Facebook Still Rocks

Miracle On Facebook Street

Despite recent grumblings regarding Facebook  privacy settings, the power of Facebook still literally takes your breath away.

Just imagine, 400 million + members and growing!  An infant in business terms, Facebook is now larger than the United States, driven forward by people’s insatiable but simple desire to connect with each other.

How To Tame The Giant?

Let’s face it, these phenomenal numbers are impossible (if not foolhardy) to ignore.

But, as a small business owner, how best to tame the Facebook giant?

The ideal way for a company to engage on Facebook is through a Fan Page which is essentially a mini company website. With your Facebook Fan Page, you can  post company news, share photos and videos, conduct polls, launch contests and create a strong, loyal community.

The Benefits

Executed correctly, the benefits are vast.  You will:

• Build  your brand equity fast and furiously
• Boost  search engine rankings
• Engage in conversations with customers and prospects alike
• Build trust
• Go viral.  The way this works is when a Facebook member becomes a fan, your company’s name/logo will appear on their  personal profile newsfeed.  Intrigued, their friends will join your site too.  And the cycle will repeat itself with their friends.

Eleven Tips

Here are eleven tips on how to best use your Facebook Fan Page:
1. Create a landing page with a clear call-to-action.  Don’t let prospects arrive at a wall with random posts and comments.  They will feel lost, won’t know what to do and may very well disappear forever.

2. Consider putting your web address in the upper left hand corner (rather than your logo)

3. Be imaginative about the content you post.  Get your readers engaged.

• Polls
• Events
• Free resources (books, white papers)
• Videos

4. Double-check  that all the applications, tools and features you use on your Facebook Page are consistent with your brand and what you stand for.

5. Establish a plan with regular updates and postings (consider using a monthly editorial calendar)

6. Make sure your settings are set so that you can see both posts by yourself AND your fans; it is essential everyone sees interaction from both sides.

7. Use keyword-rich text throughout your fan page to get great SEO results

8. Make sure that content is always fresh (new information, photos, videos)

• Post daily on your Fan Page (minimally)
• Two to three postings a day is better

9. Respond quickly to any messages or questions left on your Page

10. Work hard at getting people to go to your Fan Page

• Link your Fan page to your website with a highly visible link
• Entice people to your Facebook Page through blog posts
• Use Facebook Social Ads to drive traffic to your Facebook Fan Page
• Invite people to your Facebook Fan Page by using your email subscriber list
• Include invitations to your Facebook page on traditional offline communication pieces: brochures, direct mail, business cards, etc.

11. When potential fans arrive at your fan page, grab their attention immediately with:

• A great title
• A captivating picture
• An outstanding About Us Bio
• A strong landing page
• Use the small text box under your fan page picture to summarize who you are. Consider including a call-to-action with hyperlink

– Susan