With its open graph protocol spreading around the internet like wildfire, over 500 million active and interconnected users and a critically acclaimed motion picture now released, Facebook has not only anchored itself within the very fabric of the internet, it has embedded itself within modern popular culture as we know it – and there are no signs of slowing down.
The Facebook website itself states that a standard Facebook user creates 90 pieces of content per month and is connected to an average of 80 pages, groups and events.
So how can your business connect with these consciously connected consumers?
Whether you already have a Facebook page or not, the following tips will help you create a presence for your business on this social behemoth and, furthermore, will keep them coming back for more!
1. STRATEGY
With all the hype surrounding Facebook these days, it’s easy for many businesses to forget the importance of strategy and just dive right in. However, these businesses often neglect the fact that they don’t yet know how to swim in the murky waters of social media and in turn, find themselves flailing and sinking (Paul ‘likes’ this self indulgent analogy).
It is imperative that you make sure you have a clear objective and goal for your page. Is your strategy based on:
- Customer Relationship Management?
- Customer Engagement/Loyalty?
- Recruitment?
- Sales?
- Branding?
- Awareness? etc
The list goes on. It is vital to know where you’re headed on Facebook so that you know you have arrived when you get there!
2. CONTENT, CONTENT SCHEDULES & CONTENT TIMING
Content is not only ‘King’ on Facebook, it is the lifeblood of the entire network. I cannot stress the importance of quality, consistent and engaging content enough.
There are three common content questions you should ask yourself before you submit a piece of content to your Facebook page:
Is this content engaging while still being relevant to my business?
Is this content entertaining while still being relevant to my business?
Is this content educational while still being relevant to my business?
If you cannot consciously answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then CAN THAT CONTENT! Post it somewhere else if you need to but not on your business page. It will dilute your strategy and confuse your customers. Good content should have your fans consistently returning to your page for more.
Secondly, at Reload Media we recommend to every client who is about to implement a social media strategy to have a comprehensive content schedule prepared before they even think about setting up their page.
A content schedule is basically a guide as to what content/promotions/events you will be posting to your page and when. It can often be set out similar to a media plan and simply creates a blueprint for you to follow throughout a set time period (e.g. 6 months).
And finally, remember to keep your content flow steady in volume and well paced. This stuff is getting posted to your customer’s news feeds so you don’t want to upset them by posting too much & too often!
3. LANDING PAGES
Landing pages are a great way to increase the amount of unique likes or fans that your business page has. This is obviously important as, the more fans your page has, the more viral your content can become.
You can make this page to only be visible to people who do not yet like your page in order to create a customised experience for different Facebook users.
Here are some examples of successful Facebook landing pages:
4. VANITY URLS
Vanity URLs allow you to have a short and simple url for your business page as opposed to the default, long winded and convoluted url you will be provided with.
Once your page has 25 people ‘liking’ it, you can snatch up a vanity url for your page (for example Facebook.com/ReloadMedia).
Simply head to Facebook.com/Username and follow the prompts.
5. FACEBOOK PROMOTIONS & APPS
One great way of supplying your fans with a creative and engaging ‘content moment’ (as described by David Smerdon of Clemenger BBDO), is to create a custom Facebook app centered around your business in some way.
Here is a great example of an engaging and viral Facebook app by Sony Vaio.
Facebook apps however are a bit more tricky and you would need to find a developer capable of creating custom Facebook applications.
Another opportunity would be to launch a promotion through Facebook. Promotions allow users to not only engage with your brand, but be rewarded for doing so. Research shows that promotions are one of the best ways to create an active and engaged fan base on your business page.
Beware though!
Facebook have some very strict promotional guidelines now set in place. If you breach these guidelines you could find your page deleted without notice and all of your hard work and fan base can be undone in an instant.
For more information on Facebook’s promotion guidelines, visit their page here or call Reload Media for a walkthrough in layman’s terms!
