How to create a real fan following on Facebook

WRITTEN BY: KELLY NOBLE, DIRECTOR AT STELLAR MEDIA MARKETING - [email protected]

The days of aiming to get 10,000 Facebook fans to sell more is over. Nowadays savvy companies are starting to realise it is better to have 500 dedicated and loyal fans than the 10,000 fans you paid for that really couldn’t care less about your brand, your service or your products. Numbers mean nothing if those people don’t really have an interest about what you are offering.

So what are the natural ways you can create a loyal following?

1. Go Mobile

According to findings made by comScore, 30 percent of smartphone users accessed social networks via mobile browsers and the trend is growing. The findings also showed that Facebook mobile browser usage was up 112 percent. You can see how important it is to start looking to mobile to help build your following. Here are two ways you can do this right now:

• Use QR Codes (also known as quick response codes) on your print material to encourage people to access your Facebook business page and “like” it. There are plenty of free resources to help you create a basic QR Code or you pay a little to have one fully customised QR Codewith your branding.

• Have fans text (SMS) to “like” your Facebook business page. It’s as simple as texting “Like YOURUSERNAME” to 32665 (FBOOK). This will automatically have the mobile user “like” your page.

2. Customise Your Welcome

Test by various Facebook business page owners have shown that the success rate of converting a visitor to a fan is over 50 percent when you welcome them with a custom page. Having a basic business page is no longer enough to stand out. With the new Facebook iFrame updates, page admins are now allowed to create customised landing pages within Facebook with basic coding and design rather then complicated FBML code. It is always good practice to have visitors land on a custom welcome taband update your Facebook page logo to stand out while you are at it.

3. Cover the Basics

When you first launch your Facebook business page there are some basic things you should do to get the word out:

• Include a link to your Facebook business page in your email signature.
• Include a link to the page in your next newsletter or e-blast.
• Have your Facebook business page URL on your business card.
• Ask your followers who already “Like” your page to share it with their friends.
• Add a Facebook Fan Box or a Linked Facebook Icon on your website.

Now that you know some of the key ways to grow the following of your Facebook business page, I will leave you with one last tip:

You know that you can automatically shorten your Facebook url by using www.fb.com/username rather than www.facebook.com/username. This will help you keep things simple when it comes to sharing your link in print and other sources.

For more information, visit www.stellarmediamarketing.com or visit the Facebook page.