If you haven’t already integrated Facebook into your online marketing mix by creating a fan page, consider the most recent staggering Facebook statistics:
- More than 350 million users are active on Facebook
- 50% of active users log in on any given day
- The average user spends 55 minutes a day on Facebook
- More than 1.6 million active Facebook fan pages have been created
With numbers like these — plus the fact that Google is now using social content to help determine the ranking of web pages — it’s difficult to justify not creating a Facebook presence for your brand.
Take the guesswork of Facebook marketing, and follow these 5 tips for making the most of your fan page.
1. Keep Content Fresh.
Give fans a reason to come back to your page frequently by adding fresh content on a regular basis. Keep in mind that consistently updating the page doesn’t require a significant amount of additional effort.
As part of your online marketing strategy, integrate your Facebook fan page with other social media channels to maximize results little extra effort:
- Automatically feed new blog posts to your Facebook wall
- Use a service like Ping.fm to update all of your social networks at once, including Facebook and Twitter
- Set up widgets for your YouTube channel and Flickr feed to automatically add videos and images to your Facebook fan page
2. Engage New Visitors.
Facebook fan page walls can be an extremely valuable tool for communicating with customers and prospects. But for first-time visitors to fan pages, the wall can seem intimidating and exclusive. Imagine walking into a room where everyone knows one another by name and are talking about a subject you know next to nothing about.
Instead of sending new visitors directly to your fan page wall, send them to a more controlled, welcoming landing page where you can provide them with useful information about your brand, as well as a clear call to action to become a fan.
For example, TOMS Shoes – a shoe retailer than donates a pair of shoes to children in need for every pair purchased – sends first-time visitors to an inviting landing page that gives a clear idea of the company’s mission. The page features a quick video that shares the TOMS Shoes story, as well as links to product and other important pages (see the image below). The approach appears to be working: TOMS Shoes has more than 185,000 fans to date.
TOMS Shoes Facebook Fan Page
3. Promote a Contest Via Facebook.
A great way to add value to a Facebook fan page is to offer users an incentive to become fans. Contests can serve as an enticing incentive.
For example, last fall TopRank® Online Marketing leveraged the Facebook fan page of one of its B to C clients to supplement promotions for a Halloween contest to find the best homemade costume. The client was looking for a final surge in number of participants during the final two days of the contest. TopRank incorporated a fan page tab specifically for the contest, as well as posted information about the contest on the fan page wall. In just two days, the initiative helped the client added more than enough additional new fans.
Be aware, however, that new Facebook marketing guidelines announced in November require brands, marketers and advertisers to go through an approval process for all contests. The guidelines require contests to be handled through an embedded application rather than on the page’s wall, among other things.
4. Give Fans Something They Can’t Get Anywhere Else.
Contests aren’t the only incentives companies can offer to grow their fan base. Any item of value can entice Facebook users to become fans, including:
- Free shipping for Facebook fans
- An exclusive product coupon for fans
- A weekly special promoted on the fan page
Sears – with 160,000+ fans – has been very successful at this approach. First-time visitors are immediately directed to an exclusive offer landing page (illustrated in the image below). By becoming a fan, users are offered $10 in coupons.
Sears' exclusive promotion for Facebook fans
Another approach to incentivize becoming a fan is to provide inside company information and breaking news on the fan page. Fans are more likely to remain faithful to your brand – and tell their friends – when they feel like an insider who has a stake in the company.
5. Encourage Interaction.
The entire notion of social media is built upon interaction and two-way communication. Facebook fan pages have little to no chance of success if they aren’t interactive and engaging.
But it’s not enough to sit back and wait to the interaction to begin. Get the ball rolling by:
- Posting a question to solicit fans’ opinions
- Offering a poll that’s extremely simple to respond to
- Integrating existing Facebook applications such as games and quizzes
- Reposting relevant, interesting information from other Facebook users
Simply creating a fan page for the sake of “Well, everyone else is doing it,” isn’t going to land you results. Like with any other online marketing strategy, Facebook marketing efforts must be well planned and constantly reinforced. By doing so, you can start to tap into the vast network of active Facebook users.
Be sure to connect with the Online Marketing Blog on our Fan page here.
Great points up there,The kind of power which Facebook has with the increasing numbers almost everyday, It has enormous opportunities for any marketer promoting a brand.
Over the few weeks I have seen some counter posts as well which have been looking for answers to questions like what can brands do apart from updating people on what the company is doing next? are the brands just focusing on some shady advertising? you have given some answers above in the post, my favorite would be the last two…Plus fan pages have also given rise to campaigns like the Vitamin Water campaign and many more which evokes the cult side of the fans…as they have a lot to do and spread.
Akash, you're absolutely right on the need for companies to not just promote their products and services and update fans on what they're doing. There is so much opportunity on channels like Facebook to start discussions, have some fun with quizzes and polls, and provide useful, relevant content. That's what keeps fans coming back to pages — and that's really what builds brand loyalty.
I wish to take the time to thank you for such top quality information as I have been for a while searching for information to help make the most of my facebook marketing and your information today has done just that.
Thanking You
Great points, nice read. You are so right about this subject, unfortunatelly some people “create” fresh content by updating their status with trivial things like “enjoying an ice cream…” This is probably one of the most important points – keep the content fresh by giving people information they cannot get anywhere else and your status in facebook will rise.
Again – thanks for the article.
Hi Michelle,
I think the most important thing for people to take in from this post is about making your customers feel like they are part of the brand. People spread the word when they have a connection with something. If you provide your facebook fans with information they can’t get elsewhere, it’s like an exclusive club that they feel proud to represent.
Great post. I loved that example of TOMS Shoes. They've definitely taken marketing through FaceBook FanPages to a whole new level. Props to them as well!
Enjoyed the post, a lot of really good points. These same marketing tips could also be used for twitter and blogging. I think interaction is one of the most important keys. Having your customers engaged will not only give you great feedback, but also give the company room for improvement.
Thank you for this wonderful blog post! People often talk about Twitter or Ning, but they tend to forget how powerful Facebook Fan Pages really are in terms of marketing and promotion. And the wonderful thing is that they are free to set up. Nowadays, free is essential, especially for small businesses with tight budgets!
We started using Facebook Fan Pages a few months ago and it's worked out great for both of our business's. One of the additional things I like about connecting with our customers via our Facebook Fan Page is the ability to answer questions and address any potential customer issues before they get out of hand.
I've looked at the fan pages and asked, “Why bother?”
Well, you answer that question with some compelling info and suggestions.
Thank you so much.
what about http://www.wishpot.com? they have a shop app business use on facebook
I'm enjoying much success with linking my Blog to Facebook by using the Facebook Application 'Networked Blogs'. It's so easy to set up and you can set it to 'feed' your blog to Facebook every time you make a new blog post. It also enables you to 'invite' your Facebook friends to follow your blog. I think it's cool and recommend it.
After make fan page on facebook,many people know me and i am happy that facebook help us to be famous.many million people use facebook and its a good place to share information and make new friends.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Force-Factor-Reviews-…
Nice Post, Thks for sharing this information, we normaly use ping.fm to update our content but now we started using tweetdeck too.
Another good tip is Customize Your Facebook Fan Page URL http://www.facebook.com/username/ your Fan Page needs to have only 25(not longer 1000 or 100) or more fans and your acc has to be verified via mobile phone.
This is one sample of a fan page made using FBML like toms shoes, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Encino-CA/Marilyn…
All the best
I love the free shipping for facebook fans concept,
it really is the simple stuff that puts you ahead of
the pack.
Very informative article, social media seems to be here to stay and integrating it to not just online but offline marketing media strategy is crucial for the survival of most businesses nowadays. No longer is it a passing fancy and cannot be ignored, I mean the president of the united states was elected partly thanks to a strong social media campaign if that is not good enough reason to add the strategy to any business then I don't know what is.
Ronald Gregory
Great post! We work with social media marketing extensively and it's always interesting to see how others think about leveraging the medium.
We find that using social media and Facebook in particular works best when in a supporting role of a bigger idea, like a contest idea mentioned above.
A new and interesting trend we're experimenting with is integration of social media on and offline, where we may leverage a Facebook contest to support an actual event where those who are fans / friends can interact with the brand as well as each other in real life, similar to a Tweetup.
Thanks for a great post!
I loved the article. Especially having a landing page. After having a facebook button on our page for a few months, I didn't notice anyone really using it. So, this weekend I put a picture of the facebook page with a link to the page on the website. Here is my website with that page on the right. http://www.MagicWandCompany.com Although I haven't notice anything yet, I am hoping that it will help since people can actually see the page opened up on the website (although it is really a link). In the carpet cleaning supply business, it does take carpet cleaning companies and facilities a few visits before they start clicking. Please let me know if there is anything else that you notice that needs improvement on the website and the facebook account. Thank you very much.
I just got started with creating my own fan page over on facebook. It really looks like 2010 is going to be the year for a huge social push online towards connecting business with customers.
I will need to start a contest soon is one of the things I have been lacking on and seems like a great idea to spark more interest int he community.
that's just a new wave of marketing.
Great post! I have just recently started with Facebook and I really have no idea how to develop an effective fan page. Thanks for the post!
Great post ! I use always facebook page for marketing this is absolutely nice…this post has nice information thanks.
Thanks Michelle, wonderful ideas and ways to activate our Facebook fan pages!
Saludos from Argentina!
Vicky
Facebook is a great way to advertise. In my business though I would need a lot of parents signing papaerwork to have the pictures on line.. BUt it is a thought in my head…
Very good post. Consistently providing information regarding your business is the way you can keep your brand in front of your fans. I especially like the way you provide examples.
Enjoyed reading the articles on this site and will be using techniques to develop business on Facebook.
Tip-off regarding auto-feeding a blog into a FB page. I noticed that if you do this it doesn't show in your fan's news feeds, whereas when you paste a link to an article manually it does, along with displaying associated graphics from the blog post. Once I did this I noticed that fan interaction went through the roof.
Compare a page where the content is auto-populated with one where it's not and see the difference in interaction levels for yourself.
Awesome article…just what I was looking for. One thing that you failed to mention is how users can benefit from placing the become a fan button on their blogs. Just a though.
I've looked at the fan pages and asked, “Why bother?”
Well, you answer that question with some compelling info and suggestions.
Check the out http://www.negriltube.com
wow…facebook marketing …this new type of online marketing maybe really makes money..thanks for the “5 tips for making the most of your fan page”. this one could help my facebook make money..
seo consultant
Thank you for these wonderful tips. I have started a Facebook Fan Page for my business but didn't know how to effectively use it. Now with your tips…. I know what I have to do. Thanks once again.
Some useful tips, I've haven't been using Facebook for my Internet Marketing efforts but it's something I'll do when my wife gives me the opportunity! I just signed up to Ping.fm and have built some software so I can post to all of my networks from my desktop. I'll be releasing the software in a few days if anyone is interested.
Very nice and impressive article you have posted. Its very helpful, i have read and bookmark this site and will recommend it to more other peoples.
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Why Facebook Fan Page?
In the Era of Social Media where facebook and twitter took place of every marketing mechanism over the internet, People are now spending more time over these social media platforms and your pressense on these social platforms will give you some major benifits like:
Promote your business/product amongst 10+ million users base
Connect directly with your fans
Drive Traffic and profitability
Impress your clients/customers with videos, photos, links and more.
View Sample = http://www.facebook.com/brandegg?v=app_6009294086
Good article. Promoting events have been very successful for us, working with big brands.
Good article. Promoting events have been very successful for us, working with big brands.