In a previous post, How To: Create a Facebook Fan Page, I took you through the Fan page creation process. If you decided to create one you’re probably asking yourself, "Ok, I have this fan page set up, now what do I do with it?" Well it’s going to take some effort on your part to get the ball rolling, unless you happen to be a well known brand of course. As much as we all would love to have instant fans in the thousands, in this land of information overload, we are but a small glimmer in front of a big glowing sun.
So before you start inviting or suggesting your Fan Page to your Facebook and business connections, use the following methods to get the biggest bang out your invite. People will be more likely to join your page if they see there’s an effort being made to stimulate their interest.
As I’m sure you’ve heard before "content is king", especially relevant and engaging content. One of the fastest and easiest ways of producing content for your Fan Page is to feed your company blog to it. Of course, this will only work if you’re company is posting to the blog at least 2 to 3 times a week, though more would be best. Your posts should be informative, helpful, conversational, and don’t forget to bring a little of your company’s personality into the mix!
There are different methods of connecting your blog to the Fan Page. It can be as simple as setting up your Fan Page Notes to Import your Blog, or you can use a 3rd Party RSS application. We use NetworkedBlogs to feed our blog which is much more robust than the Notes option. It’s also a great way to find your Facebook friends’ blogs, if they have it registered on NetworkedBlogs, as well as subscribe to some of your favorite bloggers.
Create a "Landing Page" tab that will encourage people to join your Fan Page as well as give them a "Call to Action". The CTA should be something easy and non-intrusive. We use the Static FBML application to create custom Landing Page Tabs, it adds a box to your Page in which you can render HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language) for enhanced Page customization.
Upload Images or Videos of your product(s) or service. If you are uploading videos, make sure they are short and to the point. The YouTube Box application is an excellent tool to publish and manage your videos from your YouTube profile if you already have one or are planning on creating one.
Place a Fan Page Badge on your company website and/or blog. Let your current visitors know that they can now interact with you via Facebook.
Keep your fans engaged! They joined your page because they found it interesting, make sure they stay interested. Update your page with new content as often as you can and then let them know about it. Use the Insights tool to keep track of what works and what doesn’t and then adjust as best as your company can.
I hope you find this post helpful in getting your Fan Page started and on the road to great success. As long as you’re providing quality information you will begin to see an increase in your fan numbers. Just make sure that if a Fan posts a question or comment on your Wall or Discussion board you or someone at your company responds in a timely manner. After all that is why we’re doing this in the first place
Please feel free to share your experiences in the comment section below or if you have a suggestion to add to the list, I’d love to hear it!
Are you ready to get busy and build a nice stream of blog traffic? Just remember that in social media, meaningful content is king. The following is a list of actions of what you’ll need to do to see the first 100,000 blog visitors in 30 days and hopefully many more thereafter!
Make profiles on each social bookmarking site listed at SocialMarker – The initial setup of these profiles will be time consuming, but it will save you hours of manually bookmarking your blog posts on all the bookmarking sites.
Complete at least two (2) high quality, relevant blog posts that are meaningful to your audience a day. Helpful Hint: Write several blogs in advance and schedule them to be time released with your blog administrator software.
Make profiles on all the video sharing sites listed on TubeMogul -The initial setup of these profiles will be time consuming, but it will save you hours of manually uploading your videos on all the bookmarking sites.
Produce one (1) video a day using either a camera or video editing software such as Microsoft Movie Maker. You can even make a Powerpoint presentation and upload the slides into Movie Maker. Write a script and record your voice or use music for a nice touch. Embed the finished product to your blog.
Distribute each blog post using SocialMarker on a daily basis.
Distribute each video file produced using TubeMogul on a daily basis.
Create profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Both Facebook and LinkedIn have a feature that will allow you to setup a news feed from your blog. Each time your blog is updated, the friends in your network across these sites will receive your post.
Use SEO strategies and tactics that are explained in detail on SEOmoz and make sure to apply these techniques to your blog site.
Ensure to install some sort of sharing widget on your blog. There are many available depending on your blog technology. One of my favorites can be obtained at Share This and is feature rich. This will allow your viewers to distribute your blog posts virally.
Rinse and Repeat!
Helpful Hint: Good, high quality, content is essential to other people finding it useful and wanting to share it! If you have any questions regarding web design, web strategy or internet marketing, don’t hesitate to contact Proteus Design Studio.
A main goal of any franchise corporation is to sell franchises. I think it’s easier than ever for a franchise to build their brand’s reputation over the internet. For example, if you owned a fast food franchise, you could search on Goolge for blogs that are industry related. Get in on the conversations and contribute. Provide valuable feedback on the topics being discussed. Ensure to insert a backlink to your website or blog whenever possible.
Another suggestion I have for franchisors selling franchises is to contribute to community sites sucha as LinkedIn and facebook. Join and start your own groups within communities. You’ll soon find that it’s not too difficult to connect with people that are interested in similar Franchising topic(s).
I have started a Squidoo lense that is designed to provide information to Franchises on how they can grow rapidly using social media and web 2.0 technologies. For more information, you can visit the lens here: Franchise Marketing Ideas
Please bookmark the site as I will try to update with more information on a regular basis.
Social Marketing is a combination of the use of social media to promote your business. Although social media is a powerful marketing tool, the use of social media to promote your company should be just one aspect of your overall website traffic building strategy.
Below we’ll cover the main concepts of proper social media marketing.
Many times, popular videos get spread virally over the internet. Creative video production can be a very economical way to promote your small business.
Here is an awesome example of how a business can promote their brand and product over the internet. Blend Tec has an entire series of these blender commercials titled, “Will it Blend?”. This one in particular features the I-Pod geting blended by the Blend Tec blender. It is uploaded on You Tube and has been viewed over 5,000,000 times. This company has seen a significant increase in blender sales as a result of these videos.
In San Diego, California, networking with other businesses has always been a difficult challenge. Besides the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce (the largest Chamber of Commerce in California), San Diego also has a long list of smaller, city Chambers of Commerce. It requires a significant amount of time each month staying on top of all the events, dates and times, and locations. For maximum exposure, one must then try attending as many events each month as possible. The cost of these events can quickly deplete the marketing budgets of most small businesses.
Internet Marketing has never been easier than it is today. With the consistent use of business blogs, the small business can effectively compete for website traffic over the internet. Social Bookmarking websites make mass distribution of Blogs child’s play (Almost Literally). The key to effective business blogging is to provide your intended audience with relevant information that most would consider valuable. For instance, I’m almost certain from experience that if you’re reading this entry and you work in or around San diego, you may be interested in attending one of my free internet marketing seminars. We hold these occassionally at our office location. If interested in attending one in the future, please sign up at the following link: Free San Diego Internet Marketing Seminars
Place a Fan Page Badge on your company website and/or blog. Let your current visitors know that they can now interact with you via Facebook.
Are you ready to get busy and build a nice stream of blog traffic? Just remember that in social media, meaningful content is king. The following is a list of actions of what you’ll need to do to see the first 100,000 blog visitors in 30 days and hopefully many more thereafter!
