My friend had a problem – one that
must be afflicting millions of people around the world. “How do I advertise about
my salon out of home service” she asked me? “Especially in view of the fact,
that I do not have monies to spend on advertising. Isn’t there something I can
do myself?”
“There sure is” I told her, ”let
me show you, step by step, how you can you the world’s most potent platform to reach out to customers, that too FREE. Let me
unravel the mysteries of facebook marketing to you. That too, by utilizing the
time you spend in Farmville or uploading pictures of the burger you had on your
evening out.”
The First Steps:
01. Open a page. Once you open a page, make
sure you post a good profile picture. Remember,
pilgrims progressing through will but spare a second at the picture and decide
whether to add you or move on. So make sure is pictures arresting. The next
step is to have attention grabbing copy. The third is to keep adding people.
Start with your friends and close associates. Then as your list grows, keep
adding potential customers. Just make sure that you don’t keep sending friend
requests blindly, or you may be debarred. Keep it restricted to ten per day,
and do it every day. Once this process is on, you should start leaving relevant
comments on the walls of your friends. Be polite, witty and sound genuine.
Avoid making pompous statements or snide remarks as they will be self
defeating. Try and post one or two line advice, tips about your expertise so that slowly people start to
take you seriously as a professional.
02. Scale up to Fan Page. A fan page is for
companies, businesses and brands to have a presence on the FB space. They can
be seen by all and are an excellent way to connect directly with your customers
and fans. A fan page should be brimming with relevant materials – use information,
pictures, info-graphics, short video clips – in short everything so that the
visitors are compelled to press the like button, which will one day do wonders
to your revenue stream.
03. Groups. Groups are communes where the
like-minded assemble. Create a group with your friends and associates so that
you can talk directly to all of them simultaneously, without posting on their
individual profiles. As the people in the group are already focused it will be
easier for you to connect with them and take the discussion, about your product
or service, to the next level of efficiency.
04. Events. Create events around your brand
and announce that on FB through events pages. These can either be public or
closed to a private group. You can reach out and attract potential customers /
people looking for similar kinds of products / services by these events pages
and if done properly, can be a real crowd puller.
Ninja techniques of Face Book domination
05. Create original content and keep
updating. Content is the King and Maker and you should be fresh, precise and
able to communicate the point. However, it is easier said than done and if you
have just a penny to spend in the social media, ten out of ten times I’ll tell
you the same– spend it on content.
06. Tag. Take some time out to religiously
tag your fans in the photos. Once tagged, the photos will appear in their pages
as well, making your visibility that much of a boost.
07. Landing Pages. Differentiate between new
users and loyal fans. Take the new comers to a page where they can be induced
or lured into liking your page, while the old timers can proceed straight to
your wall for meaningful discussions.
08. Reward. Make sure you reward your loyal
customers. A “customer for a month – friend for life” badge will be proudly
displayed by most on their pages which will generate likes / reposts and help
you go viral. Ask friends to re post your statuses which will generate further
publicity for you.
09. Use contests and polls. In case of the
friend who had originally asked me about the subject, I had suggested that she
offer a free hair cutting session to the winner of a contest whereby she
requested her customers to send in their pictures flouting their manes trussed
by her. Even she could not believe the kind of overwhelming response she had
got.
10. Build
your presence. Roam the farthest corners of facebook – see what competitors
and those in similar lines are saying or doing. Chances are, you will stumble
upon someone else’s brilliant idea and innovate it for your gain. Facebook is
emerging media – there are no set rules and there are always the maverick that
are expanding the horizons. Keep your eyes and ears open.
11. Social
Plug-ins. Integrate as many social plug-ins in your page as possible. The more
options you give your readers, the more they will spread your words, using
multiple platforms. In the process, your page will be on steroids.
12. Marketplace. List your services on the
marketplace – it an excellent way to call the faithful to prayer and chances
are, once your listing shows up, people friends of friend’s friend will flock
to your page with genuine queries.
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