Facebook is by far the largest social networking utility with over 400 million active users worldwide. As far as social networking, especially if you’re a B2C company like an e-retailer or storefront operation, Facebook is the prime social network to focus your efforts on.
It can be a great place to build your brand online and interact with your customers. But many businesses try Facebook just to give up amid frustration and seeming failure.
Following these 8 steps can help make Facebook a worthy investment of your time and resources, helping your build customers and revenues in the long run.
1. Have your own unique brand image for your profile
If you’ve been on Facebook for fun, you know everyone has their own picture of them self. But when you’re marketing your business, it may not look too appealing to just see a picture of you and/or your staff. Create something unique that will look interesting to someone, especially if it’s only a thumbnail size picture.
2. Post relevant interesting content
It’s one of the basics on any online marketing or SEO effort. Interesting, relevant content is required to keep people coming back. Simply post relevant content from other sites or link to custom content on your own site. Petty self promotion isn’t going to work too well in this environment.
3. Participate in the conversation
Utilities like Facebook are meant to be interactive. Participate in discussions on relevant topics or comment on someone else’s postings. Find every opportunity to start a discussion.
4. Increase interaction by adding apps
App devices on Facebook provide an entertainment value for your visitors. And if they invite their friends, you could potentially have a bigger pool of visitors learning about your Facebook profile and business. Pizza Hut put this to good use by creating an app to order a pizza through the utility – but an app can be anything from a game to special discounts. Check out AllFacebook.com Leader Board for ideas.
5. Direct new visitors to a custom page
Facebook automatically sends traffic to your wall, which can be uninviting. They do however let you use any page for your Facebook homepage. Create a custom page for new visitors instead and have an inviting place for people to learn about you. And change it periodically…like Skittles’ Mob the Rainbow entry page, which changes every month.
6. Post tags of your fans in photos and videos
This takes a little effort but include your fans in photos and videos. You could perhaps run a contest and ask fans to submit a picture of them with your product. After posting the picture, you can “tag” them, which their friends will see on their update
7. Create customized “tabs” on your Facebook page
Many large companies who use Facebook to their advantage have custom tabs at the top of their profile, which further personalizes your profile. You can use these tabs when introducing a new product or embedding a new poll or announcing an event, like the Threadless t-shirt company, who allows fans to vote on new design, comment and even buy their shirts directly through Facebook.
8. Consider Facebook ads to jump start your profile
It may be worth the investment to purchase some advertising on Facebook to give your profile the initial jump it needs. Getting subscribers to anything is a slow process in the early stages. Facebook ads generate qualified traffic by refining its subscribers by keyword, demographics and category, putting your profile in front of millions of people.
We can’t all have the millions of Facebook fans like Starbucks or Coca-Cola. But it is possible, using these 8 steps, to harness the power of Facebook effectively and draw in a large number of fans. According to Sysomos, over 77% of companies with a fan page have less than a 1000 fans.
Make your Facebook profile the best in your industry by considering these 8 steps.