Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Facebook Page Promotion Pointers

Some things to consider with facebook pages:

A client of mine has put up and is building a following for their FaceBook Page. Some discussion about that got me to thinking (again) about a few pointers to consider when spreading the word of your page. See list below. Some are rehashed from previous posts, some are new thoughts:

  • Make posts to your page in a slow steady pace. Don't dump a ton of updates at once
  • Try to make your updates relevant for your intended audience
  • Try to have some media as well (images and video are more interesting!)
  • Try to word your posts, from time to time in ways that are a little inflammatory (if appropriate for your image and audience) . A heated discussion is better than no discussion
  • Try to word your posts in a way that elicits a response. People need to be asked questions to get them talking and discussion and comments put the V in Viral!
  • You should send out updates to blast info to your audience but also replicate the info sent on the FaceBook page itself. This keeps the page looking fresh, new info is automatically placed at the top so new visitors see recent posting dates and will be more likely to decide that this is an active page and worth joining. Ding!
  • Another good reason for replicating on the page itself is that updates sent to your fan base lack a comment utility! Comments put the V in viral!
  • Leave comments on your posts or try to have a network of friends that do it for you.
  • Leave comments that try to elicit a response. The comment discussion is at the heart of the viral mechanics. This is when knowledge of your page grows beyond your circle of friends to your friends' circle of friends. Comments put the V in viral! Ding! Double Ding!!!
  • It's also a good idea to talk about more than just yourself in your updates. If there's no human element for people to connect with then it just feels like old fashioned marketing and people get turned off.

More on the last bullet item. Look, we're all grown up here and if you hadn't realized it yet you should have: "Social Media" is the new marketing tool. but having said that the game is slightly different. When you do your marketing on FaceBook, if you just talk about yourself, your accomplishments or otherwise about yourself, quite frankly you'll be putting people to sleep.

I haven't decided on an exact ratio but from time to time you do need to throw in some comments that are just your opinions on a current event, even something as simple as the the weather. Maybe even try to rile people up. Since this is marketing under the veil of "Social Media" you need to show them there's a person behind the page or people will just get that old "marketed to" feeling and vanish from your fan base. It's important to appeal to events in peoples' lives so that they get that warm and fuzzy connection to you.

You can also apply the list above to twitter and MySpace marketing. I can't tell you how many times I've tweeted for a client, then had the thought: Oh, this is too many posts about ME (the client) and gone and checked the fan base only to find that 2 or 3 people have stopped following. Conversely I have tweeted about things not directly related to the client but when people see it they feel connected by the human element of the comment, check us out and start following. Ding!

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