Facebook isn’t just a place for individuals to connect with friends, families and brands, it’s a community where companies and organisations can interact and create relationships with potential customers. Like it, or hate it, Facebook is spearheading the world of social media. In fact 41% of companies have generated at least one customer through Facebook.
To start connecting and building a relationship with your audience and customers you’ll need to create your Facebook page. A page is where you can gain fans by obtaining ‘likes’. Anyone can like your page to start associating with you, unlike a personal profile which requires mutual consent before any interaction can begin. You’ll need to make your page stand out. Create an interesting and inviting cover photo. Your profile picture could be part of your brand, such as a logo, or image affiliated to your brand. People will start to familiarise themselves with this when you post. Once you have created a page, you can start interacting with your fans. Be creative. As an example, we recently ran a ‘spot the ball’ competition for a client who specialises in football coaching. We asked fans to tag their name where they thought the ball was. The prize was one year free subscription to their coaching site. It was a phenomenal success and helped us double the amount of fans on their Facebook page.
Run competitions and promotions but be careful not to over use these; no one wants offers shoved down their throats on a daily basis. Create a talking point, people love to give their opinions, so ask some questions. Give them a chance to talk about their success stories, i.e. if you’re a dog training school, you could ask your fans how they trained their puppy? What tips and tricks worked for them?
Start to build a targeted market. You could offer a free report or eBook if fans supply you with a few details such as an email address. Engage with this list by providing exclusive tips, articles, and relevant offers.
Remember most people go on Facebook for fun, so don’t be too formal and conventional, try to be interesting and innovative and let your imagination flow.
Contact Tann Westlake to find out about how we can help you with your social media engagement and advertising.