I’m speaking at WordCamp Louisville, in case anyone wants to come and ask questions in person! This blogger’s conference is sure to be informative whether you are a beginner or an old pro. You have time to plan for it, it is in December, on a Friday (party to follow the day) and it should be phenomenal.
So your company has a Facebook Page. Groovy. Now what?
How do you convert this into sales?
Inbound marketing works differently than outbound marketing. It works more like a networking group. Have you ever been involved with a networking group? You go to meetings, have activities, build the relationships, educate the members about your product or service. Hopefully some of the members want to use you, refer you or keep you in mind as a future resource.
Sales do come from such groups. But they come more easily the more you educate the other members, issue calls to action and incentives, and pursue the relationships. So think of Facebook like a big networking group. The point is the relationships.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
1. Create good content.
How do you do that? You’re going to start by going through your email inbox and looking at the questions you have been asked over the past year. There are four tabs across the top of your company page: Wall, Info, Photos, Boxes and then a +.
Click the +.
You can add content either by posting to your Wall (the default tab) or by Writing a Note, or Starting a Discussion.
You can try starting a discussion, but if you have 4 fans, likely you will not get anywhere. So you either want to post a short thought related to the pertinent questions people are already asking you (refer to your email inbox), or you want to cut and paste your email answer into the “Notes” section of your Page. Revise it to be generic, give it a catchy title, and publish it to the world. The point is, you want to give folks a reason to talk to you, a reason to want to become a fan. Give them content that will help them and do it consistently.
2. Ask for Engagement
Say you’re starting from scratch. The moment you publish your content, you need to email 5-10 people about what you have posted and ask them what they think of it. Ask for their advice and input. Thank them for their time. Then twitter about your post if your Facebook/Twitter accounts are not connected (they should be) and ask for engagement there.
3. Interact With Others
Reaping what you sow applies to Social Media in a big way. Do people follow you on Facebook? Read about them, write on their walls, ask them questions. Share things they offer. Remember your networking group?
Facebook and other social media are tools, not magic beans that grow once you throw them up. Use them in a responsible way to connect with others and develop meaningful relationships with others and you will see fruit. It takes time, it takes effort, it takes giving as well as taking. And it is worth it.
Further Reading:
The Five Phases of the Facebook Sales Funnel
Web Designer: Someone who designs the flow of information on your web pages, whether it is multimedia, graphics or text, integrating the information with your branding and usability goals.
Web Developer: Someone who actually codes the design and makes it work. They take a prototype and put it into production. This has to happen on the front end (client side, or what you see in the browser) and also on the back end (server side, or what makes everything work)
Content Manager: This would be a writer and/or marketing expert. This person is going to have a workable strategy for search engine optimization and preferably will be in touch with the overall marketing plan of the brand in question. This is the person that will change what the home page says every month. If you are a small business owner with no budget, this is probably you. If this is you, then you need a CMS, or a content management system.
Most web shops have all of these on staff, many times in a small shop, one person will wear several hats.
