Facebook Promotion: Top 10 Tips

Melanie Wahl - May 17, 2012

It seems that everyone is on Facebook these days.  News about using the platform for business pepper broadcasts and print media alongside updates about the upcoming IPO.  If you have been waiting to create a Facebook page for your business or if you have one that you haven’t touched since creation, the following promotion tips are written for you.  Even if you are managing your business’s Facebook page, the following top ten tip list may give you a few ideas to help promote your page and your business on this constantly evolving social platform.

1.  Create Your Page
The first promotion tip is more of a step one – create your page.  Without a page, you will have nothing to promote and no one will have anything to talk about.  Create your page and make sure to include content.  Nobody will want to share a page that is blank or that looks abandoned.

2.  Manage Your Page
Create a schedule and begin adding interesting and informative content to your Facebook page, even if you don’t have a single follower.  When you start promoting your page, visitors will hopefully be curious what they can expect from you in regard to future communication.

3.  Invitations – Soft Launch
Your business’s social network can be divided into different groupings (such as employees, business partners, philanthropic partners, customers, friends, and family).  Each of these groups can be alerted to the creation of your Facebook page and invited to engage with you as you actively manage your page.  Initially, start with your friends, family, and employees.  Ask for feedback.  Make changes as needed.

4.  Invitations – Hard Launch
Now that you have a presence on Facebook, a number of friends/followers, and a calendar with which to guide your posts, you can invite your business partners, philanthropic partners, and customers to join you.  Since you are adding customers to the mix, make sure that there is someone monitoring your Facebook page for questions, feedback, and complaints and you have a plan in place to respond to each in a timely manner.

5.  Cross-Promote Your Social Media Channels
If you are active on other social channels, such as YouTube, Twitter, or others, consider adding content from these channels to Facebook or promoting Facebook within these channels.

6.  Link to Your Facebook Page From Your Website
Consider adding a Facebook icon and link to your Facebook page from your website. Consider embedding a Facebook module in your website or blog if applicable, to show what your customers and you are saying.

7.  Social Sharing Buttons
Consider adding the Facebook Like button to your website (or other social sharing buttons such as ShareThis or AddThis) to help visitors promote your content on Facebook.

8.  Consider Contests
Not only do contests give you a reason to promote your Facebook page on your website and in your other channels, but customers and potential customers tend to love a contest by a brand they like.  There are a variety of different contest set-ups available for Facebook, but they all must abide by Facebook’s guidelines.

9.  Don’t Forget Print
Just because Facebook and your website are digital, does not mean that you can not promote them in printed media related to your business.  Companies are posting icons or links to their Facebook pages on business cards, billboards, clothing, and even shopping bags.

10.  Paid Ads
Research the possible benefit of creating a Facebook ad to promote your business and Facebook page to be displayed on Facebook.  One big benefit of using paid Facebook ads is that the targeting is very precise and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

Any or all of these promotional tips can help you build a Facebook page that becomes an important part of your marketing mix, but you can’t start without tip #1: Create Your Page.  If you would like additional tips, a social media strategy, or customized design for your Facebook page, please contact MoreVisibility.