Facebook Posts: Stay on Message

I am so thankful that the elections are over and we’re now into a new year. However, the time leading up to the elections taught me an important lesson about Facebook messaging, that I hope to remember well past the current administration.

Stay on Message

What do I mean by this?  If you are an admin for a Facebook Brand Page you need to set your personal views aside on everything except those views which relate to your brand or your industry. This is an example of a good use of personal opinion related to a brand. A radio DJ opining about his views on music.

If your brand is a beer, self-help book, or skincare product, you really should not post your personal opinions regarding any aspect of the political process (or anything else) unless it is directly impacting your brand or your industry in some way. I do not want you to share (even if I agree with) your opinion regarding the political process (or any other topic that is “off message”) if it is not consistent with your brand. Following are some examples of brands staying on message:

However, if you are a Brand Page admin for a political party, news organization, or politician, by all means you should share your viewpoint regarding every aspect of the political process, as long as it is consistent with your employer’s / brand’s stated positions.

Opposing Viewpoint

Of course, my view is not shared by every marketing professional or author in the blogosphere. Many hold the opinion that to be authentic, you need to share all aspects of yourself with your fans. I argue against this viewpoint on the basis that your readers are not carbon copies of you. Therefore, they do not agree with you on every view you hold. When you share all of yourself, you risk alienating fans who “liked” you for your music (or sneakers, or beverage, or whatever). Most people like a brand for a very narrow reason—the brand’s products or services—not for the Brand Page admin’s personality.

What do you think?