In my last post I touched briefly on MySpace v. Facebook in general. Today, I am going to focus on when and how to use Facebook as a marketing platform.So what is the right campaign for Facebook? Will a Facebook page have the same impact as a home page take over on MySpace? Well, no. But you probably also would not buy a Super Bowl ad to promote your coffee shop, realty business, or custom tee-shirt website.
What’s the best way to get the most out of this free service? Knowing the audience you want to attract, using some clever marketing ideas, and throwing in some good old-fashioned elbow grease to get some eyeballs on what you’re promoting. For example, calling your page “I am addicted to caffeine” will attract more folks than “Bob’s Coffee Shop”. As people start becoming “fans” of your page, they automatically let their friends know about you in their news feed, giving you a built-in and automatic word of mouth. Once people are fans of your page, as you add events, update photos, and add stories, Facebook will automatically notify your fans in their news feed. The more you update, the more your fans will be engaged.
If you need help drumming up interest in your page, Facebook also offers (reasonable) targeted pay per click and impression (CPM) ads (http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?ads). They allow you to target on geographic territory, demographics, and even keywords. You can design your own ad easily in a step-by-step process, and they even allow you to tie in social actions. You make your own budget, so you only pay what you want. It even comes with free analytic and optimization tools to get the most out of your ads.
So, is Facebook the right marketing platform for you? Well, it fits any budget (starting with zero), it has a nice set of tools for targeting your audience, and it has built in notifications that can help spread the word. It may not have the same impact of a page takeover on a major website, but, that’s not always apropos. I’ll write on when and how to use MySpace soon!
One Comment
Hi my name is Donnell Harmon, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading your blog entry. I recently attended a seminar about the useful of Facebook for brand building and interacting with customers. The thing I found most interesting was the ability to make a page and use it to connect with potential customers. Many businesses such as Coke Cola have successfully interacted with potential customers using Facebook. The best example I can think of however, is Barack Obama who has 4.5 million friends on Facebook and successfully used Facebook to reach a younger demographic.
I wanted to thank you for your blog,and say I look forward to hearing your comments about Myspace