Making Facebook Work For Your Business
Making Facebook Work For Your Business
Making Facebook Work For Your Business
To say that Facebook and other social media have become an integral part of our society is akin to saying you like breathing. It has literally gotten to the point where saying that you don't have a Facebook account can get you some very strange looks indeed.
While most of us use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with family and friend and reunite with old friends long gone, fewer of us know how to effectively use it to help market our business or service. In fact, Facebook is an ideal tool for the marketing and promotion of businesses, events, and products.
But as with any new endeavor, how do you begin? Where do you start?
For starters, fill out the Facebook profile information completely. Doing so establishes trust, which goes a long way when it comes to securing clients or earning customers.
Establish a business account with Facebook and read the guidelines established by Facebook for such accounts.
Make sure you integrate your feeds, blogs, and other social media to run through your Facebook account.
Post plenty of photos related to you or your business. Keep it appropriate, though. If your business is financial planning, a photo of one of your lampshade-on-the-head moments at a recent kegger might be somewhat ill advised.
Post newsletter articles and blog updates on a regular basis, but not so frequently that they become obnoxious.
Add your Facebook URL to your e-mail signature. This is now becoming as common and accepted as your website address and phone number. You'll also want to add it to your marketing material (brochures, flyers, business cards, etc).
Use your wall to post business updates, new projects, new hires, expansion plans, etc. This lets people know that there is something real happening with your company.
You can also establish credibility by posting articles and other material related to your business on your Facebook site, as well as answering questions and posting comments through other outlets such as Twitter.
Research your industry, e-mail lists, etc to obtain as many connections as possible. You can also use Friend Finder to find friends you may have forgotten about or friends with mutual interests.
You can also buy Facebook ads to target your audience more accurately.
Make sure your Facebook page has links to your company website, newsletter subscription and an archive section. You can also post links to upcoming events, seminars, conferences, conventions, or whatever on your Facebook page.
Of course you need to make sure that your Facebook page has a substantial "hook", something to keep visitors interested enough to hang around for a while. Visitors will bounce off off of a website within 30 seconds if there isn't something there to keep them sufficiently engaged.
Ask visitors for their e-mail address and basic information with the idea of keeping up with them and letting them know about upcoming events, or specials, or sales, or whatever your company is promoting. Ask them to become a fan, or a friend, or to "Like" your page. The goal is to increase your overall visibility in the crowded market.
Have a section where you can meet the folks behind the project, preferably with pictures and bios. Putting a face to your company really helps establish a level of trust.
Done right, and with a decent amount of time devoted to it, Facebook can become a wonderful face for your company, in many ways equaling or even surpassing the service given by your website. Don't hesitate to take full advantage of all that Facebook and other social media networks have to offer.
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