have uncovered this issue.

Most of this misinformation comes from a tiny bit of internet research or reliance on younger employees input because “they grew up with social media.”

These professionals cite one article with an idea, and then they want their marketing person or team to roll with it. One small piece of information shouldn’t set the tone for a marketing plan.

I’m all for new ideas, but I prefer a bit more due diligence before I jump off a boat into shark-infested waters.

It’s time for quality information from a marketing professional who uses Facebook on a regular basis to generate leads and sales for clients.

I hope this article pushes past all the incorrect information and leads to a path of Facebook marketing success.

The 9 Ways You’re Using Facebook Incorrectly For Business

1. Disregarding the marketing basics:

Marketing basics are a critical component of Facebook advertising. Knowing your customer, building a relationship and providing value, that’s the formula.

If you don’t know your customers and aren’t sure what value you bring to them, don’t spend money on Facebook marketing until you do, your wasting your resources.

2. Using Facebook as a traditional marketing platform:

Facebook has many qualities, but first and foremost it’s a social platform. That’s what makes it great, fun, exciting for users and also a marketers dream.

People willingly gave Facebook personal information, and this information is gold in the marketing world.

A traditional marketing model doesn’t work because your potential customer plays on Facebook for reasons that are fun, personal and provide a connection. If you are slamming them with advertising, they will ignore you.

A marketer who understands Facebook as a social platform knows you must build a relationship with your fans. Then, when you provide the answers, the value, the fun and the information they are looking for on Facebook, they will let you into their world.

If you have no relationship with people and provide no value, Facebook marketing will not work for your business. In fact, it may negatively affect your business with bad reviews for your online business practices and end with no sales.

3. Only having a Facebook Page and not a website: 

You must have a website. A website is your storefront and how people get to know you when they choose. A website legitimizes your business online.

Customers do a lot of search on Facebook and if they happen to find your business page and then see you have no website are you a legitimate business?

Using your Facebook page as a place to dump company information will do nothing to build your business or generate sales and leads. Your website is where you showcase your business.

Posting every day on your Facebook business page won’t do much either unless you have a strategic plan.

By the way, creating a Facebook page and focusing only on getting followers does not qualify as building a business.

4. Thinking people are interested in what you are selling:

Nope they are only interested in solving their problems. Figure out their issues and provide a solution, then get your Facebook marketing strategy together.

If you are selling all the time, you won’t make sales, and you will annoy those who may have purchased and watch all your Facebook efforts go to waste.

People are interested in new, cool things and if you have one of those, time to go for it. Fresh and cool can solve problems, but it can also be something to have fun with, and fun is a motivator.

5. Jamming your business page with products: 

Creating a Facebook page and cramming it full of your products and continuously trying to sell something will not generate any business for you.

Facebook is a social networking site, and you need to build a relationship and provide value for people first. People will stop looking or never go to your Facebook page if you don’t use it wisely.

6. Boosting Posts: 

To reach all of your business page fans you have to boost your posts. Is boosting worth the money? Not really, but it makes you feel productive and shows you a perceived value.

Boosting is unlikely to impact your business, so it’s crucial to dig in further to see how Facebook is best utilized to benefit your business. It will affect your bottom line to spend marketing money that doesn’t generate revenue.

Take the time to understand Facebook advertising or even better talk and invest in a professional, someone who understands the value of Facebook and how to use it. A little research and good help are worth every penny!

7. Thinking any exposure is worth paying for on Facebook:

Not true! If you think so, prepare to spend time and money with no results.

Unless Facebook plays a role in growing your business, does it have any value other than it’s fun? The right exposure will create the results you want. Take the time to test your marketing and just know that you will constantly be making changes, that is Facebook.

Invest in Facebook advertising the right way and with proper marketing strategies and you will see results.

8. Having younger employees post on Facebook: 

Unless there is a real strategy for Facebook, and you are providing value to clients, younger employees should be focusing their attention on revenue-generating activities.

Just because someone says they know all about Facebook does not mean they know how to use it for business.

Posting whatever on Facebook can create misperceptions of the company which can negatively affect your business. Have a social media strategy and remember your Gen X employees do know how to use Social Media for business!

Facebook can be a valuable tool for businesses, but I’ve noticed & worked with too many companies misusing it that they have no chance of utilizing its effectiveness.

9. Thinking you need the perfect Facebook marketing campaign:

If you are one of those perfectionists out there, who need everything to be perfect before action, stop right now with perfectionism!

If you know your customer, understand how to engage them, provide they value they seek and create a strategy- launch it! Sometimes you need to put your best effort forward and then test it.

If you make a mistake, change it and move on, if that doesn’t work, come at it from a different angle but keep going.

Many times the testing results will surprise you and give you an opportunity to make better strategic decisions, and maybe make a better product or enhance your services.

You won’t know until you test it and nothing is ever perfect. You must always test and adapt.

Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know, so get after it and find out.

If your intent with Facebook is to get something instead of providing people with value, you will spend money with no results.

Facebook is a social platform first, where people from all over the world can have conversations about what they like, love, are passionate about it and stuff that solves their problems.

Don’t spend time and money on Facebook unless you know how to use it; it’s not traditional marketing.