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The Complete Guide to Facebook Marketing for Small Businesses PART 1

Posted in Online Marketing, Small Business Web Marketing, Social Media | 6 Comments »

Facebook isn’t going away. And why would you want it to? Small businesses around Australia are now getting on Facebook and reaping the rewards. New visitors, fans and friends – all of which have the potential to convert to new paying customers. Facebook is a small business’ marketing dream come true. In this two part series I am going to look at why you need Facebook and how to market your business successfully. Make sure you subscribe by email so you don’t miss part two.

Ignore Facebook and lose money

Let’s be clear here: if you ignore Facebook and put it in the too hard basket you will be losing money. Money that you could be earning with quite a minimal amount of effort. It doesn’t take long to do a bit of marketing on Facebook and the rewards can come quite naturally. If you take one thing away from this post I hope it is the fact that you need to get on this social media giant today, not tomorrow. Your business will survive without it, but you could be doing a lot better with it.

You might also want to check out our article on why Facebook is not the marketing solution they would have you believe for some insights on why it will never replace the traditional website.

Why all small businesses should use Facebook

photo credit: U-g-g-B-o-y-(-Photograph-World-Sense-)

Before I get into the details on how to use Facebook I want to give you a few reasons as to why you should be using it. Once you know a few of these you will, hopefully, be more motivated to get on board and start to see it as a great opportunity as opposed to another commitment to take on.

1. You’ll reach new customers
Last year Facebook overtook Google as the most visited website on the planet. That is a remarkable feat and something that we should all be paying attention to. As a small business operator you should be thinking of Facebook as a free customer database that you can tap in to whenever you like. Sure, people go on there to talk to friends and make pointless updates about what they had for lunch. But they also “like” and “share” their favourite local businesses. They talk about them with their friends. And the really interesting thing is that when someone talks about their favourite local business on Facebook their 100+ friends all see the update.

So why is this relevant? Because you have a free medium whereby your customers can do some of your marketing for you. Imagine if ten of your loyal customers wrote a Facebook status update saying something like, “Taplin Web Design is such a great business. They really looked after us and we love our new website.” If each person has 100 friends then I just had my business promoted to 1000 people. Free. And what’s better is that almost all of those people are local. That is a highly relevant update.

2. You’ll make old customers more frequent and loyal
The flip side to getting new customers is that you will help make old customers more frequent visitors and more loyal over the long term. There is an old marketing saying that states that one repeat customer is more valuable than ten one-off customers. With that in mind it is very important to remember to promote your business to your existing customers, not just your potential customers. This is something that many small business owners overlook but an area that Facebook can help with. I’ll tell you how later in the post.

3. You can save on advertising costs
Facebook has two sides to it: the regular updating service that we are all familiar with and Facebook Ads. This is the “back area” which allows you to buy ad space on people’s profile pages. If you log into your Facebook account and look on the right hand side you will see a whole bunch of adverts. Have a look at the screen shot below of my Facebook homepage to see what I mean.

Now, here is how this saves you money. Facebook Ads are extremely targeted. When you create your advert campaign you can select from a whole bunch of demographics like age, sex, marital status, location, time of day, interests, etc. This means that your adverts are only going to be shown to relevant Facebook users. For example, if you are a female deodorant company you don’t want your ad been shown to 65 year old retired men. Radio and television can’t guarantee that… but Facebook can.

Guidelines for small business Facebook marketing

photo credit: Retinafunk

Now that you are (hopefully) a bit more motivated to use Facebook I want to give you some basic guidelines on how you should use it. These tips are not meant to form a complete marketing strategy. Rather, they are aimed at giving you a starting point so you can begin experimenting on your own. Remember, Taplin Web Design is regularly engaged by firms to do their Facebook marketing for them. If you are interested in getting some help just drop us a line.

1. Learn the terminology and types of pages
The first thing you need to do is learn the terminology and discover what pages Facebook allows you to create. For example, do you know the difference between a Fan Page and a Group? Do you know which one is better (or allowed) for you type of business? Most businesses will want to start a Page as opposed to a Group but it is a good idea to check out the Facebook Guidelines before doing anything.

2. Research the best Facebook pages
The second thing you need to do is take a look at how the other businesses in your industry are doing it. There is no point in trying to reinvent the wheel and as such you can save a lot of time by taking inspiration from others. Although I recommend looking at pages in your niche you can start by looking at these few which are doing the whole Business Page pretty well.

Darren Rowse (Problogger)
Darren Rowse is the original ProBlogger and makes a hefty seven figure income from blogging at his home computer. His Facebook page is one of the better ones around providing a lot of value and using some really nice graphics to draw the user in. Interestingly, Darren’s page is about connecting with him rather than his website. Very personal and intimate.
Glam Adelaide
Glam Adelaide is a local business run by Kelly Noble who is a veritable master of social media. The Glam Adelaide page is a wonderful example of a locally targeted service that is valuable to people and businesses alike.
Taplin Web Design
Of course I had to throw ours in there. We use our Facebook Page to promote our client’s websites as well as our own work. It is a great way to keep in touch with client’s once the work is done and keep them up to date with tips on how to get the most out of there new website.

When you are looking at these pages pay special attention to things like the tone of the updates, how the graphics are presented, what the call to action is and what benefits the users get if they “like” your page. These are the kind of things you want to emulate with your own page.

3. Think of a good elevator pitch
Decide on a name and an elevator pitch. The name should ideally be your business name and the elevator pitch is the small bit of text that you place in the sidebar. It is called an elevator pitch because it is short, just like telling someone in an elevator ride what it is that you do for a living. It should be focused and compelling; something that makes the person want to delve further. Don’t make it just a description but target it to your audience and give them some direction.

4. Create a landing page effect
A landing page is a page or website that serves as a launch pad to get users to go further into your website. Facebook pages are essentially pages that get people to visit your main website and, similarly, the first page that people see on your Facebook Page should serve to get people to go deeper into your Facebook Page. That’s quite a mouthful! If you didn’t understand that’s okay, keep reading.

There is an application called FBML that allows you to customize your Facebook Page so that you can add a landing page that people see when they visit your Page. I have attached a screen shot of the Taplin Web Design one below. Darren Rowse (see above) also does this really well on his Page.

This is a very powerful method to get people interested. Darren goes so far as to tell people to “like” his page! You might want to follow his lead or you might want to use the space to show some of your products or your services or tell people why your Facebook page will benefit their lives. Make sure it encourages them to delve deeper or you will lose them on that first screen.

5. Use a call to action
A call to action is an image or snippet of text that encourages a user to do something that you want them to do. Some common call to action phrases include “Add to cart”, “Click here to learn more”, etc. It is vital that your Facebook Page has a strong call to action. If you don’t have one you will find that your users get confused and don’t end up interacting in any meaningful way.

Think about what you want your visitors to do when they arrive. Do you want them to check out your website? Or perhaps “like” your page? View your latest products? Whatever it is it is important that you flat out tell them what it is you want them to do. Don’t leave it up to them, guide them. You will be amazed at how much more interaction you get.

6. Give, give, give
The most popular business pages are the ones that give a lot to their fans without asking for anything in return. It doesn’t need to be tangible products or anything like that, but it should be something that your visitors perceive as valuable. For example, if you own a clothes shop you might want to post regular fashion tips to your wall. This has the dual effect of giving your fans something for free as well as keeping your name in front of them regularly.

In part two of The Complete Guide to Facebook Marketing for Small Businesses I am going to talk about Facebook ads; how to design and implement a successful pay per click marketing campaign. Hopefully there will be lots of tips in there for you to use.

Why Facebook is Not the Marketing Solution They Would Have You Believe

Posted in Online Marketing, Social Media | 4 Comments »

photo credit: Ed Yourdon

Last week the incredible and somewhat unbelievable news came out that Facebook had overtaken Google as the most visited website in the USA. This remarkable revelation has sparked some intense debate about why Facebook has grown so strongly in such a small amount of time and why many firms are now looking at Facebook instead of Google for their business’ online marketing solutions.

In this post I want to talk about why Facebook is not the online marketing solution that the current hype would have you believe.

From websites to Facebook pages

Ciaran Norris of Mindshare was reported by The Australian newspaper as saying:

“…advertisers including Unilever, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble were already moving away from building expensive microsites towards constructing Facebook pages for their brands.”

The current train of thought is that Facebook pages are free to create and allow you to target other Facebook users who might already be in your target market. People can interact with the brand’s page, become a fan, send it to their friends and have discussions with other fans. And while I truly believe that Facebook pages form a vital part of any online marketing campaign, I think it is dangerous to assert that they can replace the traditional .com website as well as Google Adwords marketing. And here’s why.

Why Facebook is not a complete marketing solution

photo credit: epSos.de

Facebook has some fantastic advantages that are making a lot of people a lot of money. You can hit a very targeted audience, small or large demographics, interact with the users, etc. But it also has a lot of limitations. And why I am in no way trying to negate the positive aspects of Facebook marketing, I do believe it falls well short of being a complete solution. Here are just a few reasons why I don’t believe any business should rely just on Facebook pages.

1. Facebook doesn’t suit everyone
It is naive to think that Facebook suits everyone. It doesn’t. Out of my six closest family members I can think of only two people who use Facebook regularly. And we are talking about a very modern and tech-savvy group of people here. Some of them have accounts that they don’t use anymore and the others never bothered to sign up. So if they search for your business on Google and find your Facebook page there is a very good chance that they will head on to the next result because they aren’t going to sign up (or in) to Facebook just to read about your business. People are lazy. If you competitor has a website that is well designed, optimized and poised to sell then you just lost a customer. Possibly a good one.

Facebook pages are good for people who are already on Facebook. I don’t mean “on” as in they have an account. I mean “on” as in they are literally on the site doing things. I am constantly using Facebook but if I come across a business’ Facebook page on Google I automatically skip over it due to the small chance that Firefox has logged me out and I might need to log in again. And you can bet I’m not the only one.

2. Facebook users aren’t always ready to buy
The one glaring difference between Facebook Ads and Google Adwords is that people on Facebook aren’t always ready to buy. Ask any affiliate marketer who is working with Facebook Ads and they will tell you that it is tough to sell something to a person who is on Facebook to socialize and not really in the buying mood. This is a stark contrast to Google Adwords where the ads show up on search results where people have specifically searched for that item or service. While Facebook allows you to target a very specific set of people, Google allows you to target people who are ready to open their wallets.

The answer? A mixture of the two is a much more sensible and all encompassing solution. Firms need to experiment with both platforms to see what converts better and which suits their business model more. If you are selling a product that people buy online then Facebook ads alone will fall short.

3. Facebook pages are limited in scope
Again, there are many distinct advantages that Facebook can provide your business. I am in no way trying to refute those benefits. Facebook fan pages are an excellent way to connect with relevant customers, promote your information and products, get people to interact with the brand, etc. But it has its limitations. You can’t have an online store or get a list of email subscribers. You can’t have an individual design that sells your brand and differentiates you from the competition. Facebook pages work best when they act as a launch pad to get visitors over to your website where the conversion and the real befriending take place. Without that website to seal the deal you run the risk of just becoming another Facebook page that, in time, everyone ignores.

4. Facebook misses out on keyword search
Google will always have one thing on Facebook. Keyword search. It is an area that, I believe, will always be lacking from Facebook pages. Google makes your website visible in their search engine from literally thousands of different entry points. Those entry points are centered around keywords. This website, for example, gets most of its traffic from pages other than the homepage. People make all different types of searches on Google and Google directs them to individual pages of my website. But that doesn’t happen on Facebook. You only have one point of entry, the fan page. People can either find that entry point on Google or on Facebook but, either way, you are potentially losing a lot of traffic. Traffic that could convert to sales.

Let me hammer home the point by giving one current example. I recently wrote an article about the web’s best landing pages and this article got indexed by Google. A few days later I got an email from someone who found the article on Google, thought I sounded like I knew what I was talking about and asked me to build their new website. That customer would never have found me had I just used a Facebook page because that blog post wouldn’t have been there as an entry point.

5. You don’t own the space
This is small issue that some people might not care about but I thought it was big enough to mention. You don’t own your Facebook pages, Facebook does. A .com website, on the other hand, is an asset that you grow with every comment, article, page or just day that you have it online. It is an asset that you can sell. And while many people might argue that you can sell your Facebook page too, it doesn’t escape the fact that it isn’t yours and you can’t do whatever you want with it.

Conclusion

Facebook is an amazing marketing tool that has the ability to promote your business to new users in a very different way. It is something that every business should be across. But do not think that it is a cure all solution. Facebook pages should never replace the traditional .com website or Google marketing. It just isn’t expansive enough. The two working together, however, can be a really powerful exercise.

How to Create a Buzz for Your Website or Business with Giant Astronauts

Posted in Offline Marketing, Small Business Web Marketing, Social Media | 2 Comments »

Literally. Giant astronauts. Here in Adelaide the 2010 Fringe is underway and they have created quite a buzz around town by secretly putting up six giant astronauts on buildings and in city parks. Quite a feat and not entirely random; an astronaut wearing a pink tutu is the main mascot of this year’s festivities. But getting from a flat image of an astronaut to six giant, building-scaling, inflatable figures is extremely innovative. It has made news around the whole country and got people everywhere excited about taking part in the month long comedy shows, musical performances and, yes, drinking.

So what can we learn from the Fringe’s awesome astronaut marketing move? Not everyone can afford to make giant inflatable versions of our logos and put them on buildings in the city. Nor would that be entirely appropriate. In this post I want to talk about a few ways to create a buzz for your website or business in a way that really gets people to notice.

Creating a buzz that gets your website noticed

image:novafm.com.au

Not all buzz creating campaigns can be as large scale and successful as the one mentioned in the title. But that does not mean it won’t be a useful exercise. Over time and with practice and many failures you can build up to a Fringe style marketing campaign. And remember, the ideas here are not meant to be literal. I am sharing them as an example of how to achieve a certain goal.

1. Visit industry events and stick stickers
This idea has to be done very carefully because it can come across as spammy and arrogant if done incorrectly. Done correctly, however, you can get the attention of some very important people. The idea is to visit an industry event like a conference or a meet up and get your brand out there in a creative way.

This worked extremely well a few years ago for one budding internet personality when he visited a Search Engine Opitimisation conference in the USA and stuck stickers of his logo and a clever catch phrase all over the place. They were on chairs, tables, cameras, white boards and even on people’s backs! The end results was that his stickers ended up on photos which ended up on people’s websites and Facebook pages. The buzz was fantastic as everyone praised the effort as being extremely creative.

The sticker thing might work for your brand or it might not. The goal is to come up with something that suits your niche and your industry and will get noticed without getting annoying. These types of campaigns should be inexpensive and easy to carry out otherwise the effort won’t be worth the results. Saturate your brand at an industry event in a positive way and your website or business will be remembered by some important people.

2. Deliver your business card in flames
Last night I was in the Fringe Lounge and I met a magician called Nicolas Tweedy. This guy was standing in the middle of a circle of awe-struck people while he made an empty water bottle levitate out of some person’s hand. After flying this bottle around his body and gentle landing it back in the person’s hand he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and then produced a business card that then proceeded to burst into flames. The crowd loved it. He had their attention.

By the end of the night Nicholas Tweedy had done a full circuit of the Fringe Lounge, showing tricks to almost every person there and producing dozens of flaming business cards. Needless to say, the first thing I did was look up his website and find out where he was performing over the next few nights. And the second thing I did was write about him on my blog. I have a few thousand followers on Twitter who will see this post, Tweedy has started a buzz.

Find a unique way to deliver your business card or introduce yourself to potential clients. If you just hand the card with the same old hum-drum “here is my card” speech you will be forgotten easily. But you will never forget a card that bursts into flames. Find a way to etch yourself onto people’s memories as they will always talk about it to their friends.

Note: You can see Nicholas’ business card trick on the video on this page.

3. Make a seemingly impossible promise
The idea here is to make a promise to your potential clients that seems so impossible for you to keep that they will engage your business almost exclusively to test you out. This tactic is a great way to create buzz in a competitive industry where there is little difference between you and your competitors. The promise will be the one thing that gets you over the line and word will spread fast.

One of the best ways I have seen this done is in Los Angeles where there is a famous burger joint. Everyone on the West Coast of the USA knows about this place because you get a $15USD burger for free if you can eat the whole thing. No time limit. No catches. Just eat the whole burger and you get it for free.

So why does this create a buzz? Well people love “free” and will come from miles away just for the opportunity to get a free lunch. Secondly, people love value. That’s why sales work so well. People will buy a T-Shirt that says “40% off, save $25″ even if they didn’t want a T-Shirt because they perceive it to be good value. When you tell someone they can have a burger for free if they finish it all it implies that it is a giant feed. And people love big meals.

Find a way to make a seemingly impossible promise to your customers. Of course, you have to make sure that it doesn’t back fire. If everyone finished the burger they would go out of business in a week. But they know that only a few people per month will finish it and as such it is a great marketing tool. How can you use this principle in your business to get people talking? If you can find something inventive and original the word of mouth will do the selling for you.

Conclusion
The giant astronauts got so many people looking at the Fringe this year. People that otherwise might have not bothered visiting a show now feel involved in the festivities because they drive past the inflatable men on the way to work or see them on the news in their stomping ground. Sometimes the best way to create a buzz for your business or website is by doing something a little indirect. There will always be TV, radio and online marketing. But what can you do that is different, original and gets people talking?

So, can you think of any successful marketing campaigns that did something a little bit different? Leave a comment.