Here are 20 tips for using Facebook for your business.
1. Providing Information about Your Business
Your Facebook profile is an online manifestation of your business and the image that
it wants to achieve. Hence, there are several things you have to be careful about when
designing the profile. The way your profile looks will determine how the visitors
react. Making a good impression on the users converts them into customers, which is
what you should aim for.
The most important thing to do when making your profile is to provide accurate and
detailed information about your business. Put in as much information as you deem
relevant. There are various headings under which you can fill in the data so select
carefully. This helps the visitors learn about your business, what you do and what you
offer that is different from others. Moreover, providing comprehensive information
enables you to gain the trust of your visitors. Trust building is vital for building longterm relationships and enhancing customer loyalty. This does not mean that you
drown the visitors with information. Stick to relevance as the sole criteria.
2. Ensuring Your Business Is Not ‘Boring’
One of the best things about using Facebook for your business is that you can create a
‘cool’ image. Branding is important in today’s aggressive and competitive business
environment. Having a Facebook page makes your business appear hip and trendy,
ready to go with the times. The ‘boring’ tag can be a disastrous for a business,
especially if your target audience is the youth. By using Facebook, you project a very
current and contemporary outlook. The dynamics of traditional business marketing
have undergone a quantum shift. Keep with the times to make your business a
success.
3. Focusing On Your Target Audience
The great thing about Facebook is the wide demographic you can target. People from
all over the world use Facebook. This means that you can focus your Facebook page
to cater to your specific target audience. Not all products are for a global audience. If
you are aiming to gain a particular niche of the market, then Facebook can help you
go a long way in achieving that. Design your page and provide content geared
towards the people who you want to buy your products. There are endless
demographic options for you. Use the relevant information and create a successful
strategy for using Facebook for your business.
4. Emphasizing the Customer Benefits
With the large number of businesses vying for the customers’ attention, you have to
stand out from the crowd. Otherwise you will be just one of the hundreds of
businesses that are there. When you are putting in the effort of creating a Facebook
page, it is important that you use it to the optimum potential. The best way to make a
good impression on the visitors and catch their attention is by emphasizing on how
they can benefit by buying your products.
Instead of going for a self-centered approach, focus on the consumers’ interests and
you will see an improvement in your sales. Unless you can convince the visitors about
the benefits your business provides to them, they are going to rush off to your
competitors. In retrospection, focusing on your business and how great it is will drive
customers away. Your rivals will benefit as a result of your self-centered approach.
5. Obtaining a Unique URL
When you create your Facebook page, it is imperative that you obtain a unique and
distinct URL for it. Only then will you be able to guide your customers to your page.
If the users have to work hard to find you on Facebook, they are likely to lose interest
midway and quit the search. Getting a unique URL is not difficult and you can choose
one according to your business name. Make sure that no other Facebook profile has
the same or similar URL that can cause confusion. Keep in mind that directing your
customers to your Facebook page is easier with a URL. The number of business pages
on Facebook keeps increasing day by day. Make sure you don’t get lost in the
barrage.
6. Posting Pictures
Images speak a thousand words, even more on the internet. Catching the users’
attention is easier when you have a visual depiction. Instead of putting up large blocks
of text, put a few catchy images that are likely to attract the target audience you are
aiming for. Finding photos relevant to your business should not be a major problem.
However, you have to make sure that you don’t just put plain photos of your products
or your office or something like that. This does not create a good image for your
company. Engaging photos are the ones in which people are shown using your
products or those that issue a call to action to the consumers. A great tactic is to get
your fans and customers to post photos of them using your products. Facebook
branding becomes much easier when you choose the right pictures to post and your
customers chip in with their contributions.
7. Generating Word of Mouth Buzz
Word of mouth marketing works on social media as well. One of the best ways to
create awareness of your business is by getting your customers to tell other people
about their experiences and the great benefits of using your products. You can try and
convince the users to buy your products all you like. It won’t have the same gravity as
a customer testimonial. Through Facebook, you can use your fans and customers to
create a buzz for your business. Reward the fans who are the most active and vocal in
doing so. Generating word of mouth buzz can help you increase the number of
visitors to your website and is one of the best ways of using Facebook for business
marketing.
8. Communicating With Your Customers
Interact and communicate with your customers through Facebook. Start posting news
and information about your business on your Facebook page. Not only does this keep
the fans interested but also increases your visibility on Facebook. It is probable that
large percentage of your customers is on Facebook. There is no better way to keep in
touch with your customers. Market your business and at the same time ensure that
they remain loyal to your business. Communicating with your customers on a
personal level improves your chances of attracting more fans and customers. Let the
communication be two-way rather than one-way traffic.
9. Enhancing Your Online Presence
Every business, regardless of the scale of its operations, needs to have a strong online
presence to thrive. By using Facebook, you take a giant step in that direction. Through
Facebook, you can multiply the traffic to your business’ website. The increase in
traffic is bound to translate to more sales in the future. Moreover, your business
becomes more visible on Facebook. By making regular updates and sharing
information, you enhance the online presence substantially. Greater usage of
Facebook acts as good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your business. As a
result, your website is ranked higher by Google and other major search engines. The
overall effect is that more people will visit your website than before.
10. Buy Facebook Fans
Your Facebook page is only as good as the number of fans you have. The level of
activity of your business on Facebook is heavily reliant on the fans your page attracts.
Sometimes, your best efforts to attract people do not reap dividends. Yet, it is
imperative that you get people to ‘like’ your page and share content related to your
business. Otherwise the main purpose of your business page is not fulfilled.
One of the easiest ways in which you can increase Facebook fans on your page is by
buying them. You may not be aware of the fact that Facebook ‘likes’ are traded
openly through various websites and forums. The best thing about getting Facebook
fans is that they are quite cheap. You can easily buy 20 to 25 fans for every $1 you
spend. You don’t need millions of fans anyways so spending around $100 can
significantly boost the traffic of your Facebook page.
After all, using Facebook for marketing is free anyway so you shouldn’t have any
qualms about spending a few bucks on the side to make sure you can make the most
of it. Buy Facebook likes and improve your online presence significantly. Moreover,
there are different packages on offer through which you can buy fans. Packages are
for a certain number of likes for which you have to pay accordingly. Buy Facebook
fans is about as easy as it gets for making the most of your Facebook page.
Like Facebook, you can also find fans for your other social network pages. Twitter
followers and YouTube views are also up for sale and if you feel like they can help
boost your business, then don’t hesitate in exploring this option. The main reason
behind all this is getting maximum sales and traffic to your business page. Without a
substantial fan base, it is not possible to achieve your goal.
11. Providing Customer Service and Support
In addition to providing a phone number and email address, use your Facebook page
to provide customer service and support. Depending on the number of fans you have,
you can shift a significant portion of your customer relations dealings to Facebook.
Customers can easily post their complaints, feedbacks or queries on your wall and
you can respond to them there and then. If you keep a watch round the clock, it could
prove to be an easier way of handling your customers. Those who cannot reach your
through phone can contact you on Facebook. Help the customers who require your
support and they will remain loyal to your brand for a long, long time.
12. Linking Your Blogs and Other Websites
Facebook allows you to link your page to your existing blog or any other RSS feed
you have been using for your business. You don’t need to start a new blog with
Facebook. Just provide the URL to your blog and your Facebook business page will
be linked to it. Then, your blog will start appearing on your fan page and users can
click through to it if they want. Moreover, any posts or new entries & comments made
on your blog are updated in real time. In effect, your Facebook page will increase the
traffic to your blog and vice versa. Ensure that you do this for any other webpage you
are using for your business so that all content could be gathered in one place.
13. Keeping an Eye on Customer Opinions
More often than not, customers and fans have frank discussions about a business on
the wall of their fan page. If you keep an eye on the threads, you will be able to learn
about the opinion your customers have of your business. Sometimes, you can have an
entirely different perspective from your customers which could drive them away from
your business. By keeping an eye on their opinions, you can find out what they think
is wrong and what is right about your business. This way you can rectify your
mistakes and work towards enhancing your strengths. You don’t even have to engage
the customers for doing so. This is an effective way of collecting feedback because
your customers aren’t aware that you are using their feedback in a constructive way.
14. Using the Best Features of Social Networks
Almost all the social networks have one particular specialty. Twitter is great for
posting updates and Pinterest the best for sharing images. Facebook, on the other
hand, encompasses the features of the best social media websites. The wide gamut of
options Facebook provides means that you get to use the best features of social
networks in one place. From Twitter to MySpace, Facebook offers the services that
they offer for your business. This is why Facebook is one social media platform that
has to be a part of your online marketing strategy.
15. Posting Regularly
To get the most of your Facebook page, you have to come up with regular posts and
updates. If you don’t do so, your page can get fade into the background. With
Facebook, you have to keep your page highly active otherwise the users won’t be able
to find it. Regular posts and updates show up in the news feed and make your page
name visible to the visitors. The mantra to follow is at least one post a day. If you
have the time, post more than one new update to keep the fans interested. Facebook
displays a notification message every time a new post is made. Greater the number of
notifications, the more visible your page name will be. Furthermore, try and reply to
the comments and queries posted by your fans. This will also increase your presence
on Facebook.
16. Promoting Your Business through Mobile Marketing
With Facebook, you can also try your hand at mobile marketing. A growing
percentage of the populace is using Facebook through their cellphones and
smartphones. Facebook updates can be sent to cellphones as well. With Facebook,
you get to enjoy the potential of the best of both worlds. Through internet and mobile
marketing, you can increase the target market for your business. Killing two birds
with one stone helps you save time and effort. Moreover, you don’t need to develop
separate content and strategies for targeting your customers through the internet and
mobile.
17. Engaging Your Customers
One of the most effective ways to keep your fans interested is by engaging them
through your Facebook page. There are many ways in which you can encourage their
activity and improve your Facebook presence. The most frequently used option is that
of running contests on the business page. Many businesses are using this strategy with
various degrees of success. They start up contests on their fan page and ask the users
to get involved.
In most cases, the fans are willing to comply with your calls for action if there is a
reward waiting for them in the end. There are several other viable options if you want
to keep your users engaged. Post polls, questionnaires or conduct surveys through
your page asking for their answers. This way, not only do you keep your customers
engaged but also collect information and feedback for your business. This can work
wonderfully well if you want to test a new product idea or want opinions about any
previous ones.
18. Selling Through Facebook
You can pretty much conduct your transactions through Facebook. Upload your
catalogue to your fan page and the fans will be able to browse through your range of
prices and decide whether they want to become your customers. Using Facebook for
making direct sales can work wonders to boost the sales revenue of your business.
You can lure more people to purchase your products by offering them special
discounts and bonuses which they can only avail if they are buying through Facebook.
One of the best things about Facebook is that you can target offshore customers. This
is a consideration if you want to make your business known beyond borders. Using
Facebook for this purpose can deliver results.
19. Using Facebook for business – Research and Development
If you are looking to test a new product idea or are running short of new designs, then
Facebook can help you. Approach your fans and customers regarding your needs for
opinions, suggestions and feedback. You might be surprised how innovative and
helpful your customers would turn out to be. Major companies like Starbucks have
used Facebook effectively for their research and development. When you are making
products for your customers, then the best option is to get their opinions before giving
it the final shape.
By having a general perception of the customer opinion regarding your new products,
you can discard the ideas which you think are not going to work. This way, you can
devote your energy and resources towards those products which your customers want
from you.
20. Networking and Making Contacts
Networking and making contacts is important for sustaining the growth of your
business. The large user base of Facebook allows you to network your business far
and wide. In fact, there are few better tools for networking. Through your Facebook
page, you can link your business website, blog, RSS feeds and any other social media
networks you are using for your business. This is a great option as you can make
Facebook a second home for your business.
Moreover, you can network with individuals and groups that are related to your
business. Building relationships and contacts serves to maximize the exposure your
business gets through Facebook. There are hundreds of thousands of pages on
Facebook. A simple search can help you discover the pages related to your business
or the industry you are operating in. Furthermore, you can link your own profile to
those of your business collaborators and customers. You have the chance to interact
with your customers and associates through one avenue with Facebook. Make sure
you make the most of the tools Facebook provides so that your business can thrive
and flourish.
Using Facebook For Business – Key Takeaway
These are 20 tips on how to use Facebook for business. Using Facebook for marketing
is now commonplace. If you are not engaged in online marketing using social media,
you are lagging far behind your customers. As you can see in the tips listed above,
Facebook is one of the best ways to promote your business. Don’t lose out on
customers just because you don’t have a Facebook page!
http://www.fansbuy.org/using-facebook-for-business/