On the competitive business forum that is Facebook, having an informed and targeted marketing approach is crucial for success.
Understanding the tools and features available on Facebook and knowing how to shape your marketing approach puts you in a good position and boosts your chances.
Below is a practical approach to doing business on Facebook
The Profile
Your page on Facebook is the face of your business to the outside world. It should be presentable, and contain relevant, detailed information on the business. Your page should ideally include links to your website, blogs and RSS feeds.
This helps direct traffic to your business website for business interactions and possible engagements.
Build Your Contact List
The money is in the list. Once you have your business page set up, you should embark on creating a comprehensive contact list. Build your list from your online and offline contacts. Invite people whom you think might be interested in your offering or who may have similar interests to become your new friends on Facebook.
Your new friends on Facebook have friends whom you can also invite. Having a wide contact list means having a wide prospects list.
Join and Participate in Groups
Groups on Facebook are people who share common interests and interact on common grounds. Join as many of these groups as you possibly can to widen your network. This also increases your visibility. By being active in your groups, you earn yourself exposure and credibility.
This puts you in good stead to promote or propose sales later on. It is always easier to sell to people you know and interact with after all.
Update Your Status Regularly
The ‘share’ button on your Facebook page helps you share your status with your Facebook contacts. It is an excellent communication tool that should be used to update your clients on upcoming events, important business or industry news, and new products available for sale. People like being updated. It makes them feel valued and welcomed.
Posting messages on your friends’ walls and updating them, communicates that you are involved and interested to connect with them.
Create Fan Pages
Fan pages are an excellent way to generate attention and drive traffic to your website. They are a good medium for clients to share their opinions and give honest feedback. Fan pages help generate publicity to your brand and add the viral aspect into your marketing effort.
When somebody becomes your fan, a notification is relayed across their contact network on Facebook.
Their friends are bound to get piqued and want to become your new friends and fans also. Fan pages also score high rankings on Facebook searches. This enhances your online visibility.
Do Your Research
Doing prior research on your target market on Facebook is very important as it provides you with important information on market needs, preferences and trends. This helps inform and shape your marketing approach or strategy. Conducting research on your competition is also important as it provides you with crucial information on their strategies, strengths and weaknesses.
By knowing these, you are able to format a campaign that capitalizes on the competition’s weaknesses and maximizes on your strengths, thus gaining a market edge from Facebook.
I added a form to my Facebook fan page to capture email addresses, and I have found that it is a great way to incorporate your list building with your Facebook marketing. A great landing tab / page makes a huge difference in conversions!
Hi Kristi…
Yes this is a fantastic idea for building up your mailing list for sure… If you get the time maybe you would like to tell our users how you went about doing this on your fan page… I am sure they would really appreciate the advice.