Facebook strategy: Set clear expectations with community guidelines

Setting proper expectations for your Facebook fans is a crucial foundational step in creating a thriving Page for your business or brand.

In the recent Altimeter Group report on Facebook Page Marketing*, in fact, Setting Community Expectations was first on the list of eight measurable success criteria for a brand.

Here’s why this matters: When I visit your Page and consider clicking the “Like” button, I want to know what I’m getting myself into. I wanta sense of the purpose of the Page, the potential benefits/incentives are for coming back again and again, and how the brand will respond if I comment or ask a question.

Here are some relevant questions to consider as you craft or refine your Facebook strategy :

• Does your Page serve as a place to answer my customer-service questions, like AT&T?
• Or does it not provide customer service but instead offer practical industry advice and/or information about your services (see Fidelity Investments)
• Will your Page offer coupons and discounts? Exclusive/insider content, like the first Reveal of the new Ford Explorer?
• Are my comments and questions encouraged, and should I expect that a real person from the brand will actually read and respond to them, as Kraft moderators do on a daily basis.
• If I want to comment, what’s fair game? Are you set up to moderate inappropriate/malicious/spam content from the Facebook Wall, to keep the space more friendly and welcoming?

Make your ‘Rules of the Road’ prominent

The single best way to set the right expectations for your current and future Facebook Page fans is to state your “Rules of the Road” clearly on the Page. Term them Community Guidelines, for example, and post to the Info tab, a custom tab, or in the profile area along the left-hand sidebar. Here are screenshot examples from current Facebook brand Pages:

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In the spot just below its profile picture, jetBlue clearly states that it won’t answer customer-service questions.

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Chevron posts Community Guidelines on its Info tab.

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BP America uses a custom Commenting tab to indicate what type of fan comments it will and won’t allow to stand.

* Disclosure: LiveWorld is a client of the Altimeter Group, and LiveWorld’s input was also cited in the Altimeter report.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Facebook strategy.