Learning how to use Facebook for business can be quite the learning curve for most businesses. Being that there are now over 450 Million people on the network, businesses are acknowledging that they need to be using Facebook for business as part of their marketing strategy. They are 
signing up but getting lost almost instantly in mafia wars, farmville, hot or not surveys & 47,823 invites to pages & events. Those that make it past this point & actually set up a Facebook Page immediately go into typical marketing mode of selling their products or services with their group of people who like their page. This is not a good way to use Facebook for business. In fact, this is probably one of the worst ways to use Facebook for business.
Being a former full-time extremely successful real estate agent I still have quite a strong tie into that network of business professionals, so I am always being asked to join their Facebook Pages. Most of the time I will oblige & join, and shortly after visiting the page I notice that their Facebook for business page is consistent with the main philosophy of Real Estate Marketing. See, when you are in real estate school, the one thing they drill into your mind is that in order to be successful, you must have a 15 second greeting to use with every person you come in contact with. It would go something like this:
Prospect approaches you & says: “Hi I am Mark Jones” and shakes your hand.
You reply: “Hi Mark, my name is Jeremy Blanton, I am a real estate agent in Myrtle Beach, SC.”
Conversation continues for another 30 seconds or so till Mark starts to move on to talk with someone else.
You quickly blurt to Mark as placing business card in his hand: “Well Mark, if you know anyone looking to buy or sell real estate, please have them contact me.”
Real estate though is not the only industry that tries to use Facebook for business this way. I had a client that thought the only way to build a successful page was to constantly beg people to join it, then give away a prize to a random person once in a while. Unfortunately, it appears that his business is not in operation at this time. (I wonder why??) When he hired me, he wanted me to not only create his Facebook Page, but to also get a good number of people to join the page, and show him how to use Facebook for business properly. But as time passed by, he took over the management of the page & went to typical bad Facebook for business spamming concepts of “Join our Facebook Page” and “Buy this now” type of posts which quickly brought the engagement to his page to a screeching halt. This page which used to get anywhere from 10-30 comments per posting was now lucky to get 1 or 2. Unfortunately, his bad Facebook for business practices destroyed user engagement & interaction.
3 Tips to Using Facebook for Business Properly
So how do you use Facebook for Business? I am glad you asked! Facebook pages are most effective when you are sharing information with your fans that is things they want to know. For instance, share fun, interesting facts about your industry or your area. If you are in real estate, sharing photos about your local area attractions & events can be extremely successful for using Facebook for business. Another client of mine has a page where she only share things about her area & the interaction & engagement of the fans is phenomenal. Remember, engagement is the key to using Facebook for business successfully.
Here are a few very simple tips on how to Use Facebook for business successfully:
Share YouTube Videos– this is one of the most successful components of using Facebook for business. People love funny or informative videos. I shared a video once of Google Chrome Speeds which caused those on my Facebook page to comment & like the post. It had nothing to do with my social media training company, but it got people talking & started new communication between the business & consumer.- Asking Open Questions- If you ask questions that beg for answers, the people who frequent your page will feel compelled to engage. Trust me when I say this is a super effective way to use Facebook for business because your fans take ownership of the page more then. They also are promoting your page by commenting because it shows on their profile that they commented on something on your page. One of my successful pages has grown in size rapidly by doing just this. I will simply ask questions like: “So with the weather being so hot today in Myrtle Beach, what will you be doing to keep cool?” Within moments there were over 20 responses from people around the country.
Treat the people who like your page as friends, not a number. This sounds pretty self explanatory, but just like the other two tips, this is very helpful with using Facebook for Business. If the people on your Facebook page become like family to you, they will feel important, special and needed. When you can achieve this type of engagement you have tapped into the mother-load of Facebook for Business. Instead of needing to suggest the page to your friends & begging them to like the page, you will now have your already connected people going to their friends on their own suggesting they join your page. Basically, you have created mini marketers for your page. And as we all know in marketing, a personal referral from someone else is the most powerful type of marketing possible.
I know these three tips on how to use Facebook for Business don’t seem revolutionary, but I guarantee if you implement these strategies into your marketing strategy for your Facebook page you will see an increase in business from your Facebook page.
If you are wanting to learn more on how to use Facebook for Business, we have a basic introductory course coming up on June 21 at 1PM EST. You can register for that course here: Using Facebook For Business.