Facebook: Create a Fan Following

“Are you on Facebook?” Whether you consider it a pick-up line, the of-the-moment networkingquestion or a query suited for a job interview, there’s no denying it – Facebook is

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way to keeptabs on family, friends and virtual friends. The stats confirm it. According to Internet ratings agencyComscore, Facebook is the top social networking site in the United States, leaving competitor MySpace in its wake.Facebook was first used by college kids who embraced the notion of making friends the “new-fashioned” way, in a virtual setting. The social networking tool has since evolved into a globalcommunication phenomenon. The numbers are overwhelming. Each month, more than 850 millionphotos and 10 million videos are uploaded to the site. As if that’s not mind boggling enough, morethan 1 billion pieces of content – everything from Web links and news stories to blog posts andnotes – are shared each week. When you consider that Facebook has more than 200 million activeusers, with more than 100 million logging on at least once daily, that’s a lot of communicating goingon. What got its start as a communication tool for the “cool kids” is now used by individuals acrossthe age and lifestyle spectrum. These days, less than a third of Facebook users are in college;those 35 and older account for the site’s fastest growing demographic.

Breaking Into the Fold

In the 1990s, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) represented the ultimate online communication tool.According to Time Warner, the service had more than 50 million registered users by early 2000 andactivity within the instant messaging community had exploded. For the savvy marketer, it wouldhave been a dream come true to tap into those conversations and get users to discuss products.The AIM model, however, prevented the dream from becoming reality. Companies had just twooptions – advertise or engage in one-on-one messaging. Much to the happiness of those with aproduct or service to market, those days are gone.Facebook allows you, as a representative of your company, to share content with the masses.Individuals can then pass it around and you can reappear at the ideal time to facilitate one-to-oneconversations with key influencers. It starts with creating a Facebook “group” or “fan” page, andhere are their key differences:

Group pages:

They are perfect for promoting a cause or topic that naturally creates a dialogue.Remember message boards? Think of group pages as message boards with a potential audienceof more than 200 million users.

Fan pages:

These are best suited to businesses. They incorporate the best of personal Facebookaccounts – chat, posts and status updates – with other features from group pages, like massnotifications, a “join” option and Web tracking tools.

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Facebook: Create a Fan Following

Be warned. Group and fan pages should not be confused with personal accounts, for whichFacebook maintains strict guidelines. Personal accounts are reserved for individual users.What’s right for you? There’s no clear-cut answer, but consulting a social media expert can helpdemystify the subtle nuances between Facebook’s options. Regardless of your profileclassification, follow these simple rules to make the most of your time on Facebook.

Weigh Advertising Against Guerrilla Tactics

Unless you have a large online presence, it’s unlikely that you’ll build a following on Facebookovernight. Though, that is the goal. Your first option is to engage in a Facebook advertisingcampaign that reaches your target audience. It’s results driven, clean…and boring.For the more adventurous, there are guerrilla tactics that can be extremely effective. Visit others’pages, send friend requests and create great content to get people discussing an issue. It’s moretime consuming to send 3,000 friend requests and start conversations than to place an ad, butgoing guerrilla can hit a much larger audience.Regardless of how you draw attention, Facebook offers built-in tools for promoting your business.When “Ben Buyer” joins the conversation on your group page or becomes a fan of your fan page,Ben’s friends are notified via Facebook’s “news feed.” The handy feed is continuously updated soyou know what your friends are doing and saying on Facebook. When Ben’s 100 friends arenotified that he became a fan of your product page, 10 of them might join, which means thousandsof people could see your page over time. This snowball effect can create an audience thatmultiplies quickly.

Create Killer Content

Content is king on Facebook, where design elements take a backseat to the words. Upload photos,videos, news articles or anything that creates a knowledge base about your product and culture.You have mere seconds to impress your online audience, so keep it riveting.There are many options for reaching users who follow you on Facebook, including:

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Send a direct message to your followers. Reserve these messages for important updates or periodic summaries.

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For everyday notifications, answer the question, “What’s on your mind?” in the statussection of your profile.

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Post a photo, video or link in your status section.The news feed will reflect your updates, putting your followers in the know. Individuals can thenmake comments, pass your updates to others or go straight to your page for details.

Keep It Fresh

The more often you update, the better chance you will have of users seeing your content andfinding it compelling. Launching a new product? Tease it on your status with a message and blurryphoto. Been a slow month? Hold a contest on your page to get users competing for a prize. Anddon’t diminish the power of a weather update – different topics prompt various users to pipe up,proving that even trivial updates have their place.

Take Your Time

It takes patience to effectively incorporate social media into your marketing mix. Facebook-specificapplications such as “like” and “unlike” can add to your experience, but it’s important to understand