Once upon a time (but not too long ago) in Internet marketing, it was considered far better to encourage people to love your company than to have them merely express their “like” for it.
Perhaps you remember when Fonzie of the TV sitcom “Happy Days” effectively owned the rights to the “thumbs-up” sign?
Flash forward to the new rules of online advertising, circa 2011. Thanks to the social media marketing juggernaut Facebook, like-ing via a casually-upraised thumb icon is the way to go. Even if you’re not personally a huge fan of social media, blogging and the like, these Web media forms are important ways to:
- Refresh your business’ web content on a regular basis
- Engage customers and others to participate in your online conversations
- Expand your exposure to friends, colleagues and family of the above
The first two items are important from a
search engine optimization (SEO) perspective because they’re a major force in what the big three search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo – “like” to see when ranking your site. (We assume that the third item is a no-brainer to your business!)
Recent surveys show that:
- In the United States, the average Facebook member likes 14 business or brand pages (including nonprofits)
- Both globally and in the United States, 46% of members say that they would unsubscribe from pages that don’t have interesting content
- Members in the United States have less tolerance for excessive social media updates on Facebook pages
What can you do, as a busy business owner or marketing professional, to stay in the good graces of your customers AND the search engines? Some tips that we like (and agree with) from SaaS firm ExactTarget include:
- Set Expectations And Deliver On Them: Whether it’s special offers, updates or contests/raffles, give them an idea of what they can expect from you.
- Reach Out Regularly, But Don’t Bombard Them: Limit posts to one each day.
- What’s In It for Them? Offer your online fans special offers to thank them for (and reinforce) their loyalty.
- Encourage Interaction: Posing questions can increase fan feedback and interaction in the double digits, according to one study.
- ‘Social’ Means Just That: People visit Facebook for many reasons, but one big draw is entertainment. Impart information, but don’t forget to have fun, too.
Facebook should have a place in not just your
social media marketing, but also your overall
strategic planning. Give us a call for assistance with what your business needs to succeed.