Another informational post from Mashable! This post also originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable is a regular contributor.
As more and more brands/businesses ride the social media marketing wave, one does need to stop and think: “what value am I offering my customers with these soluctions?” More specifically, Mashable poses the question: “What kind of value does a custom Facebook Fan Page offer?” Here are 5 things you should think about when promoting your company on Facebook:
Interactivity
Don’t just put yourself up there so you can say “My business is on Facebook!”. Bad idea. Instead, harness the interactive nature of social networks and offer interactivity on your Fan Page. Facebook is all about sharing, so your Fan Page landing page shouldn’t be passive - your users are going to want to do something on your page. First example: Baby Gap implemented a simple splash page that allows fans to upload pictures of their babies wearing their favorite Baby Gap apparel.
Second example: Home Depot harnessed the sharability of Facebook actions and created the “DIY Gifts App.” When you grant the Home Depot app access, you can share your gift purchases with the recipient and your Facebook friends. Hmm…this could be a good way to ask for help from your friends on DIY projects! :)
Full Website Experience Within Facebook
Example #1: adidas created a fully-fledged multimedia hub on their Facebook Fan Page, complete with photos, videos and events based on your region. Sure, the page is built entirely in Flash and isn’t super interactive, but it sure does look cool. There’s something to be said about experiencing a cool-looking rich media experience without leaving Facebook.
Example #2: Dell integrated a fully-fledged mini-website on their fan page, which presents fans with an integrated site that allows them to customize their new Dell computer without leaving Facebook.
Offer Deals
What will make you successful on Facebook? Having the ability to push out content that your fans and their friends would be interested in. A good way to keep this dialogue going: deals and coupon codes. Walgreens created a landing page that is nicely branded and simply promotes “Exclusive Offers for Our Facebook Fans”. The promotions/coupons are in their actual updates - leaving the deals to Facebook’s built-in functionality.
Of course, the examples in Mashable’s article are for large companies/brands that have vast technical resources - far more than most small businesses. Which highlights the need for an internet marketing consultant. :)
Click here to read the entire article on Mashable.
