Facebook gets more page views each month than Google and is increasingly used by businesses to engage with customers via fan pages. Its no big secret that facebook plays a vital role in your online marketing strategy. But still, a lot of companies fail to capitalize on this amazing opportunity.
The main reason businesses fail with their Facebook marketing is that they do not have a strategy. They don’t have a clear idea of, “Why am I even setting up this fan page? What’s the purpose of it?” So its very important to set up an objective, which could be something as simple as building your e-mail list or driving traffic to your blog or to sell more products and services. It could be just 1 of them or all three or more, just be clear about it and then use the following 7 steps to achieve success with facebook marketing developed by Mari Smith.
Step 1 : Design Strategy
Once you have set your objective, design you page keeping in mind your objective. for e.g. if iyour objective is to build your e-mail list then include a sign-up box in your landing page. Design is imp but thers is no need to go overboard with heavy vide files and gimmicks which takes ages to laod. Also remember as much as 90% of fans do not return to your page, most of them tend to chose to read & interact with your page in their news- feed., which brings us tour next step.
Step 2 : Content Strategy
Do a nice blend of content _ your content mixed with other prople’s content., like blogs, twitter, on line magazines etc. get to know what your fans like, engage with them, make them familiar , this increases the likelihood od tem doing business with you.
Step 3 : Promotion Strategy
Once you have a decent looking page and content, you can go about promoting it. Think beyond facebook, use twitter, linkedIn, your blog to find new fans. Put ‘ join us on facebook’ at the back of your visiting cards, in your e-mail signatures, newletters etc. Be visible every where. If a business with physical location, take advantage of facebook places and deals. Use social plugins andGo all out to promote your facebook page.
Step :4 Engagement Strategy
Once you have the fans visiting your page, you need to engage with them. Devise a strategy to keep the fans with you, try replying to every comment they make.
Step 5 : Conversion Strategy
Clear calls to action are so important. If you don’t tell people what to do, where to click, where to call, what site to go to, exactly step-by-step of how to take advantage of your offers, they’re not going to know. Make it really, really easy for people to buy from you.
Step : 6 Track And Measure strategy
You need to know where you started from and where you are going . Numbersa re very important for that. Facebook insights is a good way to start. Keep an eye on the level of engagement- likes and comments. The increase in likes is also another thing to measure
Equally important is to measure the number of unlikes, the people that have actually left your fan base. They have chosen to not be a fan any longer, and the number of what we call unsubscribes, that is people who are still your fns but have chosen to hide your posts in their newsfeed.
Step :7 Scalability
Think ahead, about how can you scale. Do group trainings, webinars, classes. Create new information products, share your knowledge. This is a great way to leverage yourself and your brand and to add extra revenue stream.
To sum it up, think clearly about what is the objective of your page and then design your strategy to achieve it.
You can also catch the full webinar by Mari Smith here.
