Over the past few years Facebook has witnessed a dramatic rise in new user adoption and with that rise has come the opportunity for brands to interact directly with existing customers and engage new ones. At the end of 2007, Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Pages and last week they launched a revised edition which includes a number of significant upgrades. This week, those pages will be going live for all. There are numerous ways for brands to leverage Facebook but the overall branded experience is becoming increasingly integrated into a single offering as the new Pages product highlights. So what are the primary benefits and changes for the new branded pages?
Pages Are Profiles for Brands
One of the primary reasons for launching Facebook Pages was that many companies were using user profiles for their companies, in turn violating Facebook’s terms of service. While I’m sure there were many other reasons for launching Pages, the easiest way to understand them is through viewing them as “Profiles for Brands”. This means brand pages can essentially do everything that users can do.
Pages Have Access to Users’ Feeds
This is probably the single most important feature within the new Facebook Pages product. Many in the press have described this as Twitter for Facebook. It’s an accurate description but for those that don’t understand what Twitter is, this makes things more confusing. Essentially when Facebook users become a “fan” of your branded page, they will be notified of your status updates anytime you update the status on your brand page, via the primary news feed on the homepage.
The News Feed is Now Real Time
This is actually an update to the site homepage but it will have a significant impact. Previously Facebook cached the homepage for at least 15 minutes in addition to automatically filtering all feed stories. This means that any feed story which made it to the news feed previously would stay there for a fairly long period of time. The news feed has since been redesigned to stream stories instead displaying the automatically filtered stories as “Highlights” on the right hand side of the page.
Pages Can Integrate Multiple Applications
Earlier this week I posted the example of a robust branded Facebook page which integrates an application into the experience. Pages could previously integrate basic applications but now there is space to integrate applications that are just as robust as those with standalone canvas pages. Not sure of what “canvas pages” are? A canvas page is the space in Facebook below the Facebook header and to the left of Facebook’s sidebar ads. Essentially you can now post applications which take up the full width of the page. I’ve gone ahead and posted a photo of the canvas area in the photo below.
Brands Can Join the Conversation
Social media has always been about joining the conversation and for the first time ever on Facebook, brands can now be a significant part of the conversation. Just as I mentioned earlier, these conversations can take place within a Facebook Page as well as in a user’s news feed. I can’t emphasize how important joining the conversation is. While your social media strategy should continue to include other outlets (blogs, Twitter, etc), Facebook should now attract much more attention since there is the potential for conversation.
10 Facebook Page Strategies Every Brand Should Know
As I mentioned in the introduction, Facebook Pages present a massive opportunity for brands to directly engage with their existing and future customers, even the occasional passer-by. This conversation brings with it the power that all other social media tools and platforms provide which is why this latest release of Facebook Pages is so important for brands. Yes, changes will come to the Pages product over the coming months and years but as many early adopters know, it’s often best to wait until the second version of a product arrives. Now that the second version of Facebook Pages has launched, it’s time for you to take your brand to the next level.
Below, I have outlined 10 tips for creating engaging Facebook Pages. These are only the top 10 and there are many other lessons to be learned but this should serve as the ultimate starter guide for any brand/company looking to make their entrance into Facebook.
1. Develop Custom Tabs for Custom Ads
Advertising your brand’s page is always extremely important. One of the greatest features of Facebook’s new pages product is that you can link directly to specific tabs. That means you can separate which pages a user views by default based on the ad that they clicked on. For example, perhaps you’d like to target two groups of users in different geographic locations. You would display one advertisement for people in Washington, D.C. and those users will land on a page which is specific to users from Washington, D.C. A different page would be displayed to users from San Francisco for example.
While this system isn’t necessarily the most scalable (for example having 500 tabs doesn’t really make much sense), it can instantly increase the conversion of new visitors into fans. This method also requires a bit more investment in customization but I’d argue that it’s well worth it, especially for smaller brands and companies.
2. Don’t Let New Users Land on the Wall
Why on earth would I tell you not to let users land on the wall? Well, my biggest concern is that they’ll bump into humpty dumpty. Seriously though, there is a huge opportunity to present users with engaging information and while the content provided by fans of your brand can be engaging, you have absolutely no control over it. That’s why it’s much better to have new visitors enter a controlled environment and then proceed to navigate through areas with less structure. Yes, the wall can be extremely valuable for letting users talk to you and your brand but such unfiltered waters are the last place you should force a new user to navigate through. Provide your users with a safe entrance to the muddy waters we call “social media” and they will forever thank you for it, trust me.
3. Create a Unique Page Image
I honestly believe that this is one of the most important components of a fan page. It’s a simple component yet within the confines of a 200 pixel wide box, you would be surprised with the creative ideas that people come up with. Recently Rob Banagale, a guest author on AllFacebook, published an article entitled “5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Facebook Profile Photo“. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you check it out. More impressive than the photos included in the tutorial are the photos that numerous users posted at the end.
I cannot tell you how many standard Facebook Pages I’ve seen in which the basic logo is displayed. If your company has more than one employee (has extra resources), there should be no excuse for not creating an engaging photo for your Facebook Page. It’s one of the first things users look at and it has the potential to leave a lasting impression so make it good!
The photo posted above is a unique user profile photo but I think it illustrates how you can develop creative photos that take advantage of the awkwardly positioned border. If you have other creative profile photos or Page photos that you’ve created or seen please let us know about it.
4. Integrate Applications To Increase Engagement
The last thing you want is for users to land on your Facebook Page and leave immediately. The greatest opportunity you have to capture their attention is through engaging applications. There are currently over 55,000 applications on the Facebook platform and a relatively large portion of them can be directly integrated into your fan page. Over the coming weeks there will be numerous applications that are built around the soon to be updated Facebook Page API which will make it easier for brands to launch a relatively engaging Facebook Page within minutes.
For larger brands I highly recommend that you develop a more robust experience for the user. Games, quizzes, and other types of dynamic content in general can help keep users on your Facebook Page for longer durations of time. As you know, we live in an attention economy and that means you want to get all the attention you can from consumers. One thing you should make sure is that your application has a call to action so that when a new user lands on the page they are immediately engaged.
5. Join the Conversation, It’s Not Optional Anymore
As I stated before, this is the first time that brands have the opportunity to be a major part of a user’s conversation on Facebook so take advantage of it. That means every time someone comments on your new status, a photo, a video, a discussion thread, or anything else, you need to comment on it. Gone are the days of a one-way conversation in which the brands talk down to their customers. We are in the midst of a conversational revolution and your company needs to be part of it. At this point, you don’t have the option not to participate.
Failing to engage your customers and potential customers means less revenue, and it also means you’ll be losing to your competition who is engaging with their customers on a regular basis. Whether you are a small business (dentist, physician, plumber, restaurant, etc) or a large corporation, you need to be talking to your client and the only way to do that is through a two way dialogue. They’ll ask you questions that you can reply to and you can ask questions as well. Ask about what would improve their experience with your company. Also, ask them about the world in general because at the end of the day, they’re humans just like you.
It takes extra effort to engage your clients and going that extra mile will always keep clients coming back. You want to promote an exceptional brand right?
6. Publish Interesting and Relevant Content
Just like in other areas of social media (blogs, Twitter, etc), it’s extremely important to provide interesting content to your readers. Facebook is no different. By regularly referencing other relevant content, your fans will keep returning to your page. While attracting repeat visitors is not the single most important component of fan pages, repeat engagement is easily the second most important variable. In virtual economies, one of the most effective measurements of the state of an economy is repeat usage. Facebook pages and other digital content channels are no different. Users that return to your page regularly are significantly more likely to become paying customers.
Even more important is that existing customers who return to your Facebook page are more likely to continue as customers. The bottom line is that a plain looking Facebook page is not doing your company any favors. Yes, having any sort of presence is always better than nothing at all but if you took the time to read through this guide, please do me a favor and make a little extra effort to create an engaging Facebook page. So how do you find interesting content?
While I won’t dive to deep into the details about finding interesting content, you should be able to find relevant content to your readers by doing a search on Google Blogsearch, and leveraging an RSS reader like Google Reader. Typically I would assume that most readers of this site know what RSS is but if you don’t it’s a simple way to read the content on sites without actually having to visit each site individually. If you want to learn more, check out Google’s Feed 101. If you want the short answer for finding interesting content: look for it. I wish I could say it’s easier than that but unfortunately it still takes time to find interesting content.
You can turn to other forms of content aggregators like Delicious.com and Digg.com but those typically only serve specific communities. If you are outside of the new media industry, you’ll have to use traditional sources like Google News, Google Blogsearch, and the mainstream media.
7. Repost Comments By Other Users
If you are on Twitter, reposting information is essentially the same as a retweet. By reposting a person’s information, you are complimenting them and they will be more likely to pay attention to you. I should note that I’m using “you” and “your brand” interchangeably in this part because in social media, you should be placing a face on your brand. Right now Fan Pages aren’t extremely conducive to putting a face on the brand but that will change overtime. Reposting the information that other users post is extremely valuable.
Don’t overuse this though! I can’t tell you how often I see people on Twitter retweet other users continuously, hoping that it will suddenly increase their follower base drastically. While it will help, this is not something which should suddenly drive thousands of users to your fan page. Instead, it’s a good habit to get into as overtime you and your company’s reputation will build for engaging users on a regular basis.
8. Update Regularly!
While it’s extremely important to monitor the conversation that users are having within your branded Facebook Pages, it’s also extremely important to help spark the conversation. By posting questions to users, creating new topics within discussion forums, and performing other activities that create dialogue (such as the previous one mentioned), you’ll keep users coming back to your Facebook Page. This is similar to the concept of posting blog posts regularly (which by the way can be automatically imported to your Facebook Page) on your company blog.
Just as I’ve emphasized the importance of quality content and engagement with your fans, the most important thing is persistence. Unless you keep engaging your fans on a regular basis and continue to post interesting content, you are going to find it difficult to continuously attract new fans.
9. Post and Tag Users in Photos and Videos
Tagging users in photos and videos is probably one of the most effective promotional activities that you can do. The only challenge is coming up with content to tag users in. The best way to get photos and videos of your fans is through hosting events as I mention in the next tip but if you can’t host events, you’ll need to come up with creative ways to tag your fans. So how do you do that? That’s a bit more complicated but nothing that a creative marketer can’t figure.
One way would be to introduce a contest to your fan page and then tag the winners of those awards in a trophy photo. If you want to take that idea a step further you could actually integrate your fans’ photos into the trophies. This is just one idea though and there are a limitless number of ideas out there. Tagging users is a naturally viral process because as soon as you tag one person, their friends see it and then users are driven to that album which in this case, resides within your fan page.
There is one extremely limiting factor about fan page photos though: you must be a friend of a user to tag them! Yes, it’s unfortunate and honestly I don’t think it makes much sense. While Facebook should enable fan pages to tag members of the page, they haven’t done so yet. Theoretically I could suggest leveraging “guerilla tactics” or overly aggressive techniques to tag members. What are these “guerilla tactics” that I speak of? Well you can figure it out on your own but one example would be adding a fan as a friend for the sole purpose of tagging them in a photo.
I don’t recommend using this technique or any technique similar to this though because you may end up in Facebook jail (a.k.a. getting banned from the site). For the time being I would recommend posting as many relevant photos as possible and tagging those users that are in them. The more tagging that takes place, the quicker your page will spread.
10. Leverage the Power of Facebook Events
Events provide an amazing opportunity for brands to reach out to their fan base. Best of all, these events don’t actually need to be in person events! While it’s not possible to view the network density of the fans of your brand (you can’t easily see how many fans are friends with each other), when multiple people RSVP to an event there are increased odds that your event will be distributed through the social graph, in turn driving new users to your brand’s page.
Like previous tricks or tips that I mentioned, there are inherent limitations. The primary one being that messages sent out to an event created through a fan page do not end up in a user’s inbox. Instead, those messages are sent via page “updates” which are displayed in a separate area. Fortunately, Facebook’s redesigned homepage, which is launching this week, includes updates at the top of a user’s homepage, making them more visible.
So Where Are My Millions Of Fans?
I know that I started this article by suggesting that you could attract millions of users to your Facebook fan page. I firmly believe that it is possible but it will take a lot of effort. Putting forth that effort though can produce substantial rewards. I’ve only touched on ten strategies that can be used to drive new fans to your page but ultimately, the more time you invest in your brand’s Facebook page, the better response you’ll get.
Yes, you could choose to simply set up a page and let it stand there because your brand alone can attract hundreds of thousands if not millions of users. If you’ve read this far in the guide though, I’m guessing your brand alone will not cut it. Instead, through persistence and consistent attention to your branded page, you will be able to generate new customers and retain existing ones. No, a Facebook page should not be the end of your company’s social media strategy but with 180 million or more Facebook users and millions more joining every week, there is no excuse not to be on the site.
But Nick, you told us that we’d have millions of fans though and that’s why I read this article. Yes, I did! There are many more techniques to improve the rate at which fans return to your Facebook page and I am glad to share those with you. If you want to have access to them, you are going to have to sign up for our newsletter though. I know, I teased you with all these tips, but honestly this should be enough to get you started. If you have any tips that you’d like to share us with please do and we’ll share it with the community.
Awesome post. Thank you!
Any different advise for governement or non-profir, or is it pretty much the same? http://www.preparedinplano.com
good note about note sending people directly to the wall. also on the use of events. thanks nick!
Thanks for the great advice. Please tell me (someone) if new visitors are not supposed to land on the WALL, where should they land? For some reason my PAGE does not have a STREAM. Is the STREAM where they should land? If not have you any suggestions/tips?
Incidentally me PAGE is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nosara-Costa-Rica/Innocent-Surf-School/45974556297#/pages/Nosara-Costa-Rica/Innocent-Surf-School/45974556297?v=wall&viewas=636182256
Great Post. Well done.
So, you would suggest businesses to use fan pages rather than groups? One of the major advantages of forming into groups was that you can mass contact all of your users. Are the new fan page iterations allowing you to mass contact, for “updates” are easily overlooked…
I just posted a quick screencast on how to easily create a facebook application (that goes on one of the tabs of your page) WITHOUT learning the Facebook API: http://www.borism.net/2009/03/11/create-a-simple-facebook-application-without-using-the-facebook-api/
Great post..
thanks!!!
Thanks, great article.
Exactly what I needed for tomorrow’s class presentation on the benefits of Social Networking websites.
Superb job, Nick!! Very comprehensive guide for those new and more experienced alike. Glad to see you encouraging Page owners to mix up the tabs, add rich media and engage in the conversation - agree 100% and I’m telling my peeps the same.
I think Ellen DeGeneres’ team are doing a great job with her page: http://www.facebook.com/ellentv - among others.
Cheers!
http://marismith.com/fanpage
What a thorough article. I didn’t know you can change up the tabs across the top. Just starting a page for a client and it still needs a lot of work.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flexcin/52835122581
Fantastic post. I got here from Mark Laymon sharing this post on Facebook, by the way.
How does one get rid of the Wall on a Facebook page?
I’m often baffled by how the recent Twitter frenzy has overlooked the brand opportunity for marketers on Facebook, along with the lack of scale for Twitter. Yes, Twitter now has 6 million users, but Facebook has 175 million! More importantly, according to Nielsen’s recent report on social networks (which we covered this week), Facebook users spend an average of 3 hours and 10 minutes on the site per-month; the highest average time per-person amongst the 75 most popular brands online.
Thank you for the tip, we increase considerably the referral traffic from facebook to our site http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/ and we increase also the fan member to our fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/VANGUARDIA/#/pages/VANGUARDIA/17853721002
These are some great tips. We have actually implemented a few of these tips and already got a few thousand fans and now to do all of these tips.
Good stuff! Especially enjoyed the article you pointed out on making images more interesting: 5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Facebook Profile Photo.
just wondering, where did you get the photo for number “3. Create a Unique Page Image?”
Great ideas Nick! Now I’m going to have to go and see if all your good ideas can be assimilated.
Thank you, b.
Very valuable information! I see a few immediate actions I can take! Thanks
You have some great ideas, my communications teacher tweeted this!
I do have some questions though. You have focused heavily on business promotion but what about websites? I run a forum geared to towards accounting and I don’t have money for ads, any tips for me?
Great post but I’m a little confused. I have added the AF news app but appears it has attached to my personal page and not my brand page. How to I move it across or attach it properly to the right place?
Rob
Those are great tips. I own the “Diamonds” page with 252K plus fans. I have to say that while the features, layout, and ways to keep in front of your fans are much better, the new fan pages are MUCH LESS VIRAL. My page’s growth has slowed significantly since the new layout. And it’s not me because all of the bigger pages have seen less growth. Look at your stats on this site.
Part of the reason is that the new feed does not show when you have become a fan of something. It’s taken up with a lot of conversations. So while Facebook has improved fan pages, they have also made them less viral and I hope they will fix it.
Here is our page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Diamonds/13743875041
Wow! This is some great content. I’ve been developing my music page and am having great success but this will take me to the next level! Thanks again.
My FaceBok Page
Great information to help get us set up.
IN OUR LIFE WE DO NEED FUN AND WHEN WE DO WANT IT IN PRESENT WE HAVE TO DO CONNECT TO A PERFECT PAGE WHERE WE WILL HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WORLDWIDE AND THESE FACEBOOK IS THE ONLY WAY TO DO JEST WITH ENTIRE WORLD WIDE PERSON,SO HERE WE HAVE REALLY PLEASURE GOT THE RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT IMPROVE AND DEVELOP THE PAGE…THANKS TO HELP SERVICE OF FACE BOOK AND TOOO TIGHT HUGS FROM ME
Dear Expert!
I would like to know how can I make certain application appear on the right hand side of FacePage instead of showing on the tab or box?
for example, on this page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dunkin-Donuts/6979393237?ref=mf , the application “my Poll” is shown on the right hand side instead of in box or appear as tab,
Anyone has a solution to this question? Thank you in advance!
Sincerely,
David
Did anyone ever figure out how to simply, easily make a custom tab on one of these facebook pages?
With reference to I think I can’t tag people that is fan of my pages if I am not friend with them, so it’s not a real tip.
I hope I am wrong because I really would like to play with video, notes & photo tagging with few of friends of those pages.
Your PDF download is exactly the same as this post, despite the claim that it contains a lot more techniques. For someone who preaches a lot about fresh content and image, that doesn’t say much about AllFacebook.
“There are many more techniques to improve the rate at which fans return to your Facebook page and I am glad to share those with you. If you want to have access to them, you are going to have to sign up for our newsletter though.”
You can make a custom tab and make it the default landing tab for new visitors by using Facebook’s own FBML app. Take a look at what I’ve done for my page: The GCRM (Gay Civil Rights Movement) Media Center - http://tinyurl.com/gcrmmediacenter
Great clear explanation…..Excelent work..
Is it possible to be updated when someone leaves a comment on my business page (like updates are received by email on personal pages)?
And, how can I go directly to my page without having to go through the Ads and Pages, then Pages, then View Page?
i have downloaded the pdf. but couldn’t get this done
On my page how do I get users to land on an application first instead of the wall? I looked all over but I can seem how to delete or move the wall tab out of the first position.
Thanks so much for this…I will definitely be using the ideas! I’m on FB, Blog, Twitter and excited to increase my peeps. xoxo, Maggie
Can anyone confirm if it is possible to tag people/friends in video on a fan page (if they are NOT members of that fan page).
Also above it mentions voting for your favorite new video via an app. this is a fantastic idea, however i’ve just tried searching for an app to cater for this need and there doesn’t appear to be one available… Can anyone suggest a video voting Facebook app.?
Thanks
Christian.
Hi,great post! Busy implementing the strategies at the moment on my page http://www.facebook.com/pages/a-brides-tale/176754650233
I also want to know, like Ru Hill, if I shouldn’t send people directly to the wall, where should they go then? If I send them to info for instance it may not be engaging enough.
Thanks
Lettie
very informative post. thank you
Hi everyone!
Kindly asking all out there to “fan” my page. Desperately seeking that magic 100 number!
Would be happy to reciprocate if needed. Thanks so much =))
Please click below to become a a fan!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Piermont-NY/Global-Speech-Solutions/128548100161
Thanks for the informative article!
Hie,Your article is refreshing and interesting.Okay the Facebook Page is a great tool to attract fans,but my million dollar question is : Does the number of fans on your Page translate to an increase in the traffic to your website? Does a Page increase traffic to your website?Because some fans may just want to join your Page for social fun only.Also does a Page work for a gaming site ?
Awesome post Nick. It’s wonderful to see how many businesses and brands are taking advantage of Facebook pages. But I agree, it has to be executed correctly to be effective. Great ideas here! Thanks again.
Can you have more than one fan page? I would like one for my high school classmates and one for my business.
Great post, thanks
Good points for our new page. How can I invite fans?
Great post. to the point tips that all artists need to know, including myself. Especially the not landing on the wall tip.
Thanks for this…
awesome stuff. I can’t wait to see Facebook page v_3
It was frustrating to run facebook marketing before with hard to use features. I hope this new improvement helps marketers further adopt to Facebook.
yes
There can not be a better explanation to create an effective Facebook page. Kudos to your hard work and sharing this information with us.
nice
I’d like for you all to check out my musician page and become a fan at
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=99215778605&ref=ts#/pages/Daniyal-Malik/119204334113?ref=ts
does anyone know how to create a link “become a fan of xxxx” on the videos on your fan site itself?
so that while people watch the videos it’s a little link on the video itself the top corner named “become a fan”. so that when people click on the link, they becomes fans of your fan page. how do you do that? have seen it on other fan site videos.
Very useful and effective!
So, can anyone tell me if there is an easy way to turn a group to a fan page without losing your members? Is there an easy transfer? I greated a group for my nonprofit and want to change over to a fan page.
thx!
Thank you, this was an awesome post! Useful and most important: inspiring!
Very good post. It helped me fine tune my facebook page.
Wow, thanks, I have picked up some great tips.
quote: “So, can anyone tell me if there is an easy way to turn a group to a fan page without losing your members? Is there an easy transfer? I greated a group for my nonprofit and want to change over to a fan page.
thx!”
I don’t think you can…Facebook lacks this functionality. Btw, I read here: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=900. What do they mean by “on Sunday, June 28, 2009″ o.O
Good tips for a newbie in facebook.
The best srategy for a newbie is to learn the systems and then implement it .
If not we’re wasting our time in social marketing .
Learn —> Research —-> Implement
useful! tnx.
Thank you for this helpful and insightful article!
I have a question maybe you can help me with. I manage a business page and when I try to publish something from my personal profile to the page I automatically become my page´s logo and my profile doesn´t show any more. How can I add a comment as myself on the page?
Nise article. It is really very useful
Can someone please answer me this:
I am currently working in ways to enhance and expand the number of fans for my company’s Facebook page. Last week when I updated the status for the page, the status update did not appear on my own page’s newsfeed (I am one of the fans). Also, I created an event and made two “update fans” postings, but they as well did not appear on my personal account.
Does anybody have any idea why it’s not working? The settings seem correct. We only have 140 ish fans, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Thanks
-Greg
gmcasassa@gmail.com
Thanks for the information, I also just attended a workshop by Lisa Larter who also gave a great overview of the key tools out there.
-Lisa
Great piece. I am probably going to sign up for your newsletter. I set up the page some time ago and have not been able to attract fans. This gives me a great start.
hi Nick !
awesome post.is it posible on facebook to become a fan of facebook page from the button of become a fan on my application on facebook
pawan bali
Hey, after reading this article we tried to implement those tips into our fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-City-News/137362123910.
What else can be done? What do you think?
Thank you
Big City News
Awesome article! Thank you very much! I began customizing my Facebook page. This is the result :
http://www.facebook.com/mdostudio?v=app_4949752878
It only took a few hours…
I created a fan page after all the changes in March, it is marked as published, but does not show up. When I “Suggest to Friends”…they never get the suggestion from FB.
In searching for an answer to this problem, I have found that there are a lot of people having this problem.
Any suggestions, advise, or solutions?
Thanks
awesome man .. great tips !! thanx for such informative sharing
a great trick to select all ur frends in one second
http://emailzz.blogspot.com/2009/11/invite-all-facebook-friends-to-group.html
Love the custom image idea and am going to work on that now. Probably won’t have antlers though.
For our Facebook page we sell furniture and another way we improved our page was by adding a Facebook Shop Tab.
It has a cool share feature so our customers are publishing their favorite products to their wall and this has really increased traffic to our website.
You can find the Facebook Shop Tab App that we are using at http://www.facebook.com/ShopTabApp
Fantastic piece, really impressive tips.
But I’m still looking for more about the page photo. How do you make a stand alone logo more attractive, what could make that pop?
Help! What can one do after accidently setting up a Profile instead of a Page for my business. Now it tells me the name is not available if I try to make a Page?
Can I switch it somehow? Is there something that I am missing or have I just entirely made a mess? I guess I could use my other domain name but I’m trying to create some brand recognition.
I would appreciate any help because my web designer isn’t much help.
Thanks,
Marcy
hi nick!
thank you for information, it helps me a lot.
Am just setting up my own page and I found this a very helpful post. So helpful, I’ve taken your advice and joined your newsletter
thanks Nick.
hi, thanks this is great!
I was wondering: when u spot some cool content on the web that you want to share on your Facebook page (the pro one not my personal profile but they r linked, right?)
so when you click at the end of an article for ex. “SHARE on Facebook”, how can you post this info on your professional FACEBOOK page and not on your personal Facebook Profile???
it is automatic, it sounds, and the info gets ready to be shared on my personal Facebook profile? I cant see an option to change that and select: “NO, please share on my Facebook Page instead”
MANY THANKS
geraldine
xxx
This is a really thoughtful, helpful article, Nick. Thanks! You have lots of great ideas to implement! It’s a fascinating idea to not have them land on your Wall. Now, I need to learn how to do that. http://www.Facebook.com/SmartHabitsFans
Thanks again for being so generous by giving such great advice!
Is there any way to make status updates from my branded page appear in the New Feeds of our fans? They are showing up in the “Pages” section and people are missing them! Help!
The only place fan page posts go is into Live Feed and can be seen thru the updates link in the inbox–I never click that link and I rarely use Live Feed. I wonder what the statistics are for people who use Live Feed?
Does facebook feel if they did post fan page updates in the home status page, users would be innundated by fan pages and annoyed? I wish they would allow posting to the home status page…
That is great, this definitely helps, very innovative, I have learned much from it specially tagging fans can help you reach more people!
Thanks!
Great page thanks!
Great Post and ideas
great Post & ideas
hi there
how can i change this url “http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Marrakesh-Morocco/212Communication/273219484174?ref=ts”
into this “http://www.facebook.com/212Communication
Thanks for good link….
Can’t see my fan page without logging In?
I have a facebook fan page with almost 500 fans, I would like to know if it is possible to see the page without logging in. I found other pages that you can see it.
For example:
My page: http://facebook.com/PhillyVenues (without log in goes to the login page)
Other Page: http:facebook.com/MaryKay (goes directly to the page)
Any thoughts?
Thank you in advance for your help
Paulo
Thanks, very helpful!!!
this one was pretty funny:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyRealStatus/267942289752
Thoroughly enjoyed this and found it very helpful, I can’t wait to start putting it to practice on The Penobscot Narrows Observatory and Fort Knox site.
We need more resources like this. Thanks for the valuable content.
I sure love to be on the computer.There are still a million things to learn how to do.I like being able to e-mail all of my new friends.
robert i love you !! !! you are the very very beutiful !! !! i read the books (twilight and new moon) the twilight is my favourite book
Great tips. I found a number of gems I’m definitely going to need to incorporate and recommend to my clients. Thanks!
I loved this article - it brings up a BIG question for me.
How to navigate TWO languages on one fan page? OR should I make a fan page for each language?
I have a healing music business:
1) World wide, where I communicate in English
2) In Israel - where I operate in Hebrew.
What have others in similar situations found most effective?
Thanks for reply
I’m new to building a page and would love some HTML guidance on putting an image and text side by side. see exampled from ellen facebook…
http://www.facebook.com/ellentv?ref=search&sid=1239500651.1252032362..1
Thanks for the cool tips!
I’m also trying my best to give our Talent Recruitment page a boost.
Advertising really helped to get the “critical mass”.
Today we are developing a “welcome page”, structured and very nice-looking, redirecting our fans to the important parts of our page. Also a Quiz is being developed, wich will hopefully spread across FB and advertise our page even more!
And finally, take a look at the profile picture I created after reading your article. The guy is part of our teasing campaign to attract students to our Talent Recruitment page!
http://www.facebook.com/lorealtalentrecruitment
Wait, #2 says don’t let visitors start out on your wall, but they don’t give an alternative. If not your wall, then what do you show them?
Hey!
Check out my page if you get time!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=324951678627
I find it disingenuous to have a big button saying “download 75-page report now” which actually leads to a sales page where you have to BUY the report. Why not just say so before I click the link? All you do is create annoyance in a potential customer - like this one, who won’t be coming back.
un conte sur facbook
Marie, I agree with you. However, you just need to check this page’s comments (and the others) to see that this blogger rarely responds to the commenters, so why would he care if he’s annoying potential clients to the point of losing them?
Excellent tips! Thank you!
Hi… love all these comments and tips by the way!
Does anyone know of a way to find out what number a fan is?
E.g. running a competition for the 100th fan? How can they (or I) prove that they’re the 100th?
Any help is appreciated.
In reply to Rebecca’s query, I think the Facebook fans list on your facebook page is displayed from the oldest to the newest and you could count the number hundred(100) and almost accurately presume that he/she is the 100th fan.
Fantastic information- great work. Thanks very much!
superb , good information.
Awesome! Great suggestions!
I like the look of that app that allows you to vote on videos, could you tell me what it’s called?
Good tips in this article……
I’ve been searching for, but not finding a facebook app that allows fans to write a review of your company or product. Don’t have experience in coding..so it would need to be ready to roll. Recommendations for ones you use that are effective for this purpose?
Thanks!
Mary
Hi-Strung Designs Jewelry
http://www.hi-strungdesigns.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=58829170313#!/pages/Hi-Strung-Designs-Jewelry/58829170313
All kind of movies and music , Bangla natok , Sports , Tv news, Tv show and many more videos.Now it is easy to watch and download.
Great post, helped me to attract fans of my page.
I run a Social Media agency in India. One of the things we have seen work well on Facebook is visual content. Pictures and videos draw more attention that just text. In general, our eyes “take in” visual communication better than just text. Also one must learn to use the DP effectively (the small picture that comes to the left side of the actual feed content). One can change this often and use it to promote content. Space is limited..hence communication has to be very creative
Nice article. Fan Pages are a great way to connect with fans! Here is an article about how to get more fans!
http://coffinmediaworks.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-get-people-on-your-fan-page.html
Custom Fan Pages are essential, contact me if you want me to design one!
I just made a fans page in facebook but i dont know how to update the status of the page. I cant get the page where the box says “whats on your mind” could anyone tell me how to??
We offer all of the the services suggested in this article:
http://www.facebookpromo.com
or http://www.facebook.com/promotenow
great……..
Check out our app http://apps.facebook.com/welcometab
This will help you customize your Facebook fan pages in less than 2 minutes. You also get tab-level metrics.
When the Arabs held Jerusalem they treated Jewish religious sites as a garbage dump. More at http://www.masada2000.org/arafat-plo.html
PLEASE JOIN MY PAGE TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION IN CYPRUS..
http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-love-Cyprus-and-want-to-enjoy-the-whole-island-not-just-63-of-it/498141415127?ref=ts
Hi,
thanks for facebook page creation guideline, i wud like to ask one quesiton, can u refer me a good wordpress plugin which can auto update my fan page.
Since 10 days i can not find how to do that?
THANKS
Thanks for the decent tips, it’s time for me to see them in action
Any plans to update this article any time soon to take into account all recent updates on FB?
Great information - thanks.
I´ll change my page on facebook and try to optimize it with your tipps.
Thanks
Currently writing a proposal for my boss re: our credit union ‘joining the conversation’ this was a great help. Thanks!
Hey if you are a fan of kate.profile then go to this new one called http://www.kaitlynrocks.com and you can comment like no other did!!!
Thank you very much for the tips. We are serving our clients on advertising side. We see more and more “become A fan” ads receving better interets over regular ads.
http://www.facebook.com/localppcmanager
eally good pirce of information….
If you ask me I would say creativity is your most important strategy. Do not just follow the crowd lead it!
I am trying to increase interest in our new Explore Church History Facebook page by authoring one of the first historical essays ever produced on a Facebook Wall by a professional historian.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Explore-Church-History/174515101280?ref=ts
The essay compares and contrasts the Reformation with the current sexual abuse crisis as a challenge to the survival of the Catholic Church.
Stephen H. Haliczer
Distinguished Research Professor
Northern Illinois University
Author: The Vatican board game
Thanks your guide
Fatima, you asked about a plugin that automatically updates your Fan Page. Check out the “Status Updater”. I’m not sure if this is what you are looking for, but the description listed on the plugin directory sounds promising.
For an example of a customized landing page using static FBML, check out the page that I recently created: http://www.facebook.com/pages/WebDesignsByMichelle/100280366680491
Just want to find out that should i TAG every member in the group in every picture…. wont that be a bit annoying …. ?
im just wondering how 2 make your own become a fan!!!……
i thought there is a limit of 5,000 friends so how can you get millions
Good little guide. Thanks for sharing. Ted
Thanks, very useful. Now everyone go to my page!
Limit of 5000 friends? Now there is a problem the Vitality Blue Guy would love to have!
htp://www.vitalityhealthinsurance.com
itss cool !!!
http://amanrulesit.blogspot.com
Great Post and Tips. I agree with not allowing people to land on the wall. The FBML works great for creating a custom wall tab. View mine here. http://www.facebook.com/onerushfan
One of the best posts on the Site. extremely helpful and effective.
Excellent post. Got really useful tips on using facebook to enhance business visibility. Thank you.
This is ultimate information, the guy is pure genius and FB guru.
I guess I missed it. Do you have to be a business to make a page? This would be cool to link to my personal blog…
FB won’t let me put my own comments on my fan page. Any suggestions???
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bills-Atomic-Garage
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bills-Atomic-Garage/112828582071675?ref=sgm
This is all really great advice, Nick! It’s so important to get in on the conversation and engage your customers. I feel like a lot of business are overlooking that right now, figuring that just having their page available will be enough to attract attention.
I might also suggest looking into a cheap DIY-type service if you’re having trouble creating that “perfect look” for your fan page. FaceItPages (http://www.faceitpages.com) has some awesome templates, and for a fraction of the cost of purchasing a custom design.
Thanks for the advice Nick.
By the way if anyone one is interested in seeing an independent family film actually made by a family join our fan page. Thanks
http://www.facebook.com/AlondraSmiles
My page is
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Im-just-Googling-some-stuff-for-a-project-LOL-jk-Im-playing-pacman/124452750909254
Ha see your recent post and use facebook wizard automation software!
What application can you use to create something like that “Vote for One of These Videos” box?
We @QueLlevar are trying to apply everything you posted here. We’ll tell you how it goes with facebook.com/quellevar.travel
Yap, its good for my business. Thanks for the suggestions..
Thank for the information. This is a tough time for the Facebook fans & owners. These ideas of using facebook are better ones.
I have been using a fan page for awhile now but I still learned some new things. I even shared this article on my fan page. http://www.facebook.com/onlinebusinesscoach
Very good information! Fantastic overview on Facebook Fan Pages
There is a brilliant facebook app ‘lukup’ (go to
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=7359567029) that lets facebook page fans search fan page content, share content with contacts and lets page admins display content from other sites (could be blogs, e-commerce shops, etc)
Awesome tips. Thank you for sharing. I really like the option for using applications to get fans to use. http://wfapm.com/buQp1L
Thanx a lot
Little Monsters join –> http://bit.ly/9lRdsr
I signed up and I’m supposed to get more tips for doing so. Great! Wait…the PDF is just a copy of the article I just read before signing. Oh, I have to buy an e-book to get these promised tips? I didn’t expect that from you.
FB is an incredible resource to my business and we are using private groups as part of our online educational strategy.
Thanks for the tip. We are in the process of researching many of the top Facebook pages for our company http://www.drivenetconsulting.com and plan to launch in the next few weeks and really engage with potential clients. Great article!
good topic.
http://www.smkw.com/facebook
we have used some of these ideas to help us
IF U LOVE LIFE “LIKE” THIS PAGE
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/I-LOVE-LIFE/135327039832854
very clear and useful guidelines, tks a lot for your know-how sharing
How can I develop my own tab in my facebook page?
Could any1 help?
It’s the ultimate in cynicism and simplicity, but someone finally did it. Now, if you find the prospect of generating a large fan base too daunting, you can simply buy fans. It’s a simple marketplace. Pay between $0.03 and $0.10 per fan (depending on the size of your buy) and then everyone with a Facebook account can come and earn money by clicking Like on participating pages.
http://www.loadednachos.com/1031185564