[The following is a guest post from Mike Gingerich of Tabsite.com.]
Facebook marketing is a challenge. There’s lots to learn and always ongoing changes so you can never simply “be done.” For those who put in the time, however, Facebook can be a magnificent marketing venue.
A key to Facebook marketing success is being good with the basics and making sure you keep up with changes.
Back a number of years ago, a popular commercial series on TV and billboards was the “Be like Mike” campaignsThe campaign is the foundation of your Facebook ad. This is where you'll set an advertising objective, which defines what you want your ad to achieve. More by Gatorade featuring NBA basketball great Michael Jordan. These commercials capitalized on the iconic nature of Michael Jordan. A rare athlete that rose to any challenge and was at the pinnacle of a spectacular career winning multiple NBA championships.
The Gatorade commercials showed clips of spectacular plays by Jordan along with children on a playground trying to emulate Michael’s moves with the rhythmic song, “I wanna be like Mike” in the background.
In the same way, Facebook marketers can learn from and find success in emulating one of the best. In Facebook marketing, it’s Mari Smith.
Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook”, Mari Smith is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Facebook marketing and social media. She is the author of The New Relationship Marketing and co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. Her webinars and training courses have helped thousands greatly improve their Facebook marketing efforts.
As such, Mari is ideal for Page Admins to watch and learn from. Let’s take a look at 5 items we can learn from with a quick review of her Facebook page!
1. Maximize Marketing Use of Fan Page Cover Image
Facebook recently loosened the restrictions on what you can display on your main page cover image (view updated Facebook Guidelines). This 851 x 315 pixel size prime location now offers opportunity for displaying your web address, a call-to-actionA call-to-action is a button or link on your ad that suggests the action you want your audience to take. Examples: "Learn More" or "Sign Up." More, or other great marketing opportunities.
The key is that text on the cover image cannot exceed 20%. If designed creatively, this affords pages a powerful new opportunity to communicate key pieces of information to visitors coming to the page. Mari is using her cover image as a brilliant call-to-action for her Facebook training course.
2. Use the About ‘Short Description’ Well!
Note how Mari uses the short description in her page which displays right below the profile image. Pages can display a brief short description of up to about 155 characters. Mari is able to showcase her website and twitter username in this space, giving users easy access to find and follow her on her other web assets. To update this area, go to “Edit Settings” in your Admin Panel and under “Basic Information” look for “Short Description.”
Note that some page category types, like Local Businesses, do not have the short description due to those types displaying the business hours and other relevant information.
3. Enhance Page Features with Tab Apps
Apps are great ways to extend the features of your fan page! The uses of tabs for promotions and key resources are nearly limitless.
Mari is using her top three tab spots to inform and drive traffic to her most recent webinar video replay, a special offer where users can enter for the opportunity to potentially win a free fan page critique, and a tab leading to her videos. Tabs that offer resources and incentive options can draw visitors and boost engagement on your fan page.
Now is a good time to stop and consider what you have been doing and what you should be doing with your page tabs. Some of the more common ways that apps are used on pages are for running contests and offering deals. In fact, using a third-party app is the only way a contest or deal can be run that meets Facebook’s promotion guidelines. These uses can help draw in visitors to the page and grow community size and interest.
At a minimum, pages should consider a tab with opportunity for visitors to sign-up for the company email newsletter list. As well, a combination of a deal with email sign-up can be a great way to grow your list.
Each app is accessed on your Facebook page by the thumbnail images that appear below your cover image and lead to apps in use on your page. You have the opportunity to showcase three tab apps that are always visible to visitors to your page. Make sure these capture attention! The best way to do this is to use simple fonts and shorten the call-out to a word or only a couple words.
4. Optimize the About Section for Search
After adding your Short Description, make sure to review and complete the remainder of the “About” section which has sub-sections such as the Company Overview, Description, General Information and Mission. The About area is indexed by search engines and used by Facebook’s Graph Search, so make sure it contains your keywords. The exact sub-sections can vary depending on the page category you have chosen.
Mari makes great use of her “About area” by including key words, powerful comments about her as stated by leading resources, and quick links to a number of her current product offerings. Users have no doubt about who she is, her authority, and where they can go to see and learn more.
5. Begin Using #Hashtags in Posts!
Facebook just announced and opened up the use of hashtags in early June. Hashtags turn topics and phrases into clickable links in posts on your Page, and help people find posts about topics they’re interested in.
When people click a hashtag, they’ll see a feed of posts that have been shared that are also using this hashtag. Marketers can begin to identify key hashtags for their products and industry, and weave them into posts. Below, Mari uses a number of hashtags relevant to her post. The use of these hashtags means that others reviewing a tag may then also see her post, giving her post extended life and value.
Summary:
Be like Mari! (sing the jingle. repeat.)
While we could outline additional areas that can add value and are in use on Mari’s Facebook Page, these five items give a solid foundation for any Facebook Page Admin to review on their own Facebook page.
So what are you waiting for? Go check your page and be…[sing again].
Mike Gingerich is co-founder of TabSite, a leading Facebook page management software for contests and promotions. He leads the Product Development Team. Follow Mike on Twitter @Mike_Gingerich.
