There are over 750 MILLION users on Facebook. The average Facebook user spends over 5 hours per day and over 35 hours per week on this one page. Many businesses are wasted this powerful tool at their fingertips. Your business can grow taking full advantage of all Facebook business pages have to offer with just a little effort. Implement these tips to maximize this powerful resource.
1. Create a Facebook Business Page. You can’t have Facebook fans without a Facebook business page. Create an attractive Facebook business page and plan your strategy. What content will it have? Who will moderate it?
2. Use a landing tab and explain why people should “like” you. With Facebook code you can keep pages invisible until visitors commit to “liking” you. On the landing tab, tell visitors what they’ll receive for liking you. You may want to have a link to a particular download or other free content. Make your landing tab attractive and friendly.
3. Make pictures part of your content. Show those who “like” you that you’re real people. Take and post pictures of business events, cookouts, etc. Also, share screenshots of upcoming or current releases if you’re a software firm. Allow fans to comment on these pictures.
4. Make videos part of your content as well. Take videos of activities. Allow employees to make funny videos. Some companies have had talent shows at conferences and posted these videos on their Facebook business page.
5. It’s polite to share. Share links and downloads with your fans. Once again, allow them to comment. Keep in mind that anything they do on your page will show up on the status of their friends as having commented on your page.
6. Don’t ignore or delete negative comments. One of the main reasons why social media is so powerful is it’s authentic. Your company will not always have 100% satisfaction and perfect reliability. You may have dissatisfaction and therefore the possibility of negative comments. Don’t ignore them or even delete them but quickly and politely respond to them. That will show you’re a real company and utilizing fans to improve your products or services.
7. Respond to positive comments as well. When people feel strongly enough to comment, appreciate their effort and thank them. Acknowledge their comments and respond. “Go the extra mile” by sharing additional information. You might say, “If you love the features in v.20, you’re really going to love 3.0 due out in October. Stay tuned.”
8. Share anecdotes and stories. One of the strengths of Facebook is to keep in touch with PEOPLE. Show Facebook fans that you’re real people. Don’t get creepy but be real. It’s not okay to share details of your last date but you can comment on how much you loved staying at the San Diego Town & Country while at the convention.
9. Be real. Want to turn off people? Be fake. Open yourself up and be authentic. In social media, it is okay to admit challenges. A recent web-based software firm had a significant outage. They went to Facebook that their server went down and the backup server went down as well. They reassured their customers their data was safe and steps were being taken to change server companies.
10. Don’t be “selly”. Social media is not like a magazine or a catalog. People go to Facebook to connect; not to be marketed to. By being overly overt in marketing on Facebook will cause your fans to dis-”like” you so fast it’ll make your head spin. Be conversational and be real. Don’t pitch and don’t sell.
These are just a few of the many steps you can use to grow your fan-base. Remember, the more fans your business page has, the more mentions when people engage. The last thing is, use this engagement to improve. Of course we can all list companies that refused to change; refused to improve. Those companies are not around anymore. Facebook is a powerful tool to be the best you can be offering the best you can. Use it!
