We’ve been talking a lot about the type of relationships you’re building as a marketer and how to leverage social norms and the rule of reciprocity to advance your brand and company. Today we’re taking a look at Facebook and applying what we’ve been talking about, so you can see if you’re taking full advantage of the social networking site. Let’s take a look!

More Value than just Volume

What is your strategy for Facebook? Did you make a page for your product or company with a goal in mind? Or just because everyone else was doing it?

The value of Facebook is more than just the number of fans and friends you collect. Facebook is a great way to connect with your target audience. The more you learn about your customers, the better you can serve them. The more you meet their needs, the better the relationship and the better your brand is.

Have You Considered…

Here’s a rundown of what you need to be thinking about in order to use Facebook to its fullest:

1. Set communication goals
How does Facebook fit into your marketing strategy? Is it just for exposure? Is it for customer service? To pass along information to your potential and existing fans and customers? How are you using Facebook to connect with your users?

You need to answer these questions before moving forward so you can set benchmarks and figure out what success from Facebook would look like.

2. Really get to know your target customers
Facebook can really help you get to you know who your customers are. Make sure you take the time to check out who is connected to you. Learn about your ‘friends’ and ‘fans.’ This is your chance to see who you’re marketing too. What communities would fit with your product and brand?

Facebook provides plenty of opportunities to reach out and connect – what communities are your ‘friends’ and your competitors a part of? Look at their page and profile. What they say about themselves can help you figure out how to ‘speak’ to them and market your product successfully. And if you’re advertising on Facebook, take advantage of their demographic targeting.

3. Find your biggest fans
What does it mean when someone clicks on the Facebook ‘like’ button? He or she is approving and promoting your brand. That ‘like’ of your message, advice, tip or information is a way of publicly supporting your company. Who are your active supporters? What else do they like?

When you sign into Facebook, you’ll see who likes what, and you can use this to inform your community choices and who you reach out to for advocacy.

Once you know who is actively participating in your friend network, you can start to connect with them. Use what they’ve ‘liked’ to inspire more content to share – the more they ‘like’ the better you’re serving them and the better your brand is regarded.

You can also enlist them in promotions – ask them to send along the tips they ‘liked’ to friends, with a link to your site, or trade access to insider information or coupons and discounts to forwarding information about your brand.
Are ‘likes’ your goal? Or are they a means to an end?

4. Create a system for Facebook
When are you using Facebook? Is your blog linked? What about your twitter feed? Do your status updates always include links to other sites? Keep in mind that people might like to stay on Facebook, so don’t always send them away. You can use the updates to post content like tips or niche news and information, so your page becomes a resource for information itself, not just a link page.

5. Make your brand a value brand
It’s not easy to build brand awareness, or to get people to ‘join’ a brand. Think about what value you can offer your Facebook friends. Join communities that are highly relevant to your niche and your target audience, that way your brand can stand out as a resource.

Give incentives for users to friend you on Facebook – more access, more information or more tools and discounts. Maybe you post sales information of Facebook, so friends will get more time to shop. Or maybe you offer coupons to your friends, so they get discounts.

You can partner with other companies to offer coupons for other products that your customers might need. That kind of insider information and customer assistance is the kind of behavior and relationship building technique that inspires brand loyalty and recommendations.

Listen to what your contacts are saying – about your product, your niche and company. Listen to the bad, not just the good; after all, the bad can actually help you improve!

In Closing…
Facebook is a chance to connect. It’s as close to face-to-face communication as you’ll get when working in online marketing, so don’t lose out on what it can provide. You can take full advantage of Facebook by realizing its potential and matching your company and brand’s goals.