5. Remember the value of word-of-mouth advertising. In the social media sphere, word-of-mouth advertising is important. Use this to your advantage by making it easy and fun to spread the word about your brand. You can come up with a contest whereby fans are rewarded for spreading the word about your product or services. Social Media Examiner suggests the platform Wildfire which you can use to track and rewards fans who invite their own friends to participate in your contest. Before creating a contest, remember to think about what would make your fans excited about spreading the word about your brand. Always make it about them and you will find that your fans will become more invested in you.
6. Encourage interaction among fans. Think of your Facebook page as your own online community. Enhance their experience by encouraging fan-to-fan interaction. One way to do this is by shining the spotlight onto your fans. For example, create a “Fan of the Week” segment where you honor your top fan for the week. You can also post special shout outs to your most active fans. You can even do a short profile feature on your fan of the week to introduce him/her to other fans.
7. Be smart about branding. When it comes to branding on Facebook, you have two options. One is to make your page an extension of your website for that familiar look and feel. Another completely opposite option is to make it different from the look of your website so your fans will get that sense of exclusivity. Regardless of which option you choose, it is important to make your page dynamic. Create custom tabs that represent your brand, products, and services. Do not forget to sync the look of your brand to your Facebook page to reinforce branding. Short and creative videos are also great add-ons to your page.
8. Create a vision for your page and learn to manage expectations. When creating your official Facebook page, create it with a vision. By doing so, you are opening yourself up to more opportunities. Having a vision makes your actions more deliberate and in effect, your fans will have a better understanding of what you have to offer. Let your fans know what they can expect from your page and what they can get out of it. If you are part of a social media marketing team, make sure that all your teammates know and understand the vision.
9. Monitor, measure and track. As in any campaign, the final steps are always to monitor, measure, and track. But before you even get to this point, you need to set your KPI (key performance indicators) so you will have something to track as your Facebook campaign progresses. Listening to your fans is just one way of monitoring. When it comes to social media analytics, consider monitoring information on your competitor, industry- or niche-specific keywords, and brand names associated with your company. When it comes to measuring, the basics you have to take into consideration include (but are not limited to) engagement, click activity, new likes/unlikes, and conversion rates.
Keep reading this blog for more social media marketing tips!