The key to successful facebook marketing is not going overboard on the selling side of things, but by using it more for recognition and credibility in whatever business you are promoting.
Some of the top 10 ways to make the most of facebook for business include:
1.Make sure you have a ´Like´ button
If you have a word press blog add a plug in to the blog which places a facebook like button on the blog. Visitors will then press on the like button which will show on your news feed and raise awareness of the blog. If you are unsure how this works, google facebook like button and you will find plenty of ideas and options.
2.Create your page
One of the best ways to market your company or business on facebook is to create a business page. A personal profile page has a limit of 5,000 fans, but a business page can have unlimited fans, and you can create unlimited pages. Keep your page updated regularly, if not daily, letting people know what is new, what is hot and what is happening in your business. This way they will visit your page more. Also get them to interact with questions and competitions.
3.Add an opt-in page to facebook
Add an opt-in page to facebook in order to generate more leads. This will give you an instant lead capture page where you can give away anything that may be useful to customers, and will also enable you to add them to your mailing list.
4.Deleting posts
You can easily block anyone who is spamming, and this is another reason to log onto your page daily. Delete any posts you don´t want on your page or which are inappropriate, and never post anything which could be deemed to be offensive.
5.Friend requests
Never randomly ask friend requests, instead search for groups that are relevant to your target market. Like their page, comment on other posts and then ask them to be your friend on facebook. The more social you are, the more likely they are to boost your site by pressing the like button.
6.Make the most of your profile page
Make sure your profile looks professional and also add a personal touch by telling people about yourself. At the end of the day, people do not buy products if they don´t like the person selling them.
7.Facebook events
Once you set up an event on facebook and people respond, that respond will appear on their news feed, and all their friends get to see it. In other words, their friends will get to know about your event without you having to befriend them.
8.Never spam
If you spam, you will blow away any credibility you may have built up. Never try to sell to people unless you have built up a relationship with them or their site first. Never randomly tag people in videos or photos they do not appear in.
9.Import e mail contacts
You can import your e mail contacts to facebook from most of the major mail sites. Once you import them, if that person is active on facebook they will get a friend request from you. As they are already your contacts, this is a great way to start getting a friends list going.
10.Facebook ads
You can even post a facebook ad that nobody will look at. If you put a photo on it and if you target the right people, you will build awareness of your facebook page. All of us notice some ads which seem to follow us around .. you want the same effect with a smartly placed ad of your own.
Always make sure your facebook marketing campaign is within facebook guidelines .. there is nothing worse than having an account banned after you have put months of work into it.
10 ways to get the most out of your blog
Do you want to make the most from your blog? Are you looking to attract and keep more readers? Some of our top 10 ways to get the most from your blog include:
1.Write about what you really enjoy
If you write about something you really love, and feel passionate about, your enthusiasm will shine through to readers. Blog readers can always tell if a writer has written something from the heart, or simply because it was an exercise assigned to them, which they have little interest in.
2.Write quality content
Write scintillating content. Whatever the subject may be, keep it informative, chatty, personal and interesting, and your readers will keep coming back for more. Once a community is engaged by blogs which invite interaction, they will be much more likely to return. Write fresh material, and never blog on dated subjects or old news.
3.Ask and answer questions
The best way to keep your readers interacting with your site is to respond to requests and give the best advice and feedback possible. Remember that if one person is asking a question about an article or a post, it is likely other readers will also be interested in the same topic. Write articles about requested subjects and also ask your audience plenty of questions about what they want covered.
4.Offer plenty of information
Make sure your blogs offer plenty of information about the subject you are covering. For example, don´t just list the ´top 10 world destinations for home stay travellers´ but explain why that is so. Know who you are targeting and make your article relevant to that market.
5.Say something original
The best way to increase the number of subscribers to your blog is by writing content that is unlikely to be written elsewhere. There are millions of blogs these days, but if you want to stand out from the crowd, include some personal touches to your blog and say something unique. Also, tackle difficult questions or subjects head on, and even if you don´t have the answer straight away, at least acknowledge the post so the reader doesn´t feel ignored.
6.Keep your readers involved
People always feel better when they are part of a group or team. Make your readers feel that what they say on your blog is appreciated and that their comments are well regarded. They want to know you are listening and considering their comments even if you don´t agree with them. Once readers start commenting to one another, your blog will really come to life.
Be careful not to show bias in favour of one comment or another and choose your words carefully when commenting on a debate between bloggers. Show that all the comments are equally valued, whatever their ´take´ on the subject may be. Once readers are interacting with each other they are much more likely to come back on a daily basis to see what has been said, or if there is any comment to their last post.
7.Don´t bombard your audience
One of the best ways to build up your subscriber list is to show respect to your audience from day one. In other words, don´t bombard them with e mails on a daily basis, and grow your site organically instead. You may not see such a drastic growth rate, but you are much more likely to get a better quality database of subscribers, and a very low ´unsubscribe´ rate. Set up goal conversions on Google Analytics to see how many of your visitors are signing up to your site.
8.Keep your promise
In simple terms, the most important thing you can do to increase the number of subscribers to your blog is to give the readers a real reason to want to subscribe. When you publish a post, think about your audience. Who are you targeting? What do they want to read? How do they want it presented? There is no point in getting a high subscription rate as soon as your blog goes live, only for many of your audience to unsubscribe just weeks down the line.
Good blog contents leaves readers wanting more of the same, and you must always keep your eye on the ball, even if you get off to a brilliant start.
9.Leave your readers with something to think about
Give every reader a chance to interact with you, and leave them something to think about at the end of each blog. Make any interaction special for each and every reader who leaves a comment, and once you have earned their trust, you will gain a loyal reader of your site, who by word of mouth will bring more readers.
10.Evergreen content
Evergreen content is content which is written specifically to drive traffic to a website over a long period of time. This type of content will never change, hence the ´evergreen´ name, and may include historical events or references, such as the leadership of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in the UK. Other content may need updating every so often. Evergreen content is always factually correct, as it is something that has already happened and cannot change.
How do you make the most of your blogs? Please leave a comment below if you have any views, tips or advice about what works for you, and why.