Masterful Marketing » relationship marketing

6 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Page

Debra — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:29:22 +0000

Creating a Facebook Page for your business is one of the more valuable exercises you can do as a small business owner. But once you have the page set up and you are providing valuable, relative content, how do you get people to like your page?

Invite your Facebook friends that fit your target market profile

To invite connections you think would be interested in your Facebook Page, use the Suggest to Friends link.

If you have connected with clients via Facebook, invite them first as your clients should already be supportive of you. Next invite other connections that fit your target market that may be interested in finding out more about what you offer. If you have done a good job of organizing your professional colleagues, customers and prospects into Friend Lists, you can invite these lists as groups to your Facebook fan page instead of sending individual invites.

Be selective in who you invite and as a courtesy, invite them once only. Don’t annoy people with Facebook Page invitations that aren’t interested in your business or know nothing about you. If a person rejects the request, be careful not to send them another invitation.

Invite your email newsletter subscribers

When you are ready to send out your next email newsletter, include an incentive to get your subscribers to visit your Facebook Page and become a fan. Put a free download on your landing page tab for non-fans that will appeal to your subscribers.

To set up your landing tab, use the Facebook Static FBML application. FBML is similar to HTML and can be used to enhance a user’s Facebook experience on your Page. Then edit the Wall settings for your page and select that tab as the landing page for “everyone else”.

Include your Facebook Page URL in your marketing materials

Once you reach 25 people who have liked your Page, create your vanity URL that makes it easy for you to promote the Page and for people to recognize your brand.

Now it will be easier to promote your Facebook Page by including your vanity URL in all your sales tools, such as business cards, brochures, email signature or other marketing and promotion tools you use to help you drive more visitors to your Business Page and connect with them. All of these tools can be used to cross connect you with your communities and make you more visible to those who are interested in what you have to say.

Place a Facebook Like Box Widget on your Website / Blog

The Facebook Like Box is a social plugin that helps you promote your Page to your website visitors. To create your Like Box, fill in the Facebook Page ID for your Page, the height and width of the box, whether you want your stream included and the number of fans to show.

Facebook Like Box Generator (Click to enlarge)

To get your Facebook Page ID, hover over the picture on your Page and the link contains the number. It should look like: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?profile=1&id=12345678912 (the 11 digit number is the id). When you are done, the form will generate the code you need to paste into your Website.

Use Facebook Social Ads

Depending on your business, Facebook Advertising can be beneficial to building your base of prospects because it enables you to tightly target your best prospect based on a number of variables, including geography, age, gender, education, relationship status, workplace and keywords. With this type of pinpoint targeting, you can create and deliver advertising to only those who you feel would benefit from what you have to offer.

A local retail business like a spa, hairdresser or restaurant could run an ad that has an incentive for fans to come in to your store and try your services or purchase your products.
A local service business like a plumber, landscaper or electrician could run an ad that contained an incentive only for new fans (and customers) such as a discount on a maintenance agreement.

Rather than placing ads in the local papers, Facebook advertising can be much more cost-effective in generating leads and growing your business.

Promote your Page on other Social Sites

Most social sites give you the opportunity to promote multiple websites. LinkedIn allows three links and Google profiles are unlimited. Use these opportunities to promote your Facebook Page as one of your key web properties. Don’t forget to use the “Other” feature when editing your additional information in LinkedIn to name the link appropriately.

In addition, integrate Twitter with your Facebook Page to communicate what you have posted to your Twitter followers.

So how will you promote your Facebook Business Page? Let us know what you have tried and how it works for you.

Surprise – The Secret to Exceeding Expectations

Debra — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:31:16 +0000

We just returned from our vacation in Aruba. We’ve been there many times and own a timeshare at the Marriott Surf Club. We go to just get away and relax – no site seeing, no golf – just reading, sunning, swimming and oh, yes a bit of gambling at night for entertainment.

Of course, no great trip would be complete without a marketing experience blog post upon my return!

We went for dinner at the Sunset Grill at the Radisson Hotel, our usual spot for our anniversary. In response to a joke by the waiter about the dangers of the extremely large steak knife, I mentioned it was our anniversary so my husband need not worry about the size of the knife.

As usual we had a wonderful dinner, but without warning, out came the waiter with this fantastic dessert prepared just for us! Warm chocolate souffle with ice cream was heavenly, but the preparation, presentation and surprise was just the best.

Having a wonderful, romantic dinner was what we expected when we went to the Sunset Grill. This surprise by the waiter not only exceeded our expectations, it made the experience much more memorable.

Marketing Tip

Surprise your customers with something that they don’t expect to make their every experience with you pleasantly memorable. A dessert really didn’t cost a lot but the impression it made on us was quite extensive. Quality service is always appreciated although sometimes expected. But a surprise bonus, such as this totally unexpected, wonderful dessert, goes a long way towards developing or solidifying your long-term relationships with your valued customers and strengthening your brand in their eyes.

What small surprise can you give your valued customers and clients to make their experience with you memorable?

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Lessons from a Rock Concert

Debra — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:19:05 +0000

I attended the Coldplay concert last night at the Boston Garden. Throughout the entire show, my focus was on the band, getting into the show and enjoying every moment. The garden was sold out and the crowd responded to the band’s cues. I also attended several U2 concerts during their Vertigo tour and I had the same enjoyment, getting into the music, singing along with the crowd and taking part in the entire experience.

I’m sure you are trying to figure out how this relates to marketing your business.

On my way home, I realized that both Coldplay and U2 share something in common – they put themselves as close to their audience as they safely can. They figure out what drives their fans and keeps them coming back for more. Other rock bands separate themselves up on stage, putting a wall up between them and their audience.

But both U2 and Coldplay are skilled at playing to the crowd. U2 has the catwalk that enables the members to come right out into the audience while staying visible to everyone in the arena. Coldplay extended the stage on either end, allowing them to come out towards the audience and get closer to them as well. In addition, Coldplay came up into the audience on a small stage and sang two songs in the crowd, sharing themselves with everyone.

As business owners, we should take a lesson from U2 and Coldplay and build that “fan” relationship with your customers, prospects and aquaintances. Figure out how to get close to them so you can figure out what drives their business and how you can help them achieve their goals or minimize their challenges. Listen to them when they talk, give them what they want and they will be fans of yours for a long time.

U2 photo credit Phil Romans.

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Push vs. Pull Marketing

Debra — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:20:07 +0000

Someone on LinkedIn last week asked the question about the difference between push vs. pull marketing. The definitions posted for push marketing by various marketing folk were pretty consistent.

Push marketing is when you use various activities to get your message in front of your ideal client. The marketer is in control of what the message is, how it is seen, when and where.

Ok so that coincides with what I term traditional marketing activities. Doing things to make sure your target audience sees or hears your message.

However, I was a bit surprised at some of the answers when it came to pull marketing. First my definition of pull marketing:

Marketing activities that encourage your prospect to seek you out and find out whether you have something of value to offer them. Pull marketing activities build relationships and can include blogging, podcasting, article marketing and networking (both on and offline). Pull marketing uses the law of attraction, incorporating all the components of your personal brand to attract and retain these people as your biggest fans.

But as I read the various definitions of pull marketing, I realized that social media has changed its definition, and probably for the better. Today, pull marketing is about developing relationships that attract your ideal client to you. It shows the value you offer to these prospects so that they naturally are attracted to your products and / or services.

Before social media, pull marketing was viewed quite differently. In an article from MoreBusiness.com dated August 2006, it states that:

Pull marketing is where you develop advertising and promotional strategies that are meant to entice the prospect to buy your product or service. Some classic examples are “half off!” or “bring in this coupon to save 25%” or “buy one get one free”, etc.

With pull marketing, you are trying to create a sense of increased, time limited value so that the customer will come into your store to buy.

And although that last statement may be true, I view this type of marketing as push as the promotional strategies are still controlled by the marketer, not the target market. Offers such as these should always be included in your marketing activities to draw people in. But they are not pull strategies in my mind.

True pull marketing is based on us being visible where your ideal client hangs out and becoming part of their communities. Greg Verdino says it well:

Pull is not about pulling consumers in; it’s about giving consumers a reason to pull us in. Remember truism #1 – they’re in control; they (not we) decide where they go and what they experience. We’ve lost the right to pull consumers anywhere (if we ever really had that right at all.)

Pull means that we to go to them, join their communities, give them reasons to voluntarily draw us into their personal media experiences. We’re not interrupting them. They’re opting into us.

To get your ideal client to discover you, develop a marketing plan that combines a strong personal brand and word of mouth marketing tactics (both online and offline) to increase your exposure as an expert in your discipline. This will help you attract them to you and make them your true fans.

Social Media Marketing – Myths or Reality?

Visibility + Credibility = Profitability

Debra — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:24:52 +0000

Works both Offline and Online

For many thinking of starting their own businesses, the fear of finding clients can paralyze them enough to sabotage their efforts. Cold calling prospects can make some of us break out in a cold sweat. One of the things that I learned early on in my business start-up days is that there are other ways to find clients. When you have worked in corporate America for your entire career, one of the skills you didn’t learn was how to network. As a business owner, networking is one of the best ways to get clients and today, adding social networking to the mix makes your ability to find business that much easier.

One of the first things I did when I launched the business was to join BNI (Business Network International). Some people feel that it doesn’t work, but when you are starting a business, being busy meeting new people, gaining a support organization and having a place to test your marketing message is really a valuable exercise. The next thing I did was to take a course on networking. The course taught me the basic principle of growing your business, called the VCP model – Visibility + Credibility = Profitability. Dr. Ivan Misner developed this three phase relationship development model: Visibility–Credibility–Profitability or VCP, to help business owners understand how to generate profitable relationships.

Visibility – Be seen otherwise out of sight, out of mind.
Credibility – Develop the relationship so that people understand your value and how to refer business to you.
Profitability – Cultivating relationship with the right referral sources will result in profitable business relationships.

The principles of networking transcend to social networking. How does the VCP model work in social networking?

Building visibility and credibility using social media takes time but is worth it as it provides the venue from which you can create visibility and demonstrate your expertise. In many ways, it’s easier to develop this reputation online since the tools enable you to build your reputation on a daily basis. In person networking events happen frequently, but not 24×7.

Where to begin?

Create a blog and write relevant posts;
Create profiles on social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MyBlogLog and other social networks that relate to your area of expertise;
Link your blog to your profiles and look for other opportunities to get link love;
Comment intelligently on other blogs;
Submit your blog to Technorati and Blogged.com;
Answer questions on LinkedIn;

Share presentations on SlideShare with linked audio if you have it;
Create videos and upload to YouTube.

You get the picture!

So why do we do it?

Because according to John Jantsch, ”Tis better to be found than to find“.

1) It’s just a whole lot more fun to pick up the phone and have someone on the other end go on about all the great things they have read, seen and heard about your products and services.

2) (And I think this is a really big point) Prospects that come to you by way of your information machine, that have logically progressed down a path of education, are probably ten times more likely to be ideal and equally more likely to close than those that you go out and try to convince to buy from you. In fact, your marketing system can be one of the greatest ways to qualify leads – if a lead won’t go down your education path, that might be a red flag that they won’t be an ideal customer either.

What other ways do you recommend people get visibility and credibility using social media?