Everybody, I am sure, has heard of this quote “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”.
This is true for every aspect of our personal and professional life and is even more true for our marketing initiatives. When it comes to social media and facebook you MUST have a plan or strategy in place or you will fall victim to what I call "the facebook hook".
What was meant to be 5 minutes checking status updates and stalking old girlfriends/boyfriends turns into 2 hours of facebook hypnotherapy.
Here is a recommended 6 step strategy to building your facebook fan page:
1). Objective
Like any business strategy, marketing strategy, advertising strategy or any strategy at all you need to know WHO your targeting and WHY ... which will ultimately lead you to WHAT you want them to do ... your objective, as a business, shouldn't be to "get fans" or "likes" but to build and solidify customer and client relations and retention AND provide a sales funnel!
2). Design Strategy
There are some ugly ugly sites out there ... facebook makes it so you page wont be ugly ... but it sure can be boring. Below I have some examples of really cool facebook pages from a design point of view. To really ENGAGE your market you need to do something different ...
http://www.facebook.com/#!/McDonalds
http://www.facebook.com/1800flowers (SUPER sneaky offer available when you LIKE the page!)
http://www.facebook.com/harley-davidson
http://www.facebook.com/redbull
http://www.facebook.com/LocalTrifecta (ok ok ... maybe not yet but we have a strategy in place! kind of ...!) While your there you might as well "LIKE" us :).
3). Content Strategy
Any internet marketer will tell you "Content is King" this is true when it comes to optimization and true when it comes to social media. Content is what keeps you coming back for more, encourages you to "like" a page, entices you to share with others and evokes feelings of happiness and well-being ... maybe not that last one ... but the first 2 for sure ...
4). Promotion Strategy
How, Where, When and WHY should you promote your newly created fan page!? From facebooks Ads to installing "Like" buttons on your actual site you CAN engage more of your customers and potential customers if you make it easy.
5). Engagement Strategy
Although strikingly similar to your content engagement takes it to the next level and asks "How do I make this CDC"? (Consumer Driven Content!) This is web 2.0! Rather than YOU having to do all the work encourage your customers to participate! Ask questions, get survey's, make absurd suggestions, ASK ... and ye shall receive ...
6). Conversion Strategy
Finally ... with all that strategizing (yes I realize thats not really a word) in place to penultimate strategy will come back to your objective ... WHY would any business create a facebook fan page ... ultimately it should play a roll in increasing the life time value of your existing customer base and/or facilitate in generating new business! Ensure all your strategies in some way or another build on this strategy!
About the Author:
Samuel Araki is the founder of LocalTrifecta Internet Marketing. He believes SME’s need to regain control of their digital marketing - which has become a muddled landscape, filled with fast talking, budget sucking, wannabe Internet Marketing leeches. He is clear that online marketing is not an overnight process, but is a commitment to furthering an upward trending marketing channel. Follow Samuel’s musings on Twitter and Google+
