What does it give me?
One of the best and most popular uses of social media has developed as businesses started using profiles as customer service tools. Facebook has become a portal for communicating with customers on an individual basis and solving specific problems and complaints.
While Twitter has become the go-to example of companies engaging in conversations with customers, Reseo chief executive Chris Thomas says Facebook has benefits of its own.
“What is important on Facebook is that you’re looking for a social objective with your customers. For example, if you have a subject like hiking, you can facilitate that and create a poll asking about the best hike your fans have been on. You’re not talking about the product, then, you’re talking about the lifestyle.”
Thomas says Ford is a good example of a company using social media to both answer customer enquiries and promote their products. Given the company’s recent financial and reputation difficulties, especially in the United States, Thomas says Facebook has helped save the company’s standing.
“They are able to redefine themselves as a company, and are even selling cards because of the customer interactions on Facebook and all the work they are putting into it.”
Brett Waters, Asia Pacific South vice president of RightNow, says there is a huge opportunity for businesses to create support communities to help customers with individual problems – helping your reputation in the process and providing you with new customers.
“You need to recognise issues, complaints and discussions and then develop a process to answer all of them. Effectively you are extending your customer service department and you need to think of what you’re doing in those terms. Take it seriously.”
But he adds that creating a community just isn’t enough – you need to bring people there. After that, the challenge is keeping people on your page long enough to see some value.
“It’s all about providing relevance and giving them quick access to something. If I’m a car insurance company offering insurance products, how do I want to sell that on Facebook? Just saying I’m the “Acme Insurance support community” won’t draw anyone, but I could think of a target market and speak to them.”
“For instance, one example would be mothers with babies, and the concept of car capsules and issues around that. I could ask about people’s experiences with car seats, what has happened to them, and so on. That’s compelling, and is in the context of what you’re selling. People will stay then for the community, and it will make your page look alive.”
Keeping on a community will popularise your page with potentially thousands of customers and followers, who are already listening to anything you have to say.
SEO benefits
Not only can a well run Facebook page help your business look good, it can actually help drive traffic on your main site. If your profile is linked up appropriately with users given clear directions to your “real” web presence, then you can expect more hits to be on their way.
Thomas says a well-run Facebook page can help with a company’s overall SEO strategy, and says Google will help push your page to the top if you’ve done your work.
“Facebook pages can rank very well on Google of course, which is another great thing about them. If you’re trying to get into the top 10 with other brands, then if you have a Facebook fan page then you’re leveraging the popularity of the site.”
Thomas says most of the content on the Facebook page needs to be created by the users, and that “fans” will be put off if there are too many discussions or posts controlled by the company itself.
“You don’t go putting all of your content on there. The way to approach it all is try to get as much user-generated content as possible. Facebook is a point of engagement, and so you really want to drive those discussions and get in from that perspective. That’s the trick for boring brands – making the discussion around your business exciting.”
Planning your content
There are a number of different approaches businesses can take when developing a Facebook page, depending on its purpose.
The basics are simple – you sign up, create a name, invite some friends to join and put up some basic contact information, and then it usually spreads from there. But these experts say this behaviour is similar to how businesses treated the internet in its early days, and much, much more can be done to maximise your potential.
Frantzeskos says businesses can create videos to put on their site, create polls, competitions, discussion groups and create exclusive blogs for users. Coupons can be distributed easily, along with discounts and information on new sales and updates.
He says while every business is different, whatever content goes on the site must be thought of as part of the overall marketing campaign and not something separate from the company’s main site – the two are telling the same message in different ways.
“It’s different for every business, but for a Facebook fan page you need to think about whether you are reflecting the original website or making something different. Think about whether you want specific content like video, or whether you’ll refer back to the original website. Be careful about the content that’s going up there.”
But he also warns to keep in mind that whatever goes on the Facebook page will be up there for a long time. Unlike a company’s website, which can be taken down at a moment’s notice, removing a Facebook page from existence takes time and the long-term title needs some thought put into it.
“If you’re running a campaign about something, and the campaign changes, it’s impossible to change the fan page name and it would be hard to let people know that it is obsolete. Assume everything you are building on Facebook is for the long-term.”
These experts also say the most successful Facebook fan pages have a unique design that often ties into the company’s overall brand. Keeping similar colours and graphics helps keep a cohesive feel.
Also, they point to the “tabs” at the top of each fan page. While Facebook by default names these tabs with generic titles such as “photos”, “info” and “events”, there is a plethora of information on the web about how to name these titles yourself to fit in with your own page.
Borrud says there are four major principles to follow when creating a Facebook page in order to provide yourself with the greatest chance of success. The first is simple – be open and authentic.
“Make sure the relationship you have with your fan base is genuine, and that you’re not just there to create a transaction. That’s not a relationship. This is a long-term thing, so be open, honest and authentic.”
“The second is to be active and update often. If you update your site with questions, people take part in that and will realise you are active, and start commenting. Third, you need to create interesting ads that will drive people to your Facebook page, such as targeting specific interests.”
The final point, he says, is to simply “listen and adapt”.
“Brands need to have big ears and really learn from their customers. Take that feedback into consideration, and don’t just push things you assume are important to them. Facebook pages need to be dynamic and not just act as a micro-site. It’s important to listen to your customers and evolve.”
But Facebook isn’t just a tool to gain new fans and raise awareness of your brand. If handled correctly, Facebook can drive sales and even bring in significant amounts of revenue.
Computer giant Dell has maximised the reach of its page by offering a design studio online, and providing extensive links and fronts for people to shop. Frantzeskos says this is a perfect idea for online retailers – provided its coupled with a sense of strong community and user-generated content.
“My strong advice would be that you make it as easy as possible for people to buy. If they are on the site and can’t interact with anything, it’s extremely difficult. Remove the barriers to people interacting or buying, and if you can’t do that, at least link back to the original site or ecommerce platform.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
