Marketing on Facebook…Do You Understand What Works?

I get the question all the time…"How do I Market on Facebook" and, hats off to the people who are actually asking. 

Times have changed, a new economy has emerged before our eyes and we must adapt to what attracts our customer in a new social world. All businesses marketing on Facebook (and all other social networks for that matter) must become “social businesses” on the web. Just a little hint…the “socialization of your brand” needs to happen internally, on site, as well as on the web!

With that said, here are a couple of golden rules when marketing socially

1. Do Not Spam – Duh…seems like a no-brainer but, I see it every day. Remember, the audience you are marketing to in the social world is not there to see your message, they are there to be social. Interrupting them with your stinky spam will not work…okay?
2. Add Value – Make sure that the mass majority of content you post is valuable to your audience. Think of it like this…if your message were a text message and all your customers or potential customers are going to see it, will they want to opt out or will they be glad they got the message. Is your message valuable?
3. Look, Listen and Engage (Monitor) – Watch what people are saying, make sure you acknowledge every comment or question and act on what they are telling or asking you. After all, what could possibly work better than giving them exactly what they told you they wanted?
4. Be Consistent – Once you are there, they will expect you to be there all the time. If your audience returns to see no new engagement, it will be difficult to keep them coming back.
5. Be Patient • Be Warm & Fuzzy to Gain Their Business – Ultimately, we are marketing on Facebook to increase sales but, remember back to the day you opened your doors for the first time…did they knock down your door with credit card in hand or did you have to caress relationships and go the extra mile to capture their business? Of course you had to work at it. Social media is not turnkey marketing, it is relationship marketing and the better you become at adding value, giving people what they want, making them feel good and becoming a resource…the more business you will create via Facebook.
6. Appreciate Each & Every Follower – I keep hearing things like “I only have 900 fans”. To that I say CONGRATS! You must have done something right … now go make every one of those 900 feel like they are sitting in first class! Remember, this is not a numbers game, it is a relationship game. The business with the most real relationships wins in this new economy.

Stat by implementing these six marketing techniques on Facebook and I promise the seas will part and you will see the way. Next, get and read the book The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk…he flat out nails it in this book.

Before I sign off, I wanted to share an excerpt from an article I read that does a great job summarizing the philosophy of marketing on Facebook…Enjoy!

“Social Media is not a broadcast medium, it’s not a platform for interrupting people. It’s an interactive medium. In fact, the social web is very close to offline interaction. You wouldn’t interrupt people in the middle of a telephone conversation with an ad, so why do the same thing on Facebook? If you saw two people having an intimate chat at a party, you wouldn’t go over and suddenly interrupt them, to tell them something that is not related to their conversation. The social web requires marketers to build relationships with customers. This requires one to one attention. It requires responding to every post or comment that people leave you. More importantly, people are looking for short-term wins on a platform built for long-term relationships. Relationships take time, and are formed from many sequential interactions. Too many marketers are currently approaching Facebook by trying to close on the first date. And even if they succeed, it’s unlikely to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

What you know about advertising on TV, or in print, does not apply on Facebook. It’s a completely new, and transformational medium. It took our ancestors many years, at times decades, to understand the new technology that faced them. Let’s not make the same mistake. Don’t apply how you work with existing media to a new transformational medium. “ Full article here: Why Marketers Misunderstand Facebook 

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Michelle Corteggiano