For many small businesses and companies a Facebook fan page can be used as an integral part of their marketing strategy. A recent report on Mashable reported that out of Facebook’s 400 million users over 116 million are in the US and when you compare that number to US Census estimates it concludes that 37% of the US population is on Facebook. What can you do to successfully expose your brand to this market? And what specific elements should you use to create a fan page with a large engaged following? I’ve assembled a list of elements that will help you succeed in your fan page marketing efforts.

1. Create a special landing page using Facebook FBML

Facebook FBML is Facebook’s own mark up language that allows developers and users to create custom designed pages and applications. Almost all HTML tags are able to be used along with CSS and some special FB specific code. To create a custom landing page you first have to add the Static FBML app to your page. Once the app is added click the edit page link under your pages profile picture and you will see it listed under applications. Click edit and it will bring up a box where you can give your new tab a custom name and enter your code. If your not familiar with HTML you could create your page in a word processing program like Microsoft Office then choose to save as html then copy and paste the code over to your Static FBML box.

Once your page is done go to your wall settings and choose it as the default landing tab “for everyone else” This will be your companies public page that gets indexed by Google and the default landing page for any visitor who is not a fan.

At C3M Digital, we design design custom Facebook Fan Pages and offer social media marketing consulting services.

2. Import your companies blog or website using Facebook Notes

The notes tab is already on your page. Go to the tab and under notes settings click edit import settings and add your website’s feed address (If your using a publishing platform like WordPress your feed address will be hxxp://yoursite.com/feed (replace the xx tt)

Once you successfully add your feed address every time you add a new post to your blog or update your site it will also add a new note and publish it to your wall. If your reading this article on Facebook right now, you will see how this all works. The best thing is that once it’s set up you never have to worry about it again and all your posts and articles will be automatically added to your Facebook Fan Page.

3. Upload your contacts to the Facebook Friend finder

The people on your email contact list or in your CRM are already familiar with your brand and can help you immediately build a strong fan base for your page. Most email programs like Microsoft Outlook will export your address book as a .csv file that you can upload to Facebook and add them as friends. Once they accept your request you can then send them a suggestion to become a fan of your page.

If you want to keep your personal friends separate from your business contacts use the edit friends feature and create a special list for all the people who you do business with. You can then adjust your privacy settings so that your professional contacts only see stuff related to your fan page.

4. Engage your fans

The secret to social media marketing is “It’s not about you or your brand, it’s about them”. While it’s completely appropriate to make your fans aware of your products and services, you should also focus on stimulating comments and reactions from fans. I have worked with some real estate agents and mortgage professionals who take a picture of their client at closing then post a comment congratulating them on their new home.

What to share?

• Latest news about your business or industry
• Upcoming events
• Promotions to encourage loyalty
• Surveys or polls
• Your own comments when appropriate
• Encourage your fans to post their own videos or photos regarding your business
• Use a call to action with your updates asking a question

How do you use your Facebook Fan page? What has been successful for you? I would love to hear your ideas or comments, please feel free to add them below.

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