Sunday, September 23, 2012

The Dirty Dozen for Facebook Domination.


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.

No comments: