At first glance, you might suspect that corporate Facebook pages would outperform their local counterparts. However, the opposite is generally true as a local Facebook page’s post will generally reach five times as many people versus a corporate Facebook page’s post, and this difference increases to eight times as many when it comes to user engagement. This means that companies are generally better served by individual pages dedicated to local branches than they are by a single corporate page covering the entire brand. So what should you do to take advantage of this information?
Appealing to followers on a personal level
While corporate pages offer a broad view of a brand’s offerings and culture, local pages can offer content that is more personalised and speaks more directly to a local audience. Additionally, fans who use smartphones and similar devices are more likely to interact with a local page during or immediately after a visit to the physical location. To take advantage of this, local pages can use their more intimate knowledge of their fans to make comments and post content that touches on the lives of their followers. Even something as simple as commenting on the local weather can make pages feel more ‘human’ and interactions feel more genuine.
Embrace local individuality while adhering to corporate policy
Rather than worrying about maintaining a consistent brand voice across multiple local pages, focus on embracing the geographic differences in order to take advantage of their targeted reach. Engagement is driven by customer interest and the most effective way to encourage this is to discuss localised matters of importance. As long as the message does not directly contradict corporate policy, communication can be as individualised and creative as you like. Ultimately, genuine interactions will always inspire more engagement and generate broader interest than a generic, impersonal approach.
At the end of the day, personality always trumps every other form of messaging when it comes to Facebook reach and engagement, and local pages have much greater opportunities for this. This is why every corporate Facebook page should be supported by local branch pages whenever possible.
