Facebook Best Practices

We previously shared 5 of our 20 Facebook best practices and today we share the next 15 best practices.

#6: Put a fan page widget on your blog or website: You’d be amazed at how many people simply don’t know about your fan page. Putting it on your website (i.e., your home base) will get it in front of all of your website visitors. My favorite example of this is from Klout. It got me to Like them!

#7: Customize your fan page URL: Vanity URLs are a fantastic way to make your fan page memorable. Check this awesome fan page http://facebook.com/awesomefanpage. Vanity, baby!

#8: Put your fan page URL on your business cards: Combine offline and online by letting the people you meet IRL know about your fan page.

#9: Put a link on your personal Facebook profile: Put this under the “links” section. This is a “soft sell” of sorts, letting your friends passively know about your page. You might have forgotten that people actually check that part of your profile!

#10: Harness the power of your team: Have everyone in your organization put your fan page link on their personal profile.

#11: Ask fans to post a link: Ask all of your current fans to post a link to the fan page on their personal profile. As long as you don’t ask this often, I’ve found that people love to help out. Leverage the power of your existing audience and get results! For instance, at Monk Development, we simply asked everyone to post a link to our company fan page on the same day. We doubled our average daily Likes because of one simple step.

#12: Put a tag in your YouTube videos: If you make compelling videos as a part of your content marketing strategy, throw in a well-timed fan page link at the end of your YouTube videos. The Gregory Brothers, the geniuses behind “Auto-tune the News,” are some of the best social marketers around. They always include a link to their fan page (and other social networks) at the end of every video and make it a welcome addition to their content.

#13: Put your fan page URL on your Twitter profile background: Lots of tweeters still use the web-based version and your profile background is a prime piece of web real estate. Cross-advertise and use one social network to promote another! CenturyLink does a great job of this. If you go to their Twitter page, you can clearly see where their fan page is located. They don’t make you guess, which leads to conversions!

#14: QR codes for your page: I bought the furniture for our house mostly because the store used QR codes to get me to their fan page. Once I got to the fan page, I was welcomed with a custom landing page that welcomed me to the store. It wasn’t elaborate, but it was creative and it worked! They engaged me as a customer both online (QR code leading to fan page) and offline (sales agents in the store), making sure I knew I was welcome. Smart!

#15: Use your fan page: Use the “Tell Your Fans” feature. With the tools built in to the fan page, Facebook allows you to import a contact file or import your contacts from Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. Good for when you’re just starting out and want to tell people you already know.

#16: Add a Like box: Place this in your blog/website sidebar. This is a given. A must. But when you do this, make sure you set the options to include face pile. That way, your Like box will show your readers how many of their friends like the page as well. Genius.

#17: Use targeted keywords in a Google AdWords: Use a keyword-based ad and direct people to your fan page. This is like Facebook ads on steroids. If you’ve never used AdWords before, it’s fairly straightforward.

#18: Redirect your webinar guests to your fan page: If you use GoToWebinar, you can choose to send registrants to a URL of your choosing after they sign up. This is where you let them know of the awesomeness that is your fan page.

#19: Put your fan page URL in your Keynote/PowerPoint slides: When I present, the last slide I show is my contact info, complete with our organization’s fan page. Most people are already on Facebook, so it’s a no-brainer to give them an easy way to connect with you.

#20: Last, and certainly least, invite all of your friends (if you must): This is at the end for a reason. Pester your friends only as the nuclear option. I’ve given you 19 other ways to let people know about your fan page. Give your friends a break!

Don’t let the list stop there. There are hundreds of different ways to let people know about what you and your online community are up to on Facebook. Why not get creative and start a list of your own? What are some of the most interesting ways you’ve seen people or businesses promote their fan page? Let us know; share what you’ve found!


Source: Social Media Examiner, Justin Wise