Assumptions
We make them every day. Most of the time our inherent or gained knowledge combined with experience or observations means we’ll be pretty much on the money. But sometimes the donkey escapes the paddock and it simply makes an ass of you.
I recently delivered my fourth Social Media Matters workshop for the winter training season and it proceeded like every workshop I’ve delivered since I started offering social media marketing training in 2014. I start by going through the process of outlining where the workshop content may take people over the next three hours or so, then find out what exactly the participants want to know within that time.
Keep in mind these workshops are pitched at small businesses including sole traders, as well as not-for-profit and public sector organisations.
Can anyone tell me the key differences between a Facebook Profile and a Facebook Page?
As in past workshops, Facebook comes up on the list of workshop objectives, with a range of questions including How do we use it to communicate what we’re doing? What kind of content should we use? How often should we post? Who can see what we put on there? What happens if someone posts something we don’t like? All great questions to be addressed.
However, my first question in response is Can anyone tell me the key differences between a Facebook Profile and a Facebook Page? and nearly every time I’m met with blank faces or at best an I think I know the difference…
Striding towards the whiteboard with marker in hand I draw up three columns and go through a tutorial on differences between Profiles, Pages, and Groups, teasing out a conversation about best practice for each and how they may work in combination.
What if I’d started the conversation with How would you make a closed Facebook Group work alongside your Facebook Page?, assuming everyone knew what a Page was?
Some even get the surprise of discovering someone set up a Page for them and they have been mistaking it as a Profile, wondering why they couldn’t see their friends.
Very few of my workshop participants have ever set up or are administrators of a Facebook page – something I often don’t find out until I start the workshop. Some even get the surprise of discovering someone set up a Page for them and they have been mistaking it as a Profile, wondering why they couldn’t see their friends. It’s murky territory and we haven’t even started talking about other forms of social media yet.
Going back to basics
If I assume that everyone in my workshops knows the basics of what are very established social media platforms, I’d get an evaluation form back at the end of the workshop with a comment under the How could this workshop be improved? that says, …by offering a more basic level of information.
Even as digital marketers, when we get busy or comfortable we forget to double check the metrics and test things like content type and format, timing, and calls to action. We also have to ask our communities more questions and respond to them. Even in person. Only then will you know if you’re really engaging with your communities…and the donkey will hopefully be back in the paddock.
If you’d like to keep your donkeys in their paddock and feel you need to brush up on your social media marketing skills, check out our training offering on our Workshops page or connect with us to customise training or coaching for you.
Kim V. Goldsmith 