Let's look at a couple of examples. I analyzed two different small business' Facebook pages. I looked at their last 20 posts and kept track of how many likes, comments and shares each post received. I wanted to see which posts were more popular and why. Were there any social media strategies being used that helped the business get more traffic on their page? Or are their posts just random?
The first business I analyzed was Billy's Western Wear in Boerne, Texas.
|
Date
|
Likes
|
Comments
|
Shares
|
|
Oct.
20
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Oct.
20
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
|
Oct.
18
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Oct.
18
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
|
Oct.
14
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|
Oct.
13
|
51
|
0
|
3
|
|
Oct.
11
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Oct.
8
|
9
|
0
|
3
|
|
Oct.
8
|
42
|
0
|
0
|
|
Oct.
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Oct.
1
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
|
Oct.
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Sep.
29
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Sep.
28
|
68
|
5
|
5
|
|
Sep.
28
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Sep.
22
|
40
|
2
|
5
|
|
Sep.
22
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Sep.
22
|
17
|
0
|
2
|
|
Sep.
19
|
40
|
1
|
3
|
|
Sep.
9
|
48
|
0
|
4
|
As you can see from the chart, Billy's Western Wear's Facebook page is pretty inconsistent in terms of likes, shares and comments. This clothing company posts pictures of merchandise available in store for customers to purchase. On the posts where you see 40+ likes, the clothing is posted on models. Mostly female models. After all, sex sells, but I am not sure that this is a social media tactic. Using the sex appeal is just good marketing move that has been used long before the social media empire took over. However, the post on September 28, had 68 likes, 5 comments, and 5 shares. This post offered some contest for a store discount for interacting with the post; and it also had the sex appeal to it, as the model showed off a pair of women's boot cut jeans. This was a better social media tactic because it made their followers interact with the post, and offered something their customers were interested besides just the merchandise while using the classic sex appeal marketing angle. But even with this one decent post, Billy's Western Wear is still falling short in its social media productivity. From September 9 to October 20, there were only 20 posts and only 1 or 2 posts daily. To be more of a presence online, they need to post more often. And not just any posts. They need to be interacting with their followers. Posting things other than their merchandise that is relateable and shareable will help boost their traffic from their followers and help them gain new followers that could turn into paying customers. Adding some other contests wouldn't be a bad idea either since their current followers seemed to respond well to that.
The next company I analyzed was The Country Vaping Haus in LaVernia, Texas.
|
Date
|
Likes
|
Comments
|
Shares
|
|
Oct.
25
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
|
Oct.
22
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
|
Oct.
21
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
|
Oct.
20
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
|
Oct.
19
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
|
Oct.
18
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
|
Oct.
18
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Oct.
15
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
|
Oct.
14
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Oct.
13
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
|
Oct.
12
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
|
Oct.
11
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
|
Aug.
26
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
|
Aug.
25
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Aug.
24
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
|
Aug.
23
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
|
Aug.
20
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Aug.
20
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
|
Aug.
20
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
Aug.
19
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
The Country Vaping Haus needs more help with social media than Billy's Western Wear. In 20 posts, only one of them was commented on. And they seem to have been offline for an entire month as there are no posts during September. This really hurts the traffic and interaction with their page. I bet they even lost some followers. They need to post a lot of content often to keep their followers engaged and interactive with their business. The most likes they got was 2, and they only had 10 shares on their most popular post. The October 12th post that got 10 shares only happened because they offered a discount to followers who shared the post. Like Billy's Western Wear, The Country Vaping Haus needs to post other content besides just their merchandise. On their second most popular post, they posted something about the LaVernia county fair, which proved popular by the locals by only 6 shares. Relateability, connectability, and shareability are the keys in bringing in traffic to social media pages.
Billy's Western Wear and The Country Vapin Haus both need to improve their social media tactics if they want to bring in more customers to help their business. Both of these businesses are from small, middle of no where towns, so it is hard to get new customers. Most of the regulars at small businesses like these are locals. Social media could help bring in some new, outside customers if they can use this forum effectively.
Obviously these two businesses need some help with social media, so go ahead and follow them on Facebook to give them a traffic boost.
https://www.facebook.com/Billys-Western-Wear-118628404332/?hc_ref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/Vapin-Haus-567380120074510/?hc_ref=
