How often do you update status and pictures to keep fans engaged and draw in new fans?

I just started a fb business page a couple weeks ago, but I'm not really sure how/if to use it as a marketing tool.

Do I update every couple days. once a week..status v pictures?

Thanks for your insight!

AI post most things I make if they look good. I sell baked goods in general, cakes were not my main focus in the beginning. I also have a calendar of all food 'holidays,' so sometimes I'll post something saying what it is, then a sentence about what I'll make to celebrate. I don't have a ton of likes, and really haven't gotten any business from Facebook, but I try not to let my page go too stale.

I try and post once or twice a week, and people love photos. I choose and cake I have photographed nicely and give a brief description of the flavours, the event and sometimes the background behind the design of the cake. If I haven't had any decent cake photos (or I didn't like any of the cakes that week, as in, I wouldn't want to repeat doing it!), I take a photo of the cupcakes I have for sale that day or something. 

I also post upcoming classes I teach.

I hate being bombarded by business's posts myself on my personal page, so I don't post more often on my business one to avoid being the one doing the bombarding!

ETA that a way to get more "likes" is to run a give away of something. Just be careful to read the rules FB has to avoid getting your page shut down. Be aware that more likes/fans does not mean more cake business necessarily - most of my business is through word of mouth, although I do find it works for advertising my classes. I guess I am followed more by bakers and decorators, than by cake customers.

AI don't have a business facebook (for cakes anyways), but I do like a lot of bakery pages. The ones that I see that I like is when they post the cake and a nice message for the recipient of the cake. Like " congratulations ben and julie! I hope you enjoy your special day as much as I enjoyed making your cake!" . and welcome and invite your customers to share pics of themselves with their cakes.

What I find really annoying about some of the cake and pastry places I "like" is when they are really conceited and exaggerate. One page is always like " our genius chocolatier so and so just came up with key lime cake balls! Aren't they great? Isn't she wonderful! Wow, she's so creative!".

So be humble. Post every couple of days. Take great pictures . And ask questions. And don't say anything if you don't have any substance or content just to say something. Good luck! What's your page, ill give you a like?

Oh, and I never post a photo of a wedding cake until after the wedding, in case it spoils the surprise for anyone! And I do always offer congratulations to the couple, like kaylawaylalayla said.

Thanks for the advice! Great information that I'll put into practice!

I don't want to be a status clogger but also don't want to go too long between postings either! I don't know if I'll get any business from the fb page, for some reason though, some people think you have a more reputable company if you have more "likes" so I caved and started a page!  It's www.facebook.com/thecrumbcoat   -- it needs some work but I'm still trying to figure the whole facebook business page thing out!!

AAbout once a day, maybe more if I have something interesting to share. I use my page for keeping up with other decorators and the business in general, I don't focus on it too much for local business.

AWhat you post is important. Funny stories, controversial articles, pages or cakes you like...things that get people involved and make them want to comment. Engage your audience, rather than

AGot cut off. Engage your audience, rather than just photos of your work all the time.

AOoh..so more networking. That's great - I put off the whole business page because I didn't really see it bringing in a lot of customers, but I never thought of it as networking. It's like your some kind of cake genius. ;)

As a customer, I like to see what's on a company's facebook page if I haven't used them before. I look through the comments, and check out the photos etc. 

I thought that is what a website is for? We do not have an account on Facebook and do not want one. You can find all of those things on our website.

Beth & Andrew
 

My business is tiny so I don't update as often as I should. In addition to posting cake pictures, I'll occasionally post about what I'm working on or doing that is cake related. I never even hint at "scolding" my customers. No posts about why cakes cost so much, etc. And I don't discuss cost (OK, I did once but decided from now on to take that private).

Here's something I REALLY dislike, though. Business pages that continually share other business pages' statuses and photos! I feel like I see the same things over and over because 5 different pages have all shared the same cake that was actually shared several times before it even got to that 5. I also only want MY cakes on my page. When sharing someone else's it's easy to have it mistaken your own.

I just got a week's worth of "questions of the day" for my facebook page from this thread, so thanks!

AMost businesses only update their website photos occasionally and with a select handful to preserve load times, there are almost always more photos on Facebook and they tend to get comments so I can get a better idea of how legit they are.

Just yesterday I was looking on the page of a chicken burger company to see if they'd posted any meal ideas for the product.

I have a website and a Facebook page. My Facebook page is more up to date with recent cakes than the website which is why there's a link to it on the site. However, I do not want customers to post to ask for prices on my Facebook page and if they do, they're referred to email. Why anyone would publicly discuss the details of a cake order is beyond me. My other pet peeve is that some post pics of a cake on facebook before the party.

I 'unliked' a very popular page a while ago because the owner was constantly whining about her customers. I live on a whole other continent, so I wasn't really a potential customer anyway, but she was always complaining about how her customers didn't understand why cake was expensive, how late customers were irritating etc. It just looked awful!

A

I have a few friends that do that and it makes me cringe. If you have to constantly defend your pricing and the people who request cakes from you are jerky cheapskates, then something's wrong with you and the way you do business.

Completely agree MimiFix - if you rely 100% on Facebook, your entire business coudl go the way of hte dodo just like MySpace did.  Plus they're always tinkering with pretty fundamental elements.  For example, now when you publish an update, it only goes to a fraction of your followers unless you pay extra...  As a result, Facebook's usefulness to ordinary business is declining all the time.

I really need a webdesigner for my cake stands.....I am putting together a FB page but I don't expect that to reach the intended audience

internationally known cakers well that narrows it down :P

and batter up cake, maybe you could use fb like az does and network with other cake business on fb.

I'm not internationally known, but I'm known to rock the microphone. Sorry, got distracted there. Would I just send them a friends request?  Sounds like a good idea.