Have you started YOUR Facebook account?

Managed to get YOUR business Facebook page?

Facebook is one of the most powerful forms of (free) advertising today. In order to ensure benefits, you need to consider following tips to finally get some results from your Facebook page:

Link Your Facebook to Your Website – Always have a Facebook link on your business web page. Make sure all of the social media plug-ins are installed and are highly visible on your website. This lets your website visitors know that you are in fact active on Facebook and gives them an easy way to access your page. It’s also a good idea to offer your website visitors an incentive to go “Like” your Facebook page.

Spread the Word about Your Page – Simply put, the best way to gain more local followers is to let everyone know that your business is on Facebook. You can do this in a variety of ways, such as including a link to your Facebook page in your email signatures, sharing the link on your printed marketing materials, and if you have a storefront, using in-store signs to let your customers know that you are on Facebook.

Always encourage people to “Like” your page when promoting it.

Share More than Information about Your Business – Remember that Facebook is a social media site where people go to be social and entertained.

Make Sure You Have a Custom URL – Facebook allows you to have a custom URL for your business page. You can set this to whatever you want but make sure that you do so because it will be a lot easier for people to find you instead of using the default URL. Generally speaking, the default URL contains a long string of numbers and is not very easy to remember at all.

Take the Time to Respond to Everyone –It takes time, and more importantly, it takes interacting with each and every person who responds to any posts that you make. This is where local businesses can really make a difference on social media platforms. By answering individual questions from your followers, you create an opportunity to bond with them.

Use Facebook Apps – Facebook has many different built-in applications that can help to increase your online presence and help you generate new fans on Facebook. You can promote events, run contests, conduct polls, upload and record videos and much more. Take the time to learn a little bit about these apps, experiment with them, and see which ones are right for your business. The more creative your page is, the more you will stand out from the crowd. Use these applications to your advantage.

Offer Special Content – Give your Facebook fans something unique and different from what they can already find on your website. This can be special discounts about your business, employee recognition or anything that you feel is relevant to your business. These measures will give them a personal “connection” to your business and keep them coming back for more. If you post the same information they can find on your website along with the rest of the world, they may not keep checking back as often.

Facebook now offers local businesses many different tools and features that can help them effectively market their businesses. Most Facebook features for businesses are still free, it is now the best time to take advantage of them.

There are quite a number of tools available, but one of the most useful tools available for businesses to build a loyal following is the Facebook “group” feature. Facebook groups are not that much different from Facebook pages.The main difference is that the group revolves around a particular group of people rather than a brand.

Below are thesteps you can take to create a Facebook group for your business:

1. Sign in to your account and click on the link labeled “Groups” on the left side of the home page.

2. The top bar menu will appear and you should click on “create a new group.”

3. A form will open with fields that you will need to fill. Some of them are mandatory while some are optional. Some of the fields you will need to fill include group name, description, is your group public or private, picture upload and many others. To create a target group it is important that you complete all the provided fields.

4. After you have successfully created the group, you can start to invite people to the group. You can promote the group through other means outside Facebook, such as inside your business establishment, blogs and other effective social media sites.

It is important to start by inviting people who know you as this will prevent any spamming reports or blocking. Another important thing is to keep your group as active as possible. Active groups are more popular and are more likely to give you results.

Do not overlook the power of Facebook groups in your marketing strategies, as they have proven to be very effective in generating more exposure for small businesses.

 

New Changes to Facebook benefiting YOUR Business

Very early this year, Facebook made many significant changes that effect how fan pages are created and maintained. If you are a fan page owner, knowing and understanding these new changes can help you to better administrate and customize your new Facebook fan page to make the most of the new exciting marketing potential it now offers.

Facebook user profiles underwent a bit of a transformation. Most Facebook users responded positively to easier usage and simpler navigating on the site. Then Facebook gave fan pages a serious makeover and the new iFrames system was implemented in early February 2011. Though these changes are the key to improved maximizing of the marketing potential of Facebook fan pages, they do mean significant differences for current fan page owners. From page creation to page administration and down to the very way fan pages look, the new changes to Facebook fan pages involved many changes you need to know and understand. Once you do, you will realize the great business possibilities and new growth potential these changes can make for your business.

This is What you need to know about the new Facebook changes to (business) fan pages:

1. Static FBML is a thing of the past.

Facebook announced the plan to phase out their own brand of code and implement the usage of traditional FTML. This means big changes in the ways Facebook fan pages are created and new horizons of creativity when it comes to page designs. For now, pages that have not made the switch from FBML will still be supported, but new pages must contain FTML code.

2. Simplified fan administration.

The fan page count is no longer a cluttered-looking mass of fan photos. Instead, a tidy count box accomplishes the same task and leaves more room for what you want. Deleting or banning fans is simple to do by clicking the “people like this” link located directly below the fan count and accessing a thorough list of fans only when you need it.

3. Better information about you.

The “About Me” box has been removed in favor of a more comprehensive solution that allows you to share as much information about yourself as you would like. No longer are you limited to the small space the box allows; go ahead and share your story on an iFrames page section dedicated solely to you!

4. New masthead encourages socialization.

The new banner-style Photostrip along the top of every page instantly adds a fresh new update to your fan page every time a picture is added to the page. Fan photos and brand name advertising immediately show up along the top, keeping things new and up-to-date on your page with little effort.

5. Say farewell to page tabs.

Tabs along the top of the page may be gone, but Facebook has revamped these navigational tools and moved them to the left column of every page. This change allows page owners to utilize page design techniques to make these new page sections as customized and unique as their clients desire. Customize these further by placing them in order of importance as you see fit. The options are endless!

6. Quick viewing of popular posts.

With new administration tools now available, page admins can quickly sort comments on their pages and rank those that have generated the most response. This is a great time-saving tool for page admins and keeps their fingers on the pulse of their pages with ease.

7. Easy identity swap for page administrators.

Previously, page admins were limited in their capacity to browse, comment on and “Like” other pages. Now, with a simple click, admins can toggle between identities as a page or a person, enjoying freedom to browse and comment on all types of pages without complicated logging out and logging in under different identities.

8. Featured “Likes” share networking connections.

Along the left navigation column, the most recent “likes” from your page will appear, potentially connecting your page visitors with others who might share similar interests or sell products that compliment your own. Select these carefully and switch often to offer relevant and timely changes to your page that are simple and easy.