There is a lot of talk about marketing on Facebook via Fan/Business Pages. There is also a lot of confusion about Profiles versus Fan Pages versus Groups on Facebook. A Fan or Business Page is designed to promote a business. It can be used to share simple information like your business hours, contact information and product/service offerings. It can also be used as a marketing tool to generate new leads and even sell your products (there are some great apps that allow you to turn your page into an ecommerce store) Unlike groups in Facebook, Fan pages are visible to unregistered people and are indexed by the engines – which is another opportunity for you to come up in the engines. You can send “updates” to fans whenever you want. It’s a nice way of building a database of interested users. Send messages about new products, updated website, etc. The number of Fans you can have is unlimited (whereas the Friend limit is 5,000). Pages are better for long-term relationships with your fans, readers or customers. Pages include links. Because these pages are public, you can get some link juice (link popularity). When someone joins a Fan Page, it’s published in their News feed for all of their Friends to read (unless they have turned this off). This helps spread the word about your Fan Page. If you design a fun and graphically appealing Fan Page that is designed to capture leads and promote your business well, it can be a good tool for generating new leads. You don’t have to have a Facebook personal profile to have a Fan/Business page BUT if you want some of the added features to enhance the page, then you do need a personal profile. You don’t have to be active and look for old high school or college friends or play any of the games or other things people do on Facebook. You can use Facebook as a business tool and not feel obligated to get sucked into the time wasters. You just need a simple profile with your name and a link to your website and then the Fan/Business page can be set up with all of the added benefits. Anyone can set up a Fan page, but to get the most out of it with the added features, you need to know HTML. Some interesting Facebook stats: • Facebook has 400 Million Global Users (and growing) • Facebook has 100 Million U.S. Users: Facebook is strong around-the-world (Canada has the highest penetration rate), but nearly 1/3 of all Facebook users are in the U.S. • The average Facebook User Spends 55 Minutes Per Day • Real-time Search Is Important Today: Facebook is now making most content available publicly (unless you adjust your privacy settings). This has tremendous implications for search engine optimization and reputation management. You need to be on top of real-time search - today. A recent study (The Sysomos study) found a strong correlation between amount of content (notes, links, photos, videos and custom pages/tabs) and number of fans. If you are looking to really grow your Fan base, you need something more than a standard Fan page.
Article Source: http://bizymoms.com/business
Jennifer Horowitz, Director of Marketing for EcomBuffet.com has been helping clients grow their business by increasing traffic and improving conversions for over 10 years. Jennifer is widely published, and has spoken at SEO Conferences and trainings. For more information and for a free downloadable book on SEO, visit EcomBuffet.com