There is no doubt that Facebook is huge. There is no doubt Facebook changed the way we communicate. And there is no doubt that Facebook has been effective when it comes to marketing and branding. Companies and organizations have enjoyed the power Facebook offers and have leveraged the over 600 million users of the site.
Big companies and small businesses took their chances with Facebook and experienced it, they have revealed the opportunities and the lessons they learned to everyone. Through their stories of success and failures we should all know by now how to use Facebook to our advantage.
So, for businesses that are still having a hard time with Facebook marketing here are some proven Facebook marketing techniques as listed by Jeanne Hopkins in her “7 Proven Facebook Marketing Tactics” :
- Be interactive, fun and helpful. When people get on your Facebook page they are looking for some kind of interaction. Don’t disappoint them. A hardware company offered their Facebook links, applications, and engaging information, and within a short time added 26,000 fans.
- Embed videos on your Facebook page. There is no reason you have to send people to YouTube to watch your videos. Keep ‘em on your page.
- Create a connection between Facebook and the outside world. I read a case study where sales reps worked with local retailers and promoted their events through Facebook updates and photos.
- Create contests on Facebook. In order to enter one contest, a company made people comment on a thread announcing a giveaway in Facebook.
- Integrate traditional advertising with Facebook. The Facebook icon/logo is well known and it should appear on more print ads. It’s a great way to promote contests that encourage people to sign up on your fan page.
- Use Facebook to grow your email list, and visa versa. One company used their email newsletter to boost awareness of their Facebook page. They then promoted their email newsletter to their existing Facebook fans. The end result was growth in their email list and in their fan base.
- Introduce a new product on Facebook. People who sign up to be fans on your Facebook page are your most loyal customers. Reward them by giving them the information about a new product before everyone else. If you do it right, they will help you promote it to others.
With these proven tactics along with your own creative strategies, utilizing social media or Facebook in particular will be a great marketing tool for you.
