7 Great Tips for Marketing Your Business Using a Facebook Fan Page
So I’ve compiled 7 Great Tips for on how to market your business with a Facebook fan page. If you don’t know how to get your own Facebook Fan page, however, read this article first: How to create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Business.
1. Give people an incentive to become a fan on Facebook.
Offer a special Facebook only reward to new fans. This could be a gift certificate, discount, or a special freebie offer on your web page. Note: An e-book, report, article, video, or podcast make great free offers! You don’t need to incur a large expense to give something away. I’m putting together a 3 or 4 page report on “How to Tap into the Power of Facebook to Market Your Business.”
2. Instead of using a business card, give out an invitation card to your Facebook Business fan page.
Make sure the invite card showcases your incentive. These cards can be done inexpensively. My graphic designer charges $150 for the design of a two sided-4 color card. They can be printed for less than $50 at UPrinting.com.
3. A picture is worth a thousand words. Post pictures weekly.
You can post before and after shots, photos of the “best” of what you do, photos of happy fans, photos of your work, photos of your store, your products, you at work, your staff, your events. You get the picture. Pictures engage your fans.
4. Add video.
Take the photo idea one step further. Make the video less than 3 minutes and jam-packed full of valuable info. You can post a “How to” video, or even just a moment in your day. Don’t worry about what you look like, or having the video professionally done; just make it interesting!
5. Have exclusive or “sneak preview” content.
Let people know that they will “see it on Facebook first.” I’ve got a new book coming out: Buzz: How to Tap into the Power of Social Media, Publicity, and Relationship Marketing to Get Customers. I’m going to put out a chapter as a sneak preview of what’s to come.
6. Try Facebook Ads.
You can use a Facebook ad to promote your “Become a fan on Facebook” incentive. The cool things about Facebook ads are that they can be targeted to exactly the type of people that you want to reach and the ads are very inexpensive. You can set a budget of just $2.00 a day. I’ve used Facebook ads and have increased my fan page membership by 50% using my free e-book as an incentive.
7. Build a custom Facebook landing page welcoming your Facebook fans.
This can really solidify your Facebook Fanpage experience. You could showcase your Facebook Fans reward, or even have a special welcome message. Here are some excellent examples.
Nabisco Cookies Facebook Fan Page
Southwest Airlines Facebook Fan Page
So how do you get this done? Find a freelance programmer who knows FBML , (The programming code for Facebook). You can find a programmer on StartupNation, elance.com or even Craigslist.
Do you have a Facebook Fan page? Post it here along with the link! We appreciate your comments!
Related posts: 9 Great Tips for Marketing Your Restaurant Using Facebook Fan Pages
Marketing Minute: How to Get More Done in Less Time
Photo Credit: Flickr by Tonivc
Just a few quick tips that will help you get more done in less time and achieve greater productivity and success. How do I know they work? Because they work for me! By using these simple tips, I have freed up more time and increased my sales, easily. If I can do it, you can too!
1. Set 5 one-on-one appointments. Whether by email or telephone, contact 5 people to meet them for a soda or for lunch. Pick from past clients, current clients, networking contacts, business partners or vendors, and prospects.
2. Do a brain dump. Take a few minutes and write down every incomplete task or “to do” that’s on your mind. Unfinished business clouds your mind and decreases our productivity. The key is that you must write it down for this to be effective.
3. Set your goals/priorities for the week. After you’ve done the brain dump, then pick 3 goals and priorities for the week and write them down as well. Realize where you actually focus your time versus where you need to be focusing your time will boost your productivity as well.
Do you have other tips that work for you? I’d love to have your comments! Post your productivity and success tips here!
Twitter For Business: How to Get Connected
How to get connected on social media: Setting up your Twitter account
“Twitter is a simple tool that helps connect businesses more meaningfully with the right audience at the right time.” via Twitter.com
Social media networking is here to stay. Last year, nearly 80% of all US internet users visited a social networking site. (Marketing Charts.com)
And Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms of them all with over 25 million people worldwide logging in daily! (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/twitter.com/ )
What does that mean for you if you are a small business owner?
It means that if you are not adopting Twitter as part of your marketing strategy, your business will soon be left behind!
This post discusses how to set up your Twitter account.
1. Go to Twitter.com and click the “Sign up” button. To set up an account on Twitter, you simply input your full name (real name), a user name, create a password, and enter your email address. I recommend that you set up your account using your business name as your user name, if you are the business owner. However, use your personal name as your user name if you are a representative of a company. Twitter asks you to enter your “full name” as well. If you are using Twitter for business marketing, use your real name or some variation of it. For example, I use Wendy Kenney as my full name. However if it were already taken, I might use WKenney, or WendyKenneyAZ. This enables people to find me using the “Find People” search function in Twitter by typing in my “real name.” Twitter walks you through the steps to set up your account, so it should be fairly easy.
2. Secondly, click on the “Settings” tab and set up your profile. Make sure you upload a picture here. Some companies, like Southwest Airlines, use their company logo. Again, this works well if you are the business owner and tweeting on behalf of the company. You will also need to enter your location, website, and a short, 160 character, bio. The best bios tell a little bit about the person who tweets, such as their interests, and why or what they tweet ab0ut. My bio says: “Buzz Building marketing expert, social media practitioner, owner of 23 Kazoos (Marketing Firm) love my dogs, family, foodie”
3. Next, you need to start following people. This is how you get followers. I recommend you identify your goals for using social media and who you want to build relationships with to grow your business. For example, as a buzz building marketing expert, I want to create new relationships with small business owners, and joint venture or referral relationships with other marketing professionals. I also want to network with thought leaders and influential people in my community. Then I can use the “Search” feature on Twitter to search for people based on that criteria. For example, one of my clients is Culver’s Restaurant in Phoenix. (Follow them on Twitter at @Culversphx) Their goal is to get their word out about their new restaurant which opened on Camelback Road. I entered “Camelback” and “Phoenix” into the Twitter search bar to find people who mention Camelback Road and who are in Phoenix and then follow them. If the people that Culver’s follows are interested in learning more about the restaurant, they will follow Culver’s back. I also recommend that you use a free online application called Twellow (http://www.twellow.com) to find followers. You can search geographically by city, by interest, by category and more.
4. Lastly, start tweeting! Remember: social media is all about being social; connecting with people and building relationships. The best type of tweets is those that add value to the people who are following you. Contrary to what you may have heard otherwise, selling is perfectly okay on Twitter, as long as you are up front that that is why you have a Twitter account. For example, Amazon.com, has a Twitter account that only lists great deals on Amazon daily. (http://www.twitter.com/amazondeals) This account has over 30,000 followers. However, for most people, the best Twitter strategy is to not sell, but to educate, add value, and engage.
Since I have started using Twitter for my business I have seen incredible results. My visibility has increased substantially as evidenced by a quadruple increase in website traffic. I have been invited to speak for groups and associations on several occasions, which has resulted in new clients. I have received many new leads, referrals and clients from people who follow me on Twitter. And lastly, I have built valuable referral relationships and friendships with people that I did not know before.
What are you waiting for?
For more Twitter tips for business, I highly recommend you visit the Twitter Expert, Dan Hollings, and watch his videos on 100 Twitter Tips in 15 Minutes on YouTube.
Also download the Twitter 101 Guide for Business Guide on Twitter.com.
