Your Facebook Fan Page – 5 Ways to Make the Most of It

you already have a Facebook fan page?  If not, why?  With more than 350 million active Facebook users, it is time to embrace social media and let it help grow your business.  Not only is Facebook a great place to expose yourself to thousands of new customers, but Google is now using content from social media sites in their search results.  Once you have created a fan page, there are a few things you can do to ensure you get the most out of it.  Here are some tips and guidelines to use.

1. Entice people to become a fan

Once you have a fan page, how do you get people to become a fan?  Easy, by offering them an incentive!  This can be any type of freebie, reward or even a special offer which encourages them to do business with you.  It does not need to be expensive and can be something as simple as a $5 off coupon on any new purchase.

2.  Keep the content coming

You must give your fans a reason to visit your page frequently.  It does not have to require a lot of time.  You could occasionally post exclusive offers or talk about recent company events or news that is happening within the company.  It would also be a great place to mention any new products or service launches.

3. Create a personal connection

Dealing with people or companies on the Internet can feel very impersonal compared with face to face encounters.  Your goal should be to create a personal connection as much as possible.  How can you achieve this?  With pictures and video.    For pictures, you could post examples of your work, pictures of company events or an office tour.  With Video, it is only taking pictures one step further.  You could ask your employees to get involved to submit creative and cool content about the company.

4. Interaction is key

The entire social media environment is built around interactive communication, one person interacting with another.  Your fan page will not have any chance for success if you do not interact with your fans or customers.  Sitting back and waiting for it to happen will not work either.  You must initiate it and this can be done in several ways.  A few examples are:

• Offer a contest that involves the users to interact with your company for a prize.  For example, look at what Chilis Restaurant did last Christmas.  They asked their fans to submit a video of their own version of the Baby Back Ribs Jingle.  The best entry would win $1,000.
• Create a poll that asks for fan’s opinions on an important topic.
• Offer games or puzzles that are themed around your business or brand.

5. Sneak Peek

What better way to earn your fan’s loyalty than by giving them a sneak peek of something new coming up.  You can use this opportunity to make your fans feel rewarded for participating while receiving feedback from them on your new product or service before officially launching it to the public.

Best of all, look at what your competitors are doing on their fan pages for more ideas.

Curtis Stevens helps small businesses accept credit cards.  Whether you need credit card terminals or a wireless credit card processing solution, he has a product for you.