This post is guest blogged by Molli Megasko, an account executive with Arment Dietrich. Molli started her career with us and has been integral in how we’ve moved our business model in the past 18 months. She is our Facebook guru and is here to talk to you about creating a fan page, engaging with your fans, and developing creative ideas for posts and photos.
Yesterday every person wanted to be on Facebook and today every company wants a fan page. When working with clients I begin with the same five tips and we work from there. If you can master these five, the fun strategic stuff (contests, crowdsourcing, and word-of-mouth) comes easy. And don’t forget, I get paid to do this, so I would pay attention!
1. First and foremost, get a unique URL. Instead of having the URL be www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/crazylongcompanyname/119081977941, make it www.facebook.com/CompanyName (or something similar). It’s really easy to do this.
If you are the administrator, go to the Facebook user name Web site and follow the directions. If you have a unique URL, you can share it with your customers, employees, stakeholders, and prospects. You can include it in your email signature and in any marketing, communication, and sales materials.
2. Now that Facebook pages are a part of Google’s real time search results (as of this week), I suggest using keywords liberally and constantly update your company information. This helps with search engine optimization and also turns your fan page into a second Web site for potential customers to learn more about you and your company.
3. Add photos of employees and capture fun stuff around the office. Take a look at the Arment Dietrich fan page (and fan us while you’re there!). One reason our fan page is a hit is because we’ve turned it into a personality. By letting your fans see the faces behind the brand, it creates loyalty and customer engagement and connection. Remember, people want to see inside companies; no, they don’t want it, they expect it. Give them the personality of your culture and your team.
4. Now you can focus on your posts. Most fan pages post a lot of company info, which is GREAT, but it’s not giving your fans a reason to engage or come back. This is not another avenue for your news releases, nor is it a sales tool. Asking questions and posting articles that are not self-serving are the easiest ways to get your fans talkin. Gini says time and time again…LISTEN! Having a fan page is a great way to listen because you can ask questions and your fans will tell you what they think. Listen to what they are saying and start communicating WITH them.
5. Now for my favorite part. Once you get more comfortable on Facebook, take a look at the insights and download the interaction data (both in the administrator’s dashboard) to help you track and set benchmarks to ensure each post is getting more clicks than the last. I love tracking our company’s Google analytics and seeing how many people come to either here or to the Web site through Facebook.
What are some of the things you recommend people do when starting a Facebook fan page?