Last time we discussed the merits of setting up a blog and using it as the bridge into Social Media Marketing – including Facebook. This time I’d like to talk more about specifically what you can do on Facebook for business development purposes.
The first thing is it cant be ignored – more man hours are spent on facebook than Google and its a close second in terms of visitors….
…and still growing faster.
So, here are the specifics you should give consideration to….
1. Set up a business page
2. Advertise directly
3. Set up a personal page
4. Engage in discussion groups and networks
1. SETTING UP A BUSINESS PAGE
…is straightforward
Just make sure you are logged in before you do this. Also of course you’ll want to develop a fan base and be found by people carrying out searches. (‘Fans’ in Facebook are like links in SEO – they determine your ranking), so build a compelling page with videos, events, photos and so on, here’s a good one….
To develop your fan base you should:-
1. Create a compelling page – content is key just like most other web marketing methods
2. Email your contact database and ask them to register as a fan
3. Put a reference on your email signature
4. Make reference from you website and/or blog
Then build and publish your page and become a ‘fan’. Remember though good value added content is key and integrating your blogs is a good way to keep it fresh.
2. ADVERTISE DIRECTLY
You can target by age, gender, keywords and much more….
Again, you need to be logged in to advertise, then you can promote your website, your products, your events and specifically target groups you are interested in.
You can do this on a ‘pay per click’ basis or by ‘impressions’ (number of times you ad gets displayed) basis. We prefer PPC because the click through rates are quite low. You set daily budgets very similar to Google Adwords activity.
So, once you are here its just a matter of…
1. Creating you ad
2. Targeting your audience
3. Setting your budget
and, very importantly…
4. Monitor what happens through the analytics which are very comprehensive
3. SET UP A PERSONAL PAGE
What you can do here is use this as a way of connecting to friends, associates, old classmates etc – its really not meant for business….
However, here’s an example of one of our customers who was found through Facebook by an old colleague and subsequently they did business together…
So, it may be worth doing but strictly its shouldnt be used as a blatant promotional channel.
4. ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION GROUPS AND NETWORKS
It this point its becoming necessary to think through your return on time because you can – and people do – spend hours a day participating in online communities. You can set up discussion groups, participate in them and leave links for people to contact you ….
but, whereas setting up a business page is a must and even advertising is well worth consideration this sort of participation is more difficult to measure a return on.
So, the message is get involved in this increasingly important channel – do the obvious things first then consider to more time consuming activities – but dont do nothing.
Next time we’ll look at Twitter and how it can be used for business promotion.
