Facebook Marketing Strategy

The benefits to an award-winning business

(Photo by Sean MacEntee)

1 in every 13 people on earth are on Facebook. In the United States, over 70% of the internet users are on Facebook. If you haven’t already created a page for your business on Facebook, you’ve strongly considered it. But do you know how to use Facebook for your business marketing?

First, here are the standard basic steps to get you started:

  1. Create a Facebook page for your business, brand, product, or cause using the standard templates.
  2. Create a “vanity” URL to better brand your page.
  3. If you already actively blog, connect your blog’s feed to Facebook using tools described here.
  4. Get people to “like” your business. By having someone like your business, your business shows up on their Info page – which is a “public vote” for your business. Give people a reason to “like” or “friend” your page – For example, create information that only fans can see on Facebook.

If you’ve done all four of these steps, you’ve basically recreated some of your website’s information on Facebook. That’s good if people are searching for you on Facebook, but otherwise, you haven’t leveraged the “social” aspect yet.

“Social” is about a conversation between you and others. Not a one-way speech. Not trying to sell people anything. It’s about listening to what people are saying and occasionally sharing something remarkable. Think of good social media skills as akin to being a great cocktail party guest – by being at the party, everyone is richer for the experience. That means, don’t try to sell. Instead, try to introduce people to others, knowledge, and interesting ideas. Try to make others’ lives better. That’ll make you someone worth paying attention to.

But what makes Facebook a better social platform for marketing? Two things: Facebook Ads and tagging. Because Facebook compiles so much information about each user, it allows a very fine granularity for targeting your prospective customers (for example: newly engaged, newly divorced, newly employed, newly moved, interested in certain clubs, etc.). But tagging is where you can spread your message for free, if done right. For example, let’s say you want to release your new case study. You’ll likely send a press release and feature it on your website/blog. But you can also tag the individuals featured (with their permission, of course). Tagging gets your message in front of their friends – and this is the magic. Before you might have to ask others to post a blurb about something you did that featured them. Now, you’re basically given the opportunity to post on their “channel”. Don’t abuse this privilege, but do think about how to feature others to spread your message. A true win-win.


Warning: Don’t use Facebook in lieu of your own website. If you read the fine print, Facebook has the right to shut down your Facebook page at their whim. Also, be careful what you upload to Facebook (from Facebook’s Terms of Use):

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

 

One thought on “Facebook Marketing Strategy

  1. Love everything you’ve mentioned. One important hurdle I wish you would have mentioned is the effect of Facebook’s edgerank. Without a conversation, your Facebook marketing message is dead-on-arrival. Few will see it. There is a primer I found on Edgerank at Edgerank.net.

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