How to do Business on Facebook and Reap the Rewards
With news hot off the press that Facebook has passed the 500 Million registered users milestone is it time to look seriously at the social business opportunity staring you in the face? A Facebook page is simple and free to set up but most businesses seem unable to see or develop Facebook's true potential.
As with all the promotional activity a business invests in, a Facebook page should be properly planned, managed and resourced to fit within a marketing plan. While direct Facebook costs may appear limited, the planning and resourcing needs to be carefully considered from the outset. Time has to be available to keep the Facebook page updated and the business image and promotional messages must be carefully thought through. Once planned it has to be reliably executed to the best of a firm's ability.
A Facebook page is virtually invisible without followers. When planning a business presence anywhere on the web the question must be asked "where will the web visitors will be coming from?". This means plans are needed to promote and signpost the Facebook page once it is up and running. Done right, as the the visitors start arriving, the welcome they get, the news they see and the content on offer will be impressive enough to encourage a good number to click the follow button.
It's a fact that many businesses have started a page on Facebook with little thought or planning, posted a few staus updates and quickly wondered what the point is? They usually abandon Facebook altogether soon after! In most instances there was virtually no pre-planning, little effort to make people aware their page existed and precious little reason for visitors to stay long on the page or follow the updates anyway.
Using Facebook as a means of promoting a business requires consistent and thoughtful effort to impress and "make friends" with people. Regular daily status updates can keep a business in their followers minds and will let them become used to seeing news reports and promotions in their personal Facebook newsfeeds. Ideally they will hear about a special event or promtion exclusively for Facebook followers from time to time too.
Status updates should be reasonably short and friendly. It's the age of Twitter and text messaging now and people have little willingness to read long updates. A useful aspect of Facebook is the publication of photos. Every business can provide photos of key staff, top products, premises, special events etc. The friends of friends features of Facebook mean, for example, "employee of the month" photos or employee birthday greetings can slowly attract a wider group of followers from among the friends of the staff. They say a picture paints a thousand words and that's never been more true than it is on Facebook.
A business must avoid becoming a one trick pony on Facebook by posting the same old message over and over. Even if the news is the same, it needs to be rewritten from a different angle to keep it looking new and fresh.
It takes time to establish a decent presence and attract loyal followers on Facebook. A business shouldn't expect immediate sales and profits from Facebook users and shouldn't become disheartened after a few quiet initial weeks. If a business plans to be using Facebook over the long term and builds accordingly the benefits are going to come. Innovation and regular testing of ideas is as important to a Facebook presence as it is in any other area of business marketing. Assuming a business is promoting its own website on Facebook, they should make sure they track all the click throughs in order to quantify performance and learn what's working and, just as importantly, what isn't.
As a business presence grows on Facebook it becomes easier to use other features such as events and discussions to increase exposure and appeal. As the financial return grows from Facebook it becomes easier to justify advertising for more followers on the site too and a virtuous marketing circle takes over.
Facebook can be a highly productive marketing tool for businesses if they set out to follow the "eight Ps to Facebook business success" right from the start...
Plan from the outset. Perform to a high standard. Promote and promote some more (on Facebook and elsewhere). Progress by innovating and testing. Provide reasons to be followed. Photos in addition to updates. Praise staff as much as products. Persuade customers to be loyal friends.
Facebook Related Links From Around The Web
| Welcome to Facebook - Log In, Sign Up or Learn More | Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an ... http://www.facebook.com/... |
| Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an ... http://www.facebook.com/facebook... | |
| Facebook stock closes nearly flat in debut - Yahoo! News | NEW YORK (AP) — It was barely a "like" and definitely not a "love" from Facebook investors as the online social network's stock failed to live up to the hype in its ... http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-stoc... |
| Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life. http://touch.facebook.com/... |
22.07.2010. 01:55
