Why your Business Needs a Facebook Fan Page

Not so long ago having an Internet presence for your business meant putting up a website. A website, while still an important feature of promoting your business, is no longer enough. To reach customers businesses must go where the customers are. Web 2.0 or the social web, is an essential feature of a successful marketing plan.

Facebook is the leader of the pack of social media, with more than 300 million actives users.  While Facebook originally started as the social networking site of choice for high school and university students, the fastest growing demographic is now those 35 years old and older.  Facebook has become essential for business marketing. This new style of customer contact requires implementing new and innovative ideas about marketing.

Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends and family. But you don’t necessarily want your clients to see the baby pictures your mom posted.  Personal Facebook pages allow you to share information about yourself and to connect with friends and family.

Fan pages have many of the same features as personal pages. You can still share articles, photos, videos, and applications, but the fan page is organized around a theme. All of the content on your Fan page is related to your business.  Businesses large and small should take care to present a well defined and controlled image of their products and services. Facebook fan pages are an excellent choice for businesses to use as another platform to promote their products and services.  50% of the 300 million active users log on to Facebook in any given day and more than 10 million users become fans of Pages each day.

Strategies for making your Fan page a success

Make your Fan page a resource

Consider your customers interests. What information do they need? Post articles and links to useful information on your wall. Your Fan page is an opportunity to showcase yourself as an expert. Provide these things for your customers and they will return to your page again and again.

Connect

Interact with customers. Make use of all of the Facebook tools. Respond to comments. You may not want to list your entire product line. A sample on your fan page could lead new customers to visit your website for more. Spamming is always a bad idea, but targeting offers to customers who show interest can lead to increased customer loyalty.

Be human

Pictures and personal information put a face on a company. As long as you present an image that enhances your business, personalizing your Fan page is a great way to get followers.

Be present and be consistent

Fill out your profile completely. Keep article, photo and video content current. It’s not enough to throw up a page and be done with it. Make sure to respond to fans who join and post to your page.

Groups

Create a group for your business or participate in groups related to your business.  To date, there are over 45 million groups on Facebook.  Starting a group, and participating in one, allows you to be the thought leader or expert in your field.

Facebook has recently made some changes to their Groups feature.  Until recently group activities have been isolated to the group page, which sometimes made it difficult to find out what was going on in the group.  Facebook has transformed Groups to make it easier for you to communicate with your members.  Groups will now have a Wall that summarizes all of the recent activities, making it easier to follow the conversation.  Group activities, are now delivered to your News Feed, which will make interacting with Groups much easier.

Innovate

Facebook moves fast. Don’t be afraid to try the latest thing. Explore webinars, and other interactive media as options to improve business relationships.

Creating a Facebook fan page is great first step toward integrating social media into your marketing plan. Remember, that you’re not limited to just one fan page; think of different products or services that you can showcase on separate pages.  Don’t forget to provide links from your website to your Fan page. Make sure to connect your Facebook fan page to other social media, such as Twitter, so your network will grow. In no time your Fan page will be the central hub of your successful online marketing campaign.

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