Keeping the thrill alive, or Facebook: Now what?

You’ve got a page. You’ve added fans. Now what should you do to keep them engaged?


The bane and blessing of having a group of friends is that you’ve got to keep in touch with them and care about what’s happening in their lives in order to really continue to call yourself a friend. Oh, and if you talk about yourself all the time without ever asking them anything about themselves (and, “enough about me, what do you think of me?” doesn’t count…), they’ll probably give you the heave ho and rightly so. That’s real life. Of course, it’s also true on Facebook. You’ve gathered fans for your brand and they’re eagerly anticipating you tossing pearls of pithy status update wisdom, photos, deals, tastings, new menu information and other content into the comment stream on their walls. But what do you say after you say hello? What are the best ways to keep the conversation going? And, moreover, how do you make sure that the friendship is a two-way dialogue rather than a one-way monologue? Here are four ways I can think of offhand:


Pay attention:

For starters, don’t ignore them. Seems like common sense, right? It’s amazing then to take a scan through brand pages and see how many fans get ignored. If you have fans that are trying to engage with you by commenting and their comments pass by without being acknowledged, chances are they’re going to feel a bit spurned and spurned friends become less interested in claiming you as a friend. So, respond, chat, comment back or even e-mail them separately, especially in the case of the more strident comments. I think you’ll be pretty pleased with the outcome—the “thumbs up” and positive dialogue—that often result.


Say ‘Hello’:

According to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (published first in 1943, but referred to often today), humans have social and esteem needs that, turns out, Facebook fills when well tended. Social needs, like friendship and belonging, are a natural fit for the platform. Esteem needs, just one rung up the ladder, like recognition, attention and social status can also be accomplished by recognizing a particular friend or fan as special. Reward fans with news about them on your page. Ask them to share their meaningful experiences at the restaurant—first dates, engagements and other special occasions. We can all get a few minutes of fame on the Facebook platform and sometimes it’s just nice to know a brand loves you back.


Be relevant:

Lots of restaurants and bars provide great information about themselves that’s really relevant to their fans. For instance, I love that The Blue Door tells me about things like the Ballpark Blucy coming back on the menu, or a fresh keg of Goose Island being tapped. Plus, I love that the community of 1,000-plus fans really own that conversation and contributes to it with gusto. The Oceanaire Seafood Room in the Twin Cities tells fans about things happening in the restaurant and in the community in a way that brings the brand experience in the restaurant to life. Plus, they’ve added tabs to bring in other social content from their blog, Foursquare and OpenTable.


Show them the Love:

Pizza Lucé ups the ante ever so slightly by not just engaging but also rewarding their fans. Their page is a great blend of 6,000 fans weighing in on their favorite Lucé moments and lots of enthusiastic brand engagement. Most recently, they used both Facebook and Twitter to spiff fans with tickets to Twins games and free pizza and rewarded them even further by posting photos of the winners. They also asked fans to weigh in on who they wanted to play at their August Block Party, which incited pages of commentary by fans and bands. Engaged, vocal fans that get to weigh in and get spiffed. Bravo.

It’s not just good manners. It turns out that it’s translating into good business too. According to a recent “emarketer Digital Intelligence” e-mail, most brand followers say that they’d be more likely to buy from brands that they’ve fanned. Plus, 60 percent say they’re more likely to recommend a fanned brand to a friend. Increased likelihood of purchase and word of mouth? Like.

Rebecca Lunna is a writer and food fanatic who lives in St. Paul. Contact her at rlunna@comcast.net. Friend me Rebecca L and learn more at www.foursquare.com or @foursquare on Twitter.