Yesterday, we posted Part 1 of an article Jim wrote for SmartBrief. We gave you a few do’s and don’ts of how to effectively use your Facebook Page. Let’s jump right back into it with a few more tips on how to get the most out of your page!
Don’t: Give up your goods without something in exchange.
You might be tempted to run a coupon campaign in a tab on your Facebook page, and it’s pretty clear that this can be a great idea. The question to answer, however, is, “How do you plan to connect with that visitor after they’ve used your coupon?”
If you’ve allowed anyone at all to grab your coupon, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to connect with visitors over a period of time and build that social relationship you’re looking for.
Do: Turn “non-fans” into “fans” to build an effective Facebook presence.
A custom tab placed on your Facebook page has the ability to distinguish between “fans” and “non-fans” and can be used to build an audience through enticing visitors to “like” your Facebook page. When Facebook loads a custom tab, several pieces of information are passed along to the server that takes care of serving your tab’s contents, and this “fan”/”non-fan” status happens to be one of those pieces. It may seem like a small piece of information, but it can be used in a big way. Throw some conditional statements around this little guy and you’re on your way to growing your audience through asking for a “like” in return for your content.
Whether you’ve built something yourself, or are using a third-party design application, a Facebook tab can easily restrict contests and giveaways to people who “like” the page. This feature gives Facebook users an incentive to “like” the page, and results in a rapid increase in a page’s like count. Since Facebook users who “like” a page are automatically shown that Facebook page’s status updates, growing your fan base like this allows your company to build an audience who will receive your messages regularly. Capitalize on your contests and giveaways by using this “fan” and “non-fan” distinction effectively, and build an audience of thousands of Facebook users for the price of a few T-shirts.
Don’t: Avoid building your Facebook presence because of a lack of time or budget.
Creating compelling content, building your fan base and maintaining your connections with your fans can be a pretty daunting task to begin with, and many companies choose to build custom Facebook tools to support these efforts.
Going through the hassle of hiring Web developers, or managing a development project of your own, can provide enough frustration to crush your ability to really connect with fans and visitors.
Do: Use effective design tools
Unlike traditional websites where design price tags run in the tens of thousands of dollars, social media design is a rock-bottom bargain. Facebook’s adoption of iframe apps opens up an entire universe of possibilities for the Facebook tab. By using iframe-based applications, you can integrate maps, newsletter content, Flickr galleries, YouTube feeds and e-commerce shopping carts with ease. Using iframes on a Facebook tab can harness the power of interactive media sites by integrating many features into a single, professional, multimedia-powered Facebook tab.
Don’t: Give up your goods without something in exchange.
You might be tempted to run a coupon campaign in a tab on your Facebook page, and it’s pretty clear that this can be a great idea. The question to answer, however, is, “How do you plan to connect with that visitor after they’ve used your coupon?”
If you’ve allowed anyone at all to grab your coupon, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to connect with visitors over a period of time and build that social relationship you’re looking for.
Do: Turn “non-fans” into “fans” to build an effective Facebook presence.
A custom tab placed on your Facebook page has the ability to distinguish between “fans” and “non-fans” and can be used to build an audience through enticing visitors to “like” your Facebook page. When Facebook loads a custom tab, several pieces of information are passed along to the server that takes care of serving your tab’s contents, and this “fan”/”non-fan” status happens to be one of those pieces. It may seem like a small piece of information, but it can be used in a big way. Throw some conditional statements around this little guy and you’re on your way to growing your audience through asking for a “like” in return for your content.
Whether you’ve built something yourself, or are using a third-party design application, a Facebook tab can easily restrict contests and giveaways to people who “like” the page. This feature gives Facebook users an incentive to “like” the page, and results in a rapid increase in a page’s like count. Since Facebook users who “like” a page are automatically shown that Facebook page’s status updates, growing your fan base like this allows your company to build an audience who will receive your messages regularly. Capitalize on your contests and giveaways by using this “fan” and “non-fan” distinction effectively, and build an audience of thousands of Facebook users for the price of a few T-shirts.
Don’t: Avoid building your Facebook presence because of a lack of time or budget.
Creating compelling content, building your fan base and maintaining your connections with your fans can be a pretty daunting task to begin with, and many companies choose to build custom Facebook tools to support these efforts.
Going through the hassle of hiring Web developers, or managing a development project of your own, can provide enough frustration to crush your ability to really connect with fans and visitors.
Do: Use effective design tools
Unlike traditional websites where design price tags run in the tens of thousands of dollars, social media design is a rock-bottom bargain. Facebook’s adoption of iframe apps opens up an entire universe of possibilities for the Facebook tab. By using iframe-based applications, you can integrate maps, newsletter content, Flickr galleries, YouTube feeds and e-commerce shopping carts with ease. Using iframes on a Facebook tab can harness the power of interactive media sites by integrating many features into a single, professional, multimedia-powered Facebook tab.
Many people under estimate the time and effort it takes to build a truly engaged community online (and Facebook is no exception). Often times they think all it takes is a cool landing page and an ad campaign to get the users to start pouring in…especially when giving away free stuff.
Sometimes it’s because the don’t really understand the customer and sometimes because they over estimate how valuable their product is. The best way to have success online is making lots of little experiments and seeing what works and what doesn’t. And that’s the beauty of Social Media…with a little time and investment you can try a lot of different ideas out and see what resonates with your users.