Making Facebook work for your business
21/02/11 | Kentucky Business Network
Facebook has really gained prominence as a business tool. Facebook has 600 million active monthly users, which makes it a vital and emerging place for branding and marketing. Businesses of all sizes, from large to small, use Facebook as either a primary or supplementary vehicle for building better brand awareness and visibility. Currently, 1.5 million businesses use Facebook to market their organization.
One of the best ways to represent your business on Facebook is to create a page for your business. Previously, pages were focused on the relationship between fans and celebrities–when a user would subscribe to page, the button and action was referred to as becoming a “fan.” Facebook thoughtfully changed this dynamic to focus on businesses, causes and organizations, using the Like button. The Like button significantly increased the performance of this tool–as users are more apt to Like a page rather than become a fan of a page. We, at Kentucky Business Network, noticed a tremendous increase in traffic for our members when the Like button was introduced. Subscriptions to pages has increased and social media driven traffic to destination websites has grown considerably.
Once you create a Facebook page for your business, it is important to continue to improve and use the tool to get value out of the tool. Here are some helpful tips for improving your business page on Facebook.
- Make it attractive: Just like your destination website for your business, your Facebook page needs personal attention. Make it attractive. Use images and your company logo to help it stand out. Try to introduce color to the page to improve the aesthetics. Create a lasting impression that helps to attract new users and loyal customers. Remember, users most often are on Facebook for fun and to connect with friends. You need to make your business page appealing and intriguing.
- Keep updating and interacting: It is vital that you keep making updates to your business page to make it interesting to users. Make updates on a regular basis. If you need to, create a schedule that integrates with your work schedule–set aside some time for social media marketing.
- Don’t spam — instead keep dialogue conversational: Remember Facebook is a social website, so your business should be social rather than too pitch-y. Try to make content and announcements interesting to users–don’t just throw products and pitches at them. Facebook is a great opportunity to make your business capture new leads and build loyalty.
- Call to action: Even though your tone should not be a hard sell, you still need to have a call to action. Make sure that you have links to your website, your business address/location and other contact info. On your landing page, encourage users to Like you–which is a subscription to your page.
