Did you know that Facebook “Pages” have been around since 2006? Quickly surpassing MySpace, Facebook instantly became a new avenue for businesses and marketers to promote their products and services, for free, in a way that had really never been available before.
A traditional Google ad or website banner is one-way marketing. You pay for an ad in hopes the viewer clicks or responds to it, and you have that that one chance to connect with them. With a Facebook page, interaction is two-way. With a pool of loyal “fans” to market to, chat with, and get feedback from – you open up a new realm of new opportunity.
What is better than interacting with your loyal customers on a regular basis?
One thing is… each time those customers or clients post on your Facebook page – all or their friends are also exposed to your brand or message! Their interaction with you is posted on their Facebook “wall” too.
Once new visitors come to your page, previous positive feedback postings can have new business jumping into your lap. It’s natural to want what everybody else is raging over, and Facebook is a great way to put your business front-and-center.
Facebook encourages word of mouth advertising.
So here is a very important point: Sure, you can send updates to your fans about your new products or services, but you can also encourage interaction so that you attract the friends-of-fans to your page. Post photos, share videos, paste links to relevant local news, allow fans to participate in group discussions, send discounts(coupon codes) to fans through the updates function. Get your fans to interact with your page by commenting. Facebook Pages encourages people to visit and spread the word to encourage other people to do the same.
Send targeted traffic to your website.
Where else can you find such a targeted group of people to advertise to? Once you have a satisfied customer, they will be able to visit repeatedly and become fans of your business…. And then in turn, they will visit your website and probably encourage their (Facebook) friends to do the same.
