Facebook is the king of social networking sites and it’s not going to give up the crown anytime soon. There are over 250 million users worldwide and as many as half of them check their profile daily. Your business can use the site to reach out to any demographic worldwide.
Facebook offers fan pages for businesses. This is a mini-site for your brand where your customers can hang out and interact. Here are 10 tips for using your fan page to build your brand.
1. No Selling
First of all, the golden rule on Facebook is no selling. People use the site to socialize, find friends and share interests. Create a fan page where they can hang out and enjoy interactive features, and keep a lid on the sales talk.
2. Create a Vanity URL
When you first create your page, Facebook gives you a long, incomprehensible list of letters and numbers for your URL. Once you have 25 followers, you can make your own custom URL that’s easier for folks to remember.
3. Hold Contests
Your fan page has a feature that lets you hold contests. You can set up a contest through your page and give prizes to the winners. This is a great way to get your customers involved in your brand.
4. Mind Your Tabs
Tabs are the boxes that show up next to your business description. They include things like ‘likes’ and ‘photos.’ When people view your profile, only the first 4 are visible. The rest will be collapsed under a down arrow. Make sure that the ones you want people to see are at the top.
5. Feed Your Posts
You can import an RSS feed to your fan page so that your blog posts will automatically appear there as a group of updates. This is not as complex as it sounds; just follow the prompts on your fan page.
6. Your Row of Photos
The new Facebook layout has a row of photos at the top. Use these to show off your best products or services, or other images that help to brand your company.
7. Optimize Your ‘About’ Page
Your ‘About’ page contains your basic information and contact details. However, only a short sentence from the ‘About’ field shows up under your profile picture until people click on ‘About’. Optimize this description with keywords and clickable links, and make sure to put the most important information up front.
8. Where to Send Them
For better branding, you should use your page’s ‘info’ URL instead of your wall. Your wall doesn’t really tell them anything about your company and it may intimidate them to see posts by other followers.
9. Create Custom Tabs
Your page comes with standard tabs like ‘info’ and ‘photos.’ Delete tabs that aren’t relevant to your business and create your own to replace them. Facebook has an app that lets you do this.
10. Offer Something Exclusive
Offer special deals, free shipping or promotions that are available only to your Facebook fans. This gives them an incentive to become fans and also makes them feel valued by you.
Remember that whenever you’re on Facebook, you should be ‘on brand.’ This may also be the case when you stay logged in or ask it to ‘remember you,’ even when you’re surfing other websites. Because you’re on-brand, don’t say anything rude, negative or inappropriate. Be mindful of all that you do because it will reflect on your brand.