Facebook as a marketing platform 
Facebooks strong influence of reaching a wide audience is an opportunity business owners should not ignore.
I am not an avid user of Facebook but do see the hows and whys. Below you will find Expert tips (not mine. : ))
7 Facebook Marketing Tips
1. Start with a clear definition of your Facebook marketing goals and objectives
Kevin Mullett, a social media and search engine optimization expert suggests that before you outline your Facebook marketing strategies, you’ve got to first define your Facebook marketing objectives and goals.
This is vital to be able to measure the success of your Facebook marketing effort.
2. Give your page visitors compelling reasons to become fans
Encourage your visitors to first “Like” your fan page to be able to avail of your freebies (e.g. a free trial, coupon, specialized information). In doing so, “…you can significantly increase fan conversion rates, while giving real value in becoming a fan.”…says Richard Krueger, co-author of the book Facebook Marketing for Dummies.
3. Consistently create new and varied content
Give your visitors fresh varied content (i.e. written blog posts, video blogs and audio posts). It is a smart idea to drive traffic from your Facebook page to your blog to introduce your fans to a variety of content. This is the insight shared by Amy Porterfield, social media trainer and speaker, and co-author of the book Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies.
Porterfield further advised to maintain a system of tracking your Facebook posts (i.e. organizing a content posting team, creating a content posting calendar, designating people who will be responsible for content creation).
4. Know the best days, times, and situations to post
“Knowing the best days, times, and situations to post for your Facebook audience matters and will certainly impact results.”…says Kevin Mullett, a social media and search engine optimization expert.
5. Run a Facebook contest
Andrea Vahl, co-author of the book Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies, opines that “Everyone loves a contest and a chance to win. If you need a little excitement on your Facebook page, a contest will spur your community to action. Hopefully you will also get the benefit of people sharing your contest with their friends,”
Try to run varied contests such as a photo contest, a video contest or sweepstakes where people just enter their name and email to win.
6. Create a synergy between your page and your website
“When creating your Facebook page, stay true to your brand and use the same colors, font style and images you use on your website to create a synergy between your page and your website.”…advised Amy Porterfield.
Being consistent across platforms will enhance your branding effort.
7. Analyze your Facebook visitor interactions beyond “Like”
Kevin Mullett emphasized the importance of measuring how your Facebook visitors are interacting beyond liking.
Facebook has built-in metrics called “People Talking About This” which allows Facebook page administrators to analyze their page users’ activities such as liking, commenting on and sharing a post, RSVP to a page event, and claim an offer among others.
Due consideration must be given to the metrics that are most significant to your business’s goals.
8. Use hashtags
Last June 12, 2013, Facebook introduced clickable hashtags. When you click on a hashtag in Facebook, you’ll see a feed of what other people and Pages are saying about that event or topic.
Casey Smith of Bibo International advised to keep your hashtags relevant to your product, but in a broad aspect. Brand-specific tags and more general industry topics will ensure that you reach the right target audience.
How many of the above tips are you observing for your Facebook page?
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