Printer Friendly Version   203 views

It is an established fact that Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites today. Some social networking sites are personal and some formal, but Facebook is a mix of both. It has a major impact on business primarily because the creating pages and groups as a marketing/educational/promotional aspect is free and effective compared to some of the paid advertising methods. Facebook can be used effectively to build a business presence and influence the target audience.

Get Started

1.    Join Groups: Search for groups in Facebook related to your business and join them. Do not exceed a limit of four groups a day. This amounts to spam and is not taken lightly by Facebook. Facebook has a stricter set of guidelines as compared to others. So network wisely.

2.    Post: Post a short description about the business on the wall of each group you joined. Creativity is allowed but a few guidelines to be followed before posting
a)    Don’t market your business when you first introduce yourself to people
b)    Provide valuable information that your target audience can use
c)    Don’t communicate as a salesperson
d)    Keep your conversation short

3.    Add friends: Pick one of the groups each day and add between a few friends a day. Keep the numbers as low as possible. Too many messages are considered as spam and a violation of Facebook rules. Write a short message addressing the member you are sending out a friend request clarifying why you would like to connect to them and how they will also be benefitted. Wait a couple of days before you start again. Facebook will always warn you if you exceed the numbers, stop when a warning is given. Too many warnings will lead to the account being suspended.

4.    Create a Group: You can create your own group and send an invite to everyone in your friend’s list to join your group. Repeat this for every100 friends that you add to your friend list.

5.    Create a Page: You can create a Facebook page for your business. Create a page so that it reflects the logo of the business and give a short description. Fill in all the information under each section that you can, and update the page’s information box because this is displayed on every section of the fan page. Send invites to the friend list to become a fan of the page. The main advantage is, when there is a wall post to page’s wall (also known as a status update) the post is submitted to every fan’s homepage feed.  This means every “fan” of the page will see all posts made on the fan page.  This can generate a lot of interest towards your page but remember not to spam your fans with status updates because it will spam the wall of the members and they might just cease to be fans.  Another great feature about fan pages is the discussion boards. Every time anyone talks on a discussion topic on your Facebook fan page, it will send a notice to their profile “wall” saying they have participated in a discussion on “topic title” at *fan page name*. This generates interest and also creates visibility leading to higher brand recall.

6.    Interact: Interact with friends in the list. Comment on their photos, updates and ask questions. This creates trust among members. Facebook is a networking site; remember networking is a two way communication channel.

7.    Share information: Once an identity and expertise of a business profile is created on Facebook, people will seek advice and inputs from the ‘persona’. Always respond to queries, ask questions in return, continue to educate yourself as you go, and help everyone you can.

Facebook’s influence is continuously exceeding other online communities thus making it a popular site for businesses and brands to connect with their audience.

Contributed by Seethalakshmi

• Tracking The Buzz On Apple’s iPad (0)
• Social Media For Dummies (1)
• Engagement – The cornerstone for social media marketing success (2)

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Tags: business networking, facebook, Social Media, social networks