Search Engine Optimization

Tagging

When you post photos, you are able to tag anyone who is on your friends or fans list. This can be a nice way of thanking someone for a purchase; post a photograph of the product they bought from you, if appropriate, and tag them with a thank you!  Likewise, if you have a brick and mortar business and can take photographs of your clients and customers, tag them so that Facebook alerts them that they’ve been tagged in a photo. Most Facebookers have their notifications set up to alert them anytime they are tagged in a photo, which brings them back to your page again. You can also set your page up so that your fans can upload photos and tag people in them as well, which gives your page a nice social image as well.  You are giving back to your customers by adding photographs, and keeping your company and your brand firmly planted in their mind.

Contest It

Use contests to make your page engaging to current fans and enticing to potential fans. There are lots of ways to do a contest- random drawings, trivia quizzes, 100^th fan, etc., so do make it interesting and compelling. Contests which include giveaway prizes can be exceptional marketing tools for a page.

Double up your Networks

There are lots of Facebook applications currently, and it seems a new one is launched daily, that helps to import your information from other social networking sites. With the latest applications, it’s easy to pull in Flickr, Twitter, and lots of others quickly.

Thank You! Thank You!

People love to feel appreciated, so when someone signs on to become your Facebook fan, thank him or her immediately. In fact, giving them an ebook or discount coupon as a thankful gesture would be even better, and can be huge at spreading goodwill about your brand and your Facebook page. It may even give them incentive to partake in your contests and other resources on your page, or share information about you with other friends.

Write for Grownups

Many people make the mistake of writing to the level of teenagers, because Facebook itself has certainly grown up in the last couple of years. Though it started out as the online social network for college students and even younger people, its largest demographic is not the 35-54 age group, more than 29% of all Facebook users. In fact, the fastest growing segment is the 55 and above crowd. Obviously, your company or brand has a specific target audience that your writing style should be tailored for, but be sure that it encompasses all age groups.

Keep it Up

Many people create a Facebook page and expect fans to just show up, and these people cannot understand what the big fuss is about Facebook. However, these pages need to be nurtured and fed. It is not enough to just put it up and leave it alone. Frequent updating is necessary.

Facebook pages are great places to engage customers and potential customers, even those who are not on Facebook because pages are public and therefore visible to everyone on the internet. Posting stories, articles, videos, and photos are great tools to encourage discussion and add value to the community.

Everything you do on Facebook should be aimed at keeping your fans engaged and active. Successful fan pages are seen more as a community that fans enjoy visiting than a brand.

Facebook is the largest social networking site ever, with well over 500 million users, and a whopping 70 percent of those people log on and participate daily. Additionally, Facebook’s statistics tell us that the average user is connected to 60 groups or pages at any time. Obviously, there is a lot to grab a reader’s attention, including their social activities with their friends. Certainly, to be effective in marketing via Facebook, your pages need to be engaging and dynamic for fans to return frequently and recommend them to their friends. Quick growth of your pages will come if your fans are delighted to come to your page often, and if they share information that you post. Here are a few ideas to get your pages “liked” by lots of Facebookers.

Uniqueness

Creating a profile for your business or yourself establishes your online identity, which helps develop relationships with other users and position your business while interacting  on a personal basis. Bland pages will get you nowhere. You should give a lot of thought to how your Facebook page can be different from others before you even start to create it. It needs to stand out from other pages and be unique, even if there are several pages in the same niche. What can you give your Facebook fans? How can you provide value, resources, or help? Things like this will have them joining your page and returning again and again. Be creative in designing your Facebook fan pages as well. If your company or website has a logo, use it for your fan page also. Investing some time or resources into your Facebook page will be well spent.

Compelling Landing Pages

You can customize where your users land on your pages; they do not have to end up on your wall. The wall is great for discussion, but does little to tell about your company or your brand, so it has little impact on new visitors. In fact, it’s possible to show new visitors to your page a totally diverse message from those who are already fans. Do tailor a page specifically for potential users that gives some background about you, your company, or your website. Also, try to give them a great reason for joining.

Giveaways

Die-hard fans will follow your page without any incentive. However, to really grow your Facebook presence quickly, consider a giveaway of some sort in return for “liking” your page. Giveaways will help you reach fans in your niche that otherwise wouldn’t have known about your page. There have been lots of examples of Facebook success: TGIFriday’s, Southwest Airlines, and KFC have all done giveaway promotions to build a large base of followers.

The Big Picture

Photos on Facebook are BIG! Not just in terms of size, but Facebookers love to see pictures, so be sure that your page has a nice big photo of your brand or logo as the profile picture, and add lots of others for them to view as well.