This excellent article was written by,Murray Sye.
Social media and inbound marketing are increasingly important assets for businesses to get found by and engage with potential buyers on the web.
Think about the way you find information about the products and services you’re interested in. You may be influenced by TV advertising or by some of the junk mail you receive, but what really influences your decision about a brand, is what you’ve been able to find online or more importantly, by what others have to say. Most of us have become experts at tuning out traditional “outbound marketing noise” and instead we revert to Google and social networks for answers to the questions we have.
Is Facebook right for my business?
I don't think you any business can ignore more that 900 million users. What other media can offer a pool of potential customers like Facebook? Fact is, Facebook has become a powerful marketing tool, and according to HubSpot, 43% of B2B and 77% of B2C companies have acquired customers via Facebook.
Yes, it can be difficult to figure out what you can and should do. And yes, it can be quite a feat to convince your CEO to let you incorporate Facebook or a larger social media strategy into your marketing plan. But, armed with the right knowledge and metrics, it is possible.
So in and effort to help you get started with Facebook for your business, follow these top-10 best practices, and you will be well on your way to Facebook marketing success.
Tip #1: Be interactive, fun and be helpful
When people reach your Facebook page, they are looking for some kind of interaction. Don’t disappoint them. As an example, a hardware company offered their Facebook fans links, applications, and engaging information, and within a short time, they added 26,000 fans!
Tip #2: Use video on your Facebook page
There is no reason why you should send people to YouTube to watch your videos. Keep 'em right on your page with embedded videos just like MediaTemple does keeping customers updated! Here’s a cool tip from Wildfire about uploading your videos to Facebook.
Tip #3: Create a connection between Facebook and the outside world
Promote your event, conference, sale, open house, or a webinar using Facebook updates and photos. What’s upcoming within your business that can be promoted on Facebook? Are you planning to attendHubSpot’s upcoming Webinar?
Tip #4: Create contests on Facebook
Contests are a fun and engaging way to encourage participation from fans and even generate new fans. For example, in order to enter a contest, one company asked people to comment on a thread announcing a giveaway in Facebook.
There are a few applications to help make your contest an easy installation – North Social and Wildfire are just to name a few.
Tip #5: Integrate traditional advertising with Facebook
Incorporate the Facebook logo to your traditional print advertising to help promote your presence on Facebook. Another great idea is to use traditional ads to promote contests that encourage people to sign up on your fan page.
Tip #6: Use Facebook to grow your email list and visa versa
Use your email newsletter to boost awareness of your Facebook page. In addition, promote your email newsletter to your existing Facebook fans. The end result will be growth in your email list and your Facebook fan base.
Tip #7: Be the first to introduce your new products on Facebook
People who sign up to be fans of your Facebook page are likely your most loyal evangelists and customers. Reward them by giving them information about a new product/service/feature before everyone else. If you do it right, they will help you promote it to others.
Tip #8: Welcome new page visitors
When thinking about Facebook, a new metric comes to mind: visitor-to-like. As a B2B company, you ultimately want to maximize the percentage of people who visit your Facebook Page and click the "Like" button. One important way to achieve this goal and establish expectations with new fans is to implement a 'welcome' landing page that invites new visitors to Like your Page. Technically, there are many ways to execute this. HubSpot customers, for example, can install the free Facebook Welcome Application.
Tip #9: Integrate social content on your Facebook
Facebook is the gateway to the internet for many people. They use it as a home base. In fact, one in eight minutes on the internet is spent on Facebook. Because Facebook has become such an online home for people, it is important to incorporate content from other social channels like YouTube and SlideShare to extend the life and reach of that content.
Tip #10: Like other businesses’ Facebook pages
Remember that social media is, well, social. By Liking the Pages of business partners, valued vendors, and customers, Facebook will notify the administrators of those Pages. In return, some of them may also decide to Like your Page, which will also expose it to the individual fans of their Pages. Think of this as leveraging Facebook for co-marketing efforts.
