At this point, we have all at least heard of Facebook. You may not be using it yet—you are in the very small minority if you aren’t. At its core, Facebook is the perfect platform to keep in touch with long-lost classmates, extended family, and maybe even an ex-flame or two. Beyond the basics, Facebook has added (and continues to add) features that make it a powerful marketing tool. Besides personal profiles, you can promote your business two other ways: groups and fan pages.
Facebook groups allow for two-way interaction between you and the members (as well as amongst the members). The groups are basically the same as those you set up on other services such as LinkedIn, Yahoo, or Google. Facebook is currently the most popular social media platform, so depending on your audience, it may be the best choice. However, groups of any type require a level of participation on your part that many businesses are not prepared to handle. “Build it and they will come” does not apply here. Before creating a group, make sure that you have both a clear idea of the subject matter and the time to keep it running.
Fan pages are less interactive and as a result require less maintenance, though you still need to monitor and contribute to the conversation. Fan pages are more of an extension of your website and don’t require the constant upkeep of a group. That does not mean that it is a watered down option. You could build a complete web presence within Facebook using the features included in the fan pages. I don’t recommend doing that, you wouldn’t build your house on rented land, but it does give an opportunity to easily increase exposure and awareness of your product or service.
Like any marketing activity, just doing something is not good enough. Before launching your Facebook fan page, you need to have a clear strategy and killer content for the page that supports your goal. To help you navigate the process, I’ve written a series of posts that help you to plan a killer page and provide the tools that you need to build it. (Fans not included.)
Ready to build a killer Facebook page? Take the next step: Research and Planning
Step 1: Research and planning
Step 2: Create a basic page
Step 3: Customize your logo and landing page
Step 4: Link your blog and social media
Step 5: Publicize your page and customize your URL
Create a Killer Facebook Page Presentation | 910 West
[...] Create a Killer Facebook Page Presentation July 12th, 2010 in Blog by Jasmine 0 jQuery(document).ready(function($) { window.setTimeout('loadTwitter_1159()',5000);window.setTimeout('loadFBShare_1159()',5000); }); function loadTwitter_1159(){ jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('.dd-twitter-1159').remove();$('.DD_TWITTER_AJAX_1159').attr('width','50');$('.DD_TWITTER_AJAX_1159').attr('height','61');$('.DD_TWITTER_AJAX_1159').attr('src','http://api.tweetmeme.com/button.js?url=http://www.910west.com/2010/07/create-a-killer-facebook-page-presentation/&source=910west&style=normal'
; }); } function loadFBShare_1159(){ jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $('.dd-fbshare-1159').remove(); $.getScript('http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/connect.php/js/FB.Share' 
; }); }Preview the slides for our Create a Killer Facebook Page workshop. It is a great visual to compliment our blog series Create a Killer Facebook Page. [...]
July 12, 2010 at 11:52 pm