Facebook has taken social networking by storm over the past three years, growing to become one of the most used sites on the Internet, both from a new user point of view and a returning visitor rate as well.
Facebook brings together many millions of people who all connect, share information, photos, events and pretty much everything about their lives, whether they mean to or not.
In the same way you can connect to friends, you can also use Facebook as a great way to promote your business or website because the power that Facebook can offer you in terms of exposure is almost second to none when it comes to the potential that this site can offer to you.
Below, we look at our top five ways of utilising Facebook to really promote your business or website.
1. Set Up A Facebook Page
Facebook pages can be an amazing tool if you utilise them correctly. You can start to build up a “fan” base of people who are interested in your product who will like your page and therefore get information instantly when you add any new posts, photos, discussions or events to your page.
This means that not only does your post go onto the people who like your page walls, but then any of their friends could also see this, allowing you to spread the word to thousands more people just by growing your like list.
2. Tell Your Friends, Colleagues, Loved Ones And Anyone Who Will Listen
As mentioned above, its time to tell all of your trusted and not so trusted friends and contacts on Facebook about your page.
The more people you tell, the more people will start seeing your posts every time you add them, meaning that you can really get some excellent exposure from just a small pool of friends, as long as they have many more friends on their lists.
3. Build Up Your Likes
The more likes you have, the more your business page or general page will get exposure, as the things that you post and promote will start to get spread across many peoples Facebook walls and profiles.
This means its important to really only add good content to your Facebook page, things like adding your blog RSS feed and adding solid articles and noteworthy information.
4. Join Related Groups
On the same line as pages, groups are a great way to find other people who are interested in the same things that you are.
For example, if you enjoy playing Fifa 11, you simply type into your search box “Fifa 11” and then take a look at all the groups and pages. You can then join these groups and join in the discussions which can then lead to you promoting your related product.
Don’t just go storming in and start making loads of posts about what you are offering, as this will simply lead to either being blocked or becoming known as a spammer!
5. Use Facebook Advertising
Although we find the Facebook Advertising slightly more expensive than other cost per click models, the demographics you can place on your advertising is second to none.
For example, if you wanted to appeal to 30 – 50 year olds who live within 20 miles of your postcode and were interested in dancing, Facebook allows you to do this. Because of the data they collect about you as you are using Facebook, they can then really make sure that you can target any advertising very close to your perfect audience, which is not really rivaled elsewhere as of yet.
It is true to say that using Facebook to promote anything is hard work. You have to really work at your page, improve it on a daily basis and keep adding good content to keep not only the people who like your page happy but to also attract new ones.
If you are prepared to do the leg work, there is no doubt that this social networking site can drive extra traffic and sales to any business or website.