Where to Get Started on Facebook

The Most Popular Puzzle

A lot of people ask me about Facebook…they ask about groups, fan pages, and profiles. The funny thing is that although Facebook is the most popular social network on the Internet, most of the people that use it don’t understand how. As a business, it can become especially frustrating because Facebook doesn’t seem to cater to business brands. Yeah, profiles are cool for friends and family…maybe even personal brands, but they don’t do well for business. Fan pages are great for business, but if you don’t have any fans then you have no audience to talk to.

The key to creating a presence on Facebook is to have a strategy and to understand the way that the site works. You can’t just start interacting with people and expect them to all clamor over your fan page. You have to have content to market, and it has to be good content.

Content, What Content?

Videos do great on Facebook, but photos and regular updates can get you pretty far. Obviously, you’ll need to stay active on Facebook if you want to attract an audience and keep them, but sometimes it doesn’t take anything more than a link or two on Twitter or your blog to get them there.

Once you’ve got them though, you need to start paying attention. Send out regular email messages (one of the huge benefits to having a fan page) and respond to comments and messages. Import your YouTube videos, blog posts, and Twitter feed so that those that don’t network outside of Facebook can still keep up with you.

On the other hand, don’t bombard people with Twitter updates. If necessary, use the selective status app to filter your Twitter feed with the #FB hashtag.

Show Yourself

Create an auto-DM (yes, I know people hate them, but they are useful for business purposes) and let people know how to find you on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Keep communicating your brand, but don’t be boring. Keep the human side of the equation in tact and don’t forget that your customers, or future customers, want to get to know YOU before they buy from you.

Once you realize that social media = social activity, then you’ll have the most important part of the equation down. It works the same on most all social networks, but spending time on each is the first step.

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Related posts:

1. How to Set Up a Facebook Fan Page for Your Business
2. Facebook Fan Page – Do you Need One?
3. How to Add Facebook Share Button to Your Blog
4. How to Get Started on Twitter
5. The Basics of a Social Media Plan