What are the keys to Facebook success?

Business owners are always asking what they need to do on Facebook. You need to set goals and have a plan, to just post randomly will not produce the best results. Take opportunities to test different things and monitor the results and repeat what produces the best results.

Here are six things for businesses that are the basics to success on Facebook:

1. Daily posts – you have to post something everyday to keep information flowing and keep your name in front of your fans. How many a day? If you have something to post about, post it. It could be once a day or sometimes 5 times in a day.

2. Variety of types of posts – don’t post about the same thing every day. Don’t post the same type of post every day. Questions, current events, articles, quotes, videos, special deals, contests and product/service features are just a few different types of posts.

3. Shock’em every once in a while – post something off the wall or outside the box. Do something to get their attention and have your fans wonder why did you post that. Be careful and do not do anything too controversial and offend your fans – but shock’em.

4. Create discussions – don’t just post information. Ask for information and create a forum for your fans to ask questions and get answers concerning your products and services. The best way is to ask open ended questions that will require at least a one sentence response.

5. Continue discussions – always respond to a comment on one of your posts. Treat it like you are having a discussion with that individual – you would not ignore that person if they were standing in front of you. Don’t be afraid to respond to a negative comment – those need a response more than the positive comments.

6. Perseverance – be patient. It will take time and effort to meet your goals. You cannot be successful on Facebook in a few weeks. Keep working and test several different ideas and see which one gets the results you want.

Facebook should be an important part of your total marketing plan. It should fit with what you are doing and link to all other marketing strategies. Set goals, work hard and test different strategies with your posts.

What do you do on Facebook that you have found to be successful?

10 Things You Must Do For Your Facebook Business Page

Facebook (FB) has become a norm in developing a branding/marketing strategy. Just having a FB page is not going to produce results to increase your revenues. If you do not have a FB business page, sign up as soon as you finish reading this blog.

There are the obvious things to set up a business page. Business profile information is something easy to do and should be a short description of who you are and what you do. FB does alot for you by just having the page - like button, photo, email contact, website link, etc. Another common tool used on FB is FB ads. These ads are not for everyone.

Here are the 10 things you must do for your business page:

1. Daily posts about what is going on in your business. Share with your fans what is going on. This will build a very strong loyal customer base. It will also start conversations in other groups. You want you business talked about positively as much as possible. You have the opportunity to direct the conversations about your business.

2. Create a Products tab. Make this an online window shopping experience. You do not have to show everything. Remember it is a window shopping experience. What do you put in the front windows of your business? The most attractive products. Create a WOW factor.

3. Create a Pictures tab. This is not for products. Post pictures of interesting things about what is happening at your business and with your employees. It could be pictures of an employee outing to a baseball game. A picture of the customer service employees so your customers can put a name with a face - make it more personal.

4. Create an Email sign up tab. If you do not have an email marketing campaign you should seriously consider this high ROI strategy. Check out this link for more information about email marketing. The email sign up tab will increase the number of your email addresses to include in your email campaign. This type of inbound marketing is very important in any branding strategy.

5. Create Other tabs. This depends on the type of business. Many businesses have rewards program, events and coupons. If it is an important part of your business and marketing strategy, you should have a tab for that item. I know many restaurants have a coupons tab to list the current special/coupon for the week. It is a great way to get someone to make that decision to come see you.

6. Use the Store locator application. Whether you have one location or multiple locations, your customers need to know how to find you. Do not make them go to another site to get information on how to find you. That is the best way to lose them.

7. Create a Video tab. One of the most popular ways to market a business today is through video. You can do alot of things with video to show off your products or create funny videos about your products. Think of unusual helpful ways to use your product and show it with video.

8. Use the Featured Product application. You always have a featured product. Show it off. Whether it is a new item or one you are trying to move inventory - feature the product to make more sales. Make sure it has some WOW power - either price or item - it must draw attention.

9. Create a blog connection to your company blog. The connection will post the published blog post on your business page automatically. You will be sharing your blog posts to all your fans and reminding them of the company blog. This will increase traffic to your blog. This also allows you to share your business with more people.

10. Use the Favorite application. By listing your favorites on your FB business page, it allows you to link to other businesses and organizations (hopefully they will return the favor). This also allows you to show your customers the other businesses you support. If you share something in common with a customer or potential customer, it increases the chances that they will do business with you.

This list of 10 is not an end all and is not for all businesses. It is a great starting point and will increase your presence on FB and the internet. You must have a plan to follow in using any social media or you will waste alot of time. FB can be a huge asset to your business when used properly.