Facebook Business Pages Mean Business, Personal Pages Not so Much
September 28, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Not so long ago in a my town, a savvy business owner chose to insert her business name into her
Facebook account. So, even though she had a personal account, her business “friended” people. Because she worked it, her friends expanded and expanded. She sailed past the 800 mark and found herself exhausted by the stream of information and notifications and unsure of the effectiveness of her work.
“I hate Facebook!” the entrepreneur moaned.
The moral of the story: Facebook personal pages aren’t meant for business.
“Why?” you ask?
Personal pages, as defined by Facebook terms and policies, are for individuals. Businesses cannot use a personal page. Fan pages serve business.
Advantages of Facebook business page vs. personal page for business:
SEO Indexing. If you’re looking to increase your web presence and visibility, you want to be found. Search engine optimization, SEO, increases the likelihood people not already your customers will discover your business. If, however, your business is listed on a personal page, it becomes more difficult for new people to find you.
Unlimited friends. A personal page limits friends to 5,000. New friends depend upon your personal authorization. Fan pages have the advantage of being more viral. Fans can suggest them to others. When a person likes a page, you show up in their stream or newsfeed.
Multiple administrators. Facebook makes it easy to add administrators. In the case of our savvy business owner, she can easily make her two employees administrators and create a sense of teamwork for both store and page. In addition, with the help of her employees, Facebook work gets easier.
Loyalty building tools. You can build separate landing pages for different products, so it’s easy to like the business page for usability. In addition, you can message fans, driving business with discounts and/or product offers.
Disadvantages of a Facebook business page:
No alerts. As administrator, you do not automatically get alerts when someone comments on your fan page. No alerts, no notifications, no newsfeeds. You, like fans, must visit the page to see what’s happening.
Strategy needed. In order to grow your fan base, you’ll find it necessary to plan. Developing a welcome page takes thought. Gathering testimonials encourages you to talk with customers. Presenting a coupon page means discussing pricing. How will it complement your website? What parts of your website will you highlight or duplicate on Facebook? In short, your page(s) won’t just happen.
(Which leads to the next point…)
Ongoing work a must. Facebook fan pages take work. A fan page is extremely easy to set up and maintain, but attracting and engaging customers takes ongoing commitment. Before beginning, be sure you’re up for the challenge.
How to Find Your Target Audience
September 8, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
If you don’t know who you are targeting, then how are you going to find them? Knowing who you are targeting makes your marketing much easier and helps you build your business and reach your customers more quickly and less expensively.
Think about the ideal clients who are currently buying your products or services. (If you’re new to business, a start-up, profile the people who have so far shown the most interest in your firm or idea.) What common traits do they share? Are they of a particular age? Social status? Do they have common traits or hobbies? Who are they?
Your customers buy from you for one (or more) of these reasons:
- To satisfy their basic needs,
- To be entertained,
- To solve a problem they are having, and /or
- To make themselves feel good.
In order to understand your customers, think like a reporter and ask the basic questions any reporter asks. Find the common answers to the all-important 5W’s and an H:
5 W’S AND AN H
Who – reveals who will purchase your product or service
What – reveals what the potential customer wants in the product
When – reveals when potential customers are most likely to acquire product or pay attention to your message
Why – reveals why your potential customer should/would buy your product.
How – reveals how much will they pay/how will they hear about it/how will they get it?
TARGET MARKET
A group which is best benefited by your product or service.
The process of reaching out to that defined customer is called target marketing. Your marketing will be based on what you know about your customers; so the more you can find out, the better it is for your business growth and development.
Learn more about finding your audience in the Six Week Marketing Master Plan, an e-book designed to take your business to the next level in just one hour per day.
Use Social Media for Local Business Conversations
September 7, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
“It’s great to know about this stuff, but does it bring a customer in?”
Pause. What can you say to a busy retailer who asks that question? I went for it.
“No, social media alone won’t create a customer. It takes a relationship to do that.”
People visit a store for a variety of reasons but mostly because they want/need/choose your product or service. Look at it from another perspective and consider:
Would 50% off encourage you to buy a bike helmet if you didn’t bike?
Does a newsletter subscription automatically mean an additional sale in the long term or just more work for you in the short term?
How many stores do you visit just to be a nice person?
Retail operations, in particular, need traffic and good reviews in order to prosper. By adding social media to other digital tactics, a brick and mortar store can begin to direct more potential customers or traffic to its location.
Does that mean it’s complicated? Conversation – real conversation – is complicated as well.
The art of “social” requires conversation – talking as well as listening. A good conversationalist engages offering give and take on various topics. Seldom is “me, me, me” considered good conversation. So, why in social media would you consider it good form to sell, sell, sell?
Because it’s transparent, social media serves as a public demonstration of business relationships. What’s happening with your company?
In a transparent world, people watch how you process information. Recently, a prominent Albuquerque attorney was stopped for a traffic violation and then arrested. While local media was abuzz, there was nothing forthcoming initially on the attorney’s Facebook page about the incident. Why not shape the conversation? Tell the story from the company point of view.
Business is used to be a “controlled” world. In the old school way, a company simply bought more advertising and put its message before the public.
In today’s social world, it’s not so easy to say “We care,” and then add nothing to the conversation. You can’t engage only in the good parts of the conversation.
Social media technology makes relationship-building easier, but it’s not a substitute for relationships.
How well are your social conversations going? Are you building a relationship or simply using a new channel to push your product. How’s that working for you?
Act Now. Create Marketing Change!
September 1, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
How do you create action?
Begin.
Seriously. It’s that easy.
While paths may vary, the outcome – action – never changes. Until one begins, there is hesitation. In the words of Johann Wolfgang Goethe:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”
Situation: You’ve put off working on your marketing for some time. Pick one:
“I’m too busy.
“Really, I have to manage billable hours in this economy. When it slows, I’ll work on my stuff.”
“You know, I don’t really know what to do or I’d do it.”
“I’m researching the best solution for me. “
“Seriously, I’m up to my eyeballs. What would you suggest?”
“_______________” (fill in the blanks sounds more like me.
Exercise:
- Circle one excuse that applies to you, or write your own.
- Rewrite your excuse/thought:
- I’m too busy but I’m willing to dedicate one hour per week (15 minutes each day – or, some specific amount of time to my marketing.
- I’m thrilled to have work now. I know if I put a solid foundation in place I’d have even more opportunities.
- I don’t know what to do and I’m willing to learn.
- I’m going to begin. Action NOW works best for me.
- If I only took the time I spend thinking about this subject and used it, I’d be ahead. Starting now, I commit….
- Consider the Six Week Marketing Master Plan. Hundreds of coaches, consultants, freelancers, and service providers like you have made the commitment to devote one hour per day to up-level their business. Some make dramatic strides forward as a result.
When I met James he was a consultant who had earned $5,000 in the previous quarter. He studied The Six Week Marketing Master Plan and incorporated some of the ideas included therein. One of those ideas involved a marketing commitment. James worked diligently on his company. Six months later his quarterly earnings increased 300% and he attributes that to the commitment involved in week one. Learn more: http://www.sixweekmarketingplan.com
Disclosure: The Six Week Marketing Master Plan is an e-book I produced as a result of training hundreds of entrepreneurs for marketing today. I collaborated with Maria G. Nozza, a freelance graphic designer, owner of DesignPreneur who has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs with branding. Maria specializes in visual graphics and continues to study web marketing. I specialize in sales-building D.I.Y. (Do-It-Yourself) smart marketing strategies that combine public relations and social media. Learn more.
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