Facebook Fan Pages for Business

22:10:2009 | Startup Guides +

The Facebook social media site started out as a website for college kids to connect, but it soon became one of the most important business tools out there today. We do not want to get to much into this, but you can read more here: Facebook – The Complete Biography.

Want to take a hint from some of the biggest names in business? Get yourself a Facebook Fan page if you want to start getting more customers and developing more loyalty among your current ones.

How Do I Set Up a Fan Page?

Facebook makes it easy to set up a fan page - just as easy as a regular personal profile. When you set up a business account, you’ll see a tab for advertising. From there, you can create a Fan page, where you will enter in the basics of your business’ information (your name, your location, what you do, etc.).

Fill in all of the requested fields! Facebook pages are fantastic for Google results, so you want to choose your words carefully and make sure you give your customers as much information as possible so it’s easy to find you via search engines.

Your basic Fan page, once completed, will have a Wall where customers can leave comments, a newsfeed where you can post links to business-related material like new blogs posts or promotions, photos, videos, and a list of your fans. You can even link an external site into facebook, so data is automatically updated with little effort (like using rss feeds).

Ensure you do not neglect your photos or video pages either; they’re a chance to get creative and perhaps start a viral video. Coca-Cola, for example, has a series of videos submitted by its fans featuring innovative ways to open a Coke can.

How Do I Promote Myself?

Once you have your basic page set up, start looking through the Facebook Application Directory for promotional tools to add to your page.

Don’t limit yourself, though. Facebook allows you to create your own design and applications, and these are the things that make you stand out from your competition. It’s worth the money you will invest.

The more creative, the better! Red Bull invented an application based on geo-hunting, where its customers can hunt down cans of Red Bull hidden throughout the United States. People who have never even tried Red Bull still enjoy the hunt – and they might convert to customers when they find their victorious can.

Once you have an exciting application in place, promote it through your Facebook page, your blog, and mailing list. You can also pay for advertising on Facebook. Its specialised advertising service seeks out your target demographic based on their Facebook information and targets its ads specifically to your market. Send out ads that encourage new customers to become fans to participate in your applications.

These advertising tools also come with their own powerful reporting system, so if you like numbers, there are plenty to put your eyes over.

How Do I Get New Fans?

First, start off with your existing fans. Send an email to your current customer base and let them know you have a Facebook fan page you’d like them to join. Send them a link and offer an incentive like product discounts or “freebies”.

Once you have those customers on your fan page, you have done half the work. All your customers who signed up to be fans will have a post appear in their Facebook newsfeed asking if their friends would like to become fans too. And you will find many of them will!

You can also directly ask people to become fans if they’re your friends on your regular Facebook application. The reason almost all people become fans is because a friend of theirs became a fan first - and there is no reason you should not be the origin of that snowball effect.

What Should I Say?

Follow the cues of your fans. Some big names don’t even say a word on their Facebook page. When you do talk to your fans, keep the tone casual and friendly - this is social media, after all - but for the most part, let your fans drive the conversation. You’ll find they’ll actually give you the tools you need to generate a bigger customer base.

For example, Coca-Cola didn’t even start its own fan page - its customers did, and they simply asked to add some of their own applications and presence to help facilitate things. When their fans ask for new applications or tools, Coke responds promptly, and they usually earn even more fans by doing so.

This is also how Pizza Hut came up with the idea to offer delivery through a Facebook application. Listen to your fans; they’ll tell you how to expand your customer base beyond your wildest dreams.

Ready to get started? Head on over to Facebook and sign up. It’s easy and it’s free - and that’s the best kind of marketing tool you can put to work for your business.

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