13 STRATEGIES OF FACEBOOK TIPS FOR BUSINESS
1. Establish the company page—and the real people behind it . The
creator and administrators of a fan page are somewhat behind-the-
scenes initially, but when they start responding to questions and reply-
ing to wall posts, their identities come to the fore. This can be a great
opportunity for companies with well-known or visionary founders
associated with their brands. And it ’ s also a good thing to humanize
the company by putting your social-media guru out there, front and
center. But you may want to establish new Facebook accounts for the
people managing your fan page, separate from their existing personal
accounts.
2. Post regularly . Establish a publishing plan and stick to it—perhaps
you ’ ll post seven times a week, with one special promotion per week
and the rest informative, newsy, or entertaining posts. You ’ ll need to
be fl exible to post about relevant events at your company or in your
market as they occur, but it ’ s a good idea to sketch a rough plan. For
instance, if you ’ re an online pet supply store, picture a weekly sched-
ule like this: pet-related news, new product, weekly special, how-to
article, cute pet video, event promotion, and more pet-related news.
You can let your company ’ s promotional e-mail schedule drive some
of your publishing plan. You can search Google News to come up with
interesting pet-related items if you ’ re at a loss for material.
3. Invite your friends . Individuals can suggest their company page to
your friends. There are some cool JavaScript hacks out there that make
it easier to invite all your friends in one fell swoop. But be careful.
Nobody wants to be spammed, least of all by their friends, family, or
peripheral colleagues. So do two things: First, make sure the site is an
active, interesting place you ’ re proud of, and second, invite only those
friends you know well and feel comfortable suggesting the page for
their benefi t, not yours.
4. Promote your Facebook page to existing customers . You need to
kick-start your fan base, and the best way is to tell your core customers
about it. Add the Facebook logo to your Web site ’ s navigation.
Announce the fan page in an e-mail to your customers—maybe offer
a discount to everyone who “likes” you.
5. Set up a custom URL . When you have at least 25 fans, you can reserve
a good, recognizable URL, like http://www.Facebook.com/your
company . You can establish the new URL by visiting http://www
.Facebook.com/username/ .
6. Add a Facebook status widget to your home page and a Facebook
logo link to your navigation . These elements show your Web site
visitors what ’ s going on at your fan page and encourage them to join
in—and it also makes it more fun for active participants when they see
themselves on your site. I recommend making explicit calls to action:
“Join Us on Facebook!” and “Follow Us on Twitter!”
7. Add Facebook share and/or Facebook connect features to your
site, and also display the “AddThis” widget on your pages . A little
bit of JavaScript added strategically to your Web site ’ s page templates
can add Facebook ’ s “like,” “share,” and other features to your Web
site, making it easy for Facebook users to promote your content or
products to their friends. The “add this” widget does the same thing,
but also for Digg, Twitter, MySpace, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, and
other social-media sites. When you launch a cool product or publish a
noteworthy post, make it easy for your audience to share it with their
friends. It ’ s a fairly subtle way to show you ’ re hip to social media and
put the “network effect” to work. You ’ ll attract more fans to your Web
site and to your company Facebook page.
8. Use Facebook ’ s richness to your advantage . Unlike Twitter, Face-
book welcomes photos, videos, events, and limited HTML (or FBML,
its unique Facebook Markup Language). Your Facebook page can be a
rich and entertaining place.
content types—such as photos from a recent company picnic. Create
contest entry forms or e-mail signups so your fans don ’ t have to leave
the comfort of Facebook in order to connect with your company. See
what people like and what they respond to.
9. Staff for customer service . Increasingly, fans of your brand will turn to
Facebook—not your 1-800 number or your customer-support e-mail
address—when they have questions they need answered. On the Face-
book page of Bogner USA apparel, customers may ask about the avail-
ability of a new cosmetic bag or how to get a zipper repaired on a beloved
ski parka. Bogner staffs its Facebook team so that such questions are
picked up immediately and quickly and competently answered.
10. Advertise for new fans using Facebook . I was a skeptic about adver-
tising on social media (and still am, when it comes to Twitter), but
Facebook is getting it right. While I wouldn ’ t recommend Facebook
ads as revenue-generators, they ’ ve proven great for attracting new fans
to your page, and also—in a $500 women ’ s cycling wardrobe giveaway
contest we ran for Terry Precision Bicycling—in generating e-mail
signups. I estimate you can acquire new fans or contest signups for
$0.50 to $1 apiece. Assuming you ’ re cultivating a valuable relationship
with them, and knowing that each fan has the potential to spread the
word to their friends on Facebook, that ’ s a very attractive number.
11. Ask questions . Some of your posts should pose a question to your
audience. Asking your fans what they think, or asking for their own
stories or experiences, is an easy and effective way to encourage more
engagement.
12. Have a contest or host an event or meetup . It ’ s so satisfying when
your Facebook program helps you deepen the relationship with some
members of your audience, from the passive (lurking and reading), to
the casual (liking, commenting, and posting), to the active (participat-
ing in an event, entering a contest, or buying something from you).
Whether you are driving some of your fans to a local retail event, or
promoting something relevant to your market, like Green Up Day or
Ride Your Bike to Work Day, brainstorm some in-person events you
can throw your weight behind.
13. Be active in the community . This is where the identity of your admin-
istrator and the identity of your company intertwine. A company can ’ t
“friend” people on Facebook—only a person can. As your administra-
tors get to know your fans, it is natural and very good for the contin-
ued growth and popularity of your fan page for them to be actively.
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