Growing your audience on Facebook discusses how businesses can use Facebook to build relationships and increase sales. It notes that 300 million people are on Facebook, with 150 million logging in daily and 10 million joining fan pages daily. Small businesses are natural community builders and moving conversations online through tools like newsletters and contests can help engage customers. Integrating Facebook with other applications and offline events can help rally the Facebook community and reach more customers. The key is using Facebook as a tool to build relationships and create excitement around a brand, not just sell to people.
My 2nd year on the stage at BizTechDay... great connecting with the awesomepreneurs again! I’m hear to talk about using Facebook for your business, but before we get started I’d like to know who’s already using Facebook? Who has a Fan Page? Who has run ads?
What are we going to talk about and why do they care?
The power of Facebook is it’s incredible reach…
The power of Facebook is, the ability to engage people in their own environment…
The power of Facebook is transforming word of mouth marketing. Up until now, WOM has been the most powerful form of marketing because people influence people. There’s nothing more effective then an endorsement from a trusted friend – like our friends on Facebook.
The Power of facebook is transforming WOM into WOC. How it works. Average FB user has 130 friends, WOC not only travels faster, but reaches a much greater number of people then traditional WOM.
With all of these users, FB can seem incredibly overwhelming to many small business owners…
Today, I bring good news…
Facebook mirrors real life and offering us the ability to create the type of environment we want.
Whether you sell pet product or manage a restaurant, the chances are, you’re already building a community...
Now take what you’re already doing, and more it online to increase your reach and develop a consistent relationship with people.
To keep it simple, think of this as hosting a dinner party… Great hosts set the tone that attracts the right type of guests for their events. Know your guests and what they want. If they vegetarian, don’t serve steak. If they are Kosher you wouldn’t serve shellfish. Give your guests what they want. Not what you feel like throwing together.
How do you tell people about your party?
You can run highly targeted paid ads on FB to grow faster, but the freshest form of advertising comes in the form of WOC. Anyone can pay for an advertisement, but when fans interact with your page and FB generates stories about these interactions and pushes them the highlights, suggestions and news feeds of your fan’s contacts, this personal endorsement is EARNED advertising. And earned ads can’t be bought.
What will your conversations with guests be like?
People are tired of being talked AT. They are ready to be listened to. Acknowledged. They want a conversation, you know, the kind that goes 2 ways… or, in the case of Facebook, it can also be a lively multi-directional conversation involving many people who are engaging around your table!
Getting recommendations…
Anyone can claim it… and we see it all the time. But why should I believe this self promotion?
And this is way Facebook is so effective. It tells us all about the brands our real friends are getting excited about and connecting with - and people influence people.
Through guests spreading the word to their friends, you build a… reputation.
Friends of friends who heard who great it was and want to be added to the list for the next one…
Too much noise and it’s not fun for them. Don’t post more then 3 times per day. No one’s that cool. Don’t use your personal profile as a mailing list – it’s down-right rude.
You wouldn’t invite someone to dinner and then ask them to bring over takeout – don’t invite people to your fan page just to have more fans and then not provide any value for them… YOU are the host!
A common pitfall for small businesses is not having enough time to come up with something strategic/thoughtful to share and instead just trying to make a sale every time. This strategy is very selfish and people will start to leave your party early if you make them feel uncomfortable like this.
Not showing up is a sure way to fail. If you don’t show up for your own party, why should anyone else??
While I hope everyone here knows that you wouldn’t tell your customers about your Viagra stash or unusual rash, it’s also important to know where to draw the line on other types of content, that while not offensive, are simply not on point for your audience. Examples…. Lol cats, fashion show for a dentist, etc.
So now we’ve learned a little about the concepts you’ll need to be thinking about to be a great host on Facebook… let’s look at how some of our clients are doing it in practice.
You loose a fan if they have to click off of Facebook to your website to decide whether they want to become a fan or not.
The longer a user stays on your page, the more likely they are to interact – so why send them away?
Merchandise your store front
Make them feel special
What makes a great contest?
New screen shot
Adding applications can create new and interesting ways for your fans to interact with your brand… explore apps that might be a good fit for you.
Anyone who books appointment/reservations…
Fan Pages are more and more becoming the primary channel for brands to connect with their audience.