The number of users on Facebook is reaching towards a billion. With this big user base I don't think Facebook is going anywhere in the near future.
As a business you should find as many possible ways to leverage this big user base.
Regardless of the huge number of Facebook users, the majority of the businesses are struggling to:
- Increase the Fan base
- Build a strong community
- Get their fans talking if they manage to get some
I think asking yourself the following question before even thinking of increasing fan base is really important:
Why people will bother to click on the like button on your page?
There must be something for your prospects.
Marketer's offering all sorts of give away's to get likes.If you have a existing business and few clients, I think using Facebook page as a customer services tool can be really lucrative because of the following 4 reasons.
1. Average Number of Friends: 130
According to Facebook, average user on Facebook has about 130 friends.
When any one click like on your page, a message goes to his or her all friends that he or she likes your Facebook page.
Just by getting one like, a message that contains your page name will go to potentially your fan's 130 friends. If you can get only 25 people to like your page then potentially your message can reach to 25 x 130 = 3250 people.
Can you see the power of viral effect of Facebook activity?
I would say word of mouth marketing at it's best.
This is possible by setting up your page in a way that people should like the page first before you can answer their question using tools like landing page & reveal tab.
2. Facebook Ticker
Ticker is a box which appears on the top right corner when you log in to your Facebook account and shows the activity of your friends on Facebook.
My first experience of the ticker was really annoying as a user. But it is a really engaging feature when I look at ticker as a marketing tool.
It also appears on a position where you just can't miss it.
Basically when your customer will be commenting on your Facebook page to ask you a question or query, a message will be appearing on their friends Facebook ticker box about this activity.
Generally people follow their friends & family and tend to check out what they are doing. This can lead to more likes, engagement and may be new customers.
3. Twitter Automation
By adding an application to your Facebook page, you can send your Facebook status updates to Twitter, which normally contains a link back to your Facebook page if your message is longer than 140 characters.
This way you can bring your Twitter followers automatically to your Facebook page to get more engagement.
4. Edge Rank
This is a Facebook's internal system which determines whether your status update will appear in your Fan's news feed or not.
More engagement you will have on your Facebook wall the better chances are that your Edge Rank will be higher and this will ensure that most of your fan's will see your status update.
By providing customer services and answering questions of your customers will definitely help you to increase your Edge Rank.
I really believe that serving existing client well is the best form of marketing you can ever do to get new clients.
Facebook page can be a great tool to automate your word of mouth marketing.
How are you using your Facebook page? Feel free to share your experience or thoughts in the comments below.