5 Business Tips for using Facebook Page

by Willy Lim
(Singapore)

Original article appears in May 2010 issue of SME & Entrepreneurship Magazine

2010 is the year that social media marketing becomes mainstream. With 40% of Singaporeans, 5.5 million Malaysians and 22 million Indonesians on Facebook, many businesses are jumping onto Facebook in an effort to catch this social media tidal wave.

If you are one of these businesses, here are 5 tips for you to get you started on the right foot with Facebook:-

1. Start a Facebook Page and choose a name for your Facebook Page carefully
Unlike Facebook groups, Facebook pages are being indexed by the search engines. The maximum length of a Facebook page name is 75 characters. You should include your company’s name, plus some description of your products and services, so that your Facebook page can be found when people “google” for your company.

2. Email the Page URL to your mailing lists and invite contacts to become Facebook "Fans" of your page.
Well everyone needs to start somewhere to get fans but no one would like to join page with little or no fans! So where else is better to start than from your existing contacts. Tell them that you would love to be more connect with them via your spanking new facebook page or tell them they owe you a favor and it’s time to pay back (sometimes ethical emotional blackmail works. *Grin*).

3. Share/Post your page on your Facebook profile and on your friends’ profiles.
You should announce the launch of your new facebook page by sharing its link on your profile Wall. This will convert more friends and profile visitors to visit the Page. Also, you can share your Facebook page’s link on your friends’ profile Walls if appropriate, but be careful about over doing it and becoming a spammer. One of the subtle ways I do this is to write a “thank you” message to a new friend’s profile wall, and end off my message with a signature that contains a link to my Facebook page.

4. Post messages in related Groups.
Use Facebook’s search function to post messages in related groups about the existence of your Facebook page. If you don’t feel comfortable “spamming” these groups with unsolicited Wall posts, try messaging the group admins and officers to ask their permission to promote your Facebook page within their group. You’ll never know, they may even be willing to promote your Facebook page for you.

5. Create Events within your page.
Part of the fun behind social media is that it’s SOCIAL! So be creative and run some events such as contests, workshops or webinars, to engage your fans. When fans RSVP, their friends will see the news in their News Feeds. Your event becomes viral and people who are not your friends may see it, resulting in even more people joining your Facebook page.