Posts Tagged ‘facebook fan page promotion’

Custom Facebook URLs No Longer Require 25 ‘Likes’

Friday, October 14th, 2011

Facebook has recently made it much easier to get a custom Facebook URL for your small business Facebook page. It used to be that Facebook required all Facebook pages to accumulate 25 ‘Likes’ prior to them being able to quality for a custom URL. This requirement caused a lot of small business owners who were just getting started on Facebook to use that ugly URL string for their page. The problem with the old way of doing things was that when small business owners went to promote their Facebook page on other marketing collateral, such as in-store, on their website, on print ads, etc. the URL was not easily read and couldn’t be typed into a browser without a lot of patience on behalf of the customer. Realizing that their rules were causing headaches for business owners and Facebook users, Facebook has changed the rule.

Facebook URLNow, you can setup a custom Facebook URL right away. No more waiting until you have 25 ‘Likes’. If you currently have a Facebook page with that ugly URL string, simply go ahead and change it. For those of you who are thinking about creating a Facebook business page for your small business, now is the time! Here’s why it’s important to have a Custom Facebook Business Page URL.

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Posted in Facebook Marketing | No Comments »

LinkedIn Discussions Can Increase Facebook & Twitter Connections

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

More and more I’m seeing LinkedIn Group Members using LinkedIn Discussions to add Facebook and Twitter connections. At first glance you think to yourself, hmmm, this is a good idea. After a little time though, you realize that this is a failed strategy. Why? Well it gets back to a point we make over and over again at this company, when it comes to online marketing, it’s about QUALITY over quantity. Too many business owners make the mistake of thinking that if they have a large quantity of followers they will be successful. Unfortunately, that’s not the case if ‘quality’ is missing.

LinkedIn Groups Discussions

So what does this LinkedIn strategy provide to business owners? Does it align to your goal of selling more products and services? Let’s find out.

These LinkedIn Groups are full of  business owners, all of whom are looking to grow their Twitter and Facebook following. They see this discussion topic and decide to go through and ‘Like’ all of the Facebook pages posted in the discussion thread. Then they post a link to their own Facebook page and let group members know that they have already ‘Liked’ all of their pages and request that those owners do the same. Those owners oblige and your Facebook ‘Likes’ jump from 100 to 125. You’re thinking, brilliant! I just increased my Facebook ‘Likes’ 25%. That’s great, now what?

Once you’ve increased your Facebook ‘Likes’ and Twitter followers you continue to post content on those channels expecting that this will lead to more comments and ultimately more sales. What too many business owners are finding out is that once the other owners follow you on Twitter and ‘Like’ you on Facebook, they NEVER come back to your Facebook page and NEVER interact with you on Twitter. If they’re not engaging with you that means your content is never showing up in front of their audience, which means you aren’t going to generate more comments and you’re certainly not going to increase sales.

On the surface this LinkedIn strategy for growing your social media connections seems like a quick fix to that nagging issue of not having a lot of Facebook ‘Likes’ and Twitter followers. Unfortunately, this strategy doesn’t help you achieve your ultimate goal of selling more products and services. Why? Because it’s a quantity-focused strategy and not a quality-focused strategy. If you want to sell more products and services then you HAVE TO focus on QUALITY social media connections.

What are Quality Social Media Connections?

Here at Catalyst we ALWAYS tell clients not to worry if you have 5 followers or 500, as long as those who ARE following you take the time to visit your Facebook page and leave comments and ReTweet your content on Twitter. You want Brand ADVOCATES. You don’t want random followers who never take the time to see what you have to say. Quality social media connections are the folks who are going to stop by your event, share your blog article with friends, and take advantage of your promotions.

Next time you’re thinking about ways to increase your social media following, perhaps take a few minutes to instead think of how you can ENGAGE the people who are already there.

Thoughts? Leave your comments below.

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Posted in Facebook Marketing, Twitter Marketing | 2 Comments »

Stop Monopolizing My Facebook News Feed!

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Ok. Take a deep breath. Relax. Don’t get too frustrated… Ahhhh! It’s kind of hard not to get frustrated when a business starts monopolizing my Facebook News Feed. What do I mean? You probably know… You know those businesses who post one status update after another on Facebook? Yeah, I told you you knew what I was talking about. How frustrating is it when you look at your Facebook News Feed only to see the same company posting 10 updates right in a row?! Do you want to know the quickest way to have your Facebook updates hidden, or even worse, be ‘Unliked’ by your Facebook followers? Post Facebook Status Updates consecutively…

How often should I post on FacebookWhen it comes to marketing your small business on Facebook, there are rules of engagement. One of the most important rules to follow is “Keep your Facebook updates to 2-3 DAILY”. The businesses who post constantly are very likely to piss off their followers. There is nothing more annoying than seeing continuous promotional messages on your news feed. Businesses who take part in this monopolization of Facebook News Feeds are not going to be successful on Facebook.

The key to Facebook is getting your message in front of your followers, hoping that they will engage with you by ‘Liking’ your update or leaving a comment. Getting your followers to engage with your Facebook page puts your page in front of their followers, thus giving you the opportunity to obtain new Facebook ‘Likes’. If you want people to engage with you and keep your status updates in their news feed, you can’t piss them off.

When it comes to posting content on Facebook for your business, here are a few tips that can help:

  • Post informative/educational information about your business, industry, products, services, events, etc. Keep the promotional posts to a minimum.
  • Post information/engage with your followers on a daily basis. People like consistency.
  • Spread your Facebook posts out throughout the day – different people are on at different times and you want your messages to reach as many followers as possible (hint: Sunday nights are a great time to post updates on Facebook)
  • Ask questions – Try to solicit feedback from your Facebook community. The key to all of this is engagement. Be thought-provoking with your Facebook posts.
  • Switch up the type of content you post – post images, links to your content, links to others’ content, poll questions, status messages, etc.
  • DO NOT POST MULTIPLE MESSAGES ONE RIGHT AFTER THE NEXT!

If you follow these few tips and be sure not to annoy your Facebook community by posting multiple messages one after the next, you will have success with Facebook Marketing for your small business.

As you can tell, Facebook News Feed monopolization is one of our pet peeves here at Catalyst. What are some of your Facebook pet peeves? Leave a comment below.

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Posted in Facebook Marketing | No Comments »

Create a Facebook Window Cling for Your Small Business

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Ever since we published the article Drive Traffic to Facebook with Facebook Window Clings we have been receiving a ton of emails and phone calls from business owners across the country who are looking to purchase a Facebook Window Cling from us. That would be a great return-on-investment story if the goal of that article was to drive sales of Facebook Window Clings. Unfortunately, we don’t sell Facebook Window Clings! :)

We actually wrote the post after we received a Facebook Window Cling for Catalyst Marketers. The package came from Facebook and we hadn’t done anything to request it. That led us to assume that Facebook was sending Window Clings out to all owners of a Facebook Business Page. And they very well could be doing that. With that said, we haven’t read any other articles about Facebook sending out the Window Clings. Due to the high demand of Facebook Window Clings from small business owners, and seemingly lack of supply from Facebook, we decided to write this follow-up article to help you create your very own Facebook Window Cling using VistaPrint.com.

Register for VistaPrint.com

Facebook MarketingThe first step in the process of creating your very own Facebook Window Cling for your business is to sign-up for VistaPrint.com. Registering for Vistaprint is free and pretty simple. Once you’ve registered successfully simply navigate to the left sidebar under the Business section. You’ll see the Signage category. Hover over “Signage” and a sub-menu will appear. Click “Window Decals”.

Design Your Facebook Window Cling

Vistaprint allows you to build your very own “Window Decal”. Vistaprint offers two decal sizes to choose from. You can also choose from their many different decal designs OR upload your own custom design (we definitely think the latter option is worth doing, but you would need to hire a designer and review Vistaprint’s specs). We recommend that you select a design from Vistaprint.

  • Step 1: Select a Style –> LARGE Window Cling
    • Create a Facebook Window Cling

  • Step 2: Choose How to Design It –> Browse our designs
    • Facebook Marketing

  • Step 3: Large Window Decals Pop-Up –> Click ‘Use your photos and logos” at the bottom of the pop-up

  • Step 4: Pick Any Design for Your Business –> We are going to select the one in the top right corner. See the image below to see the design that we selected.
    • Facebook Marketing Small Business

  • Step 5: Upload Your Image –> Upload the Facebook Logo. If you do not have a Facebook Logo, then simply use Google Images and search “Facebook Logo”. Download the version you’d like to use for your Facebook Window Cling.

  • Step 6: Enter your Text –> Fill in your Company Name | Company Message – Use the following “LIKE” Us on Facebook | Phone – Use the following “Your Company Name on Facebook” | Web/Other – Use your custom Facebook URL | Hours/Other – Write 1 sentence designed to drive customers to connect with you on Facebook right then & there from their mobile phone.

    • Social Media Marketing Agency Philadelphia

  • Step 7: Advanced Editing & Confirm all Copy is correct –> If you want to add more text, change fonts and colors, or move things around on your Facebook Window Cling then select Advanced Edit. Once you’re finished editing & reviewing your work, check the box to confirm that you approve the copy. Then click the ‘Next’ button.

  • Step 8: Select Options –> Choose the quantity of Facebook Window Clings that you want to purchase, as well as, select other options to add to your purchase.

  • Step 9: Display Options –> Choose how you want to apply your decal. You can create a Facebook Window Cling that’s applied to the inside or outside of the window. We are recommending that you select the first option; inside.
    • Facebook for business

  • Step 10: Checkout –> Now Vistaprint is going to ask you to purchase additional items. If you’re not interested then simply skip through the next three screens and proceed to checkout! For less than $14 you just created your very own Facebook Window Cling!

Facebook Window Cling for Your Small Business

By taking 5 minutes to read this article and then spending another 30 minutes (tops) creating a Window decal on Vistaprint.com you now have your very own Facebook Window Cling. You can place it on glass surfaces within your store in order to promote your business. A Facebook Window Cling is a great way to drive your customers to join your online community on Facebook. Once they are connected with you through your Facebook Business Page you can continue:

  • educating them about your products and services
  • building an even stronger relationship with them
  • turning them into brand advocates for your business
  • selling them your products and services

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Posted in Facebook Marketing | 5 Comments »

Drive Traffic to Facebook with Facebook Window Clings

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

In the never ending search for new ways to drive traffic to your Facebook business page, Facebook is now helping Small Business Owners with this task. With the arrival of the new Facebook changes last month, with the biggest being the switch from “becoming a fan of a Facebook page” to indicating that you ‘Like” a Facebook page, Facebook is taking their efforts offline. Here at Catalyst Marketers, we just received our first ever Facebook Window Cling. Have you received your Facebook Window Cling yet?

UPDATE: Due to the heavy demand for Facebook Window Clings we have written a follow-up article which shows you how to create a Facebook Window Cling for less than $14.

Catalyst Marketers Facebook Window ClingFirst, let’s define what a Window Cling is. Basically, a Window Cling is a sign that you can adhere to any window. Facebook realizes that business owners are looking for ways to drive traffic to their Facebook page. Facebook loves that business owners are spending time to drive traffic for Facebook, and to help in this effort, the Facebook Window Cling was born.

The Facebook Window Cling provides customers and passersby with your unique Facebook URL. If you haven’t created your unique Facebook URL yet, definitely take some time to do so – You need at least 25 people to Like your Facebook page before you can create the unique URL. By using the Facebook Window Cling to let folks know that you’re on Facebook, and by providing them with your custom Facebook URL, you WILL drive more people to your small business Facebook page. Of those, a percentage of them will Like your page, and then you can begin the relationship-building process.

Text LIKE CatalystMarketers to 32665

The other component that you’ll notice from the Facebook Window Cling image above is the Text component. I think this is a really good add by Facebook. Facebook understands how HUGE mobile communication and mobile commerce is becoming, and they, like everyone else, want to capitalize on it. Now, even if someone doesn’t have a smart phone that connects to the Internet, they can instantly Like your business page on Facebook by sending a text message. Pretty dope, huh? So, if you haven’t done so already, please text ‘Like CatalystMarketers’ to 32665 to indicate that you Like the Catalyst Marketers Facebook business page. :)

Where Should I Place My Facebook Window Cling?

Get creative here…A few places you might consider right off the bat are:

  • On the rear windshield of your vehicle
  • On your store window – The Facebook Window Cling should be visible to all patrons upon entering or walking past your store
  • On a local partner’s store window – If you partner with other local businesses in the area, perhaps they can put up your Facebook Window Cling in their store, and you can put up their Cling in your store. A little cross promotion action.

No matter where you place your Facebook Window Cling, be sure to take advantage of it, and other unique ways of driving traffic to your Facebook business page. Just because you’re on Facebook, doesn’t mean that people are going to automatically connect with you. It takes creativity and a little bit of effort on your part. Be sure that all of your customers know that you’re on Facebook. The first step could be for you to utilize your very own Facebook Window Cling.

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Posted in Facebook Marketing | 13 Comments »

Salon Owners Create Facebook Cards on REDKEN.com

Friday, April 30th, 2010

The other day we published another installment of the Hosting Your Own Local Fashion Show Blog Series. We received a comment from James Jordan of Matthew Ray Salon. James has published a few very insightful comments on our blog over the past few months, which we very much appreciate James, and this one was no different. James let our readers know that over on Redken.com, salon owners can create their very own Facebook Marketing Cards. We thought that this was a really great value-add from Redken, so we wanted to do some digging. This post is the fruits of our labor…

Facebook Marketing CardFirst, let’s quickly define what Facebook Marketing Cards are. I’m not sure if Redken coined the term or not, but basically, these cards are printed cards that have the Facebook logo and Facebook fan page URL on them. All business owners should have some sort of take-home card that they give their customers at check-out. On the card should be the URLs for each online social tool that you have a presence on, as well as, your blog URL and website URL. This is a great way to drive fans and followers to your online social tools. The catch is, business owners don’t have time to go out and find a company to help them create and produce these Social Media Cards. By Redken making the service available to their target audience, who in this case are salon owners, they are providing a ton of value to their customers. Other organizations will hopefully capitalize on this and create a service that all business owners can take advantage of. VistaPrint would be an ideal candidate. Does anyone know if VistaPrint.com offers a service like this?

Redken sells hair products and services. Many of their customers are salon owners. Those salon owners purchase Redken products and then sell them retail in their salons to the ultimate end users, consumers. Salon owners also purchase Redken products to use in their salon. In the never ending search to always be creating more and more value for their customers, Redken realized how beneficial Facebook was becoming for Salon owners. They capitalized on this trend by providing salon owners with the ability to create “Facebook Marketing Cards” through their “Professional Site” on Redken.com.

Redken has created a number of business tools on their Professional site, all geared towards salon owners. Some of these tools and information are free, and others, like the Facebook Marketing Cards, are for sale. By understanding the needs of their target audience, which in this case were access to business tools, and more specifically, a tool that provides an easy way for salon owners to promote their business on Facebook, Redken was able to add value to their relationship with salon owners. Even though salon owners have to pay for their Facebook Marketing Cards, Redken still provides them with an easy way to produce them. When you print marketing materials, you’re always going to have some costs, so Redken is still providing value even though they are passing through the print costs for the Facebook Marketing Cards — Good for them if they can make a little profit off of it as well — that’s what business is about.

Create a Facebook Marketing Card on Redken.com

The first step is to Register on Redken.com Professional Site. It’s an easy process and it’s free. Once you’ve registered, you now have access to everything on the Redken Professional Site. To create your Facebook Marketing Card, simply follow this path: Click on Grow My Business –> My Business Toolbox –> Salon Essentials –> Facebook Cards

Redken Business Tools for Salon Owners

Redken has made it very easy for salon owners to create materials that help them promote their Facebook fan page. The service benefits both Redken and salon owners. Hopefully salon owners take advantage of their ability to create Facebook Marketing Cards on Redken.com. Thanks again to James Jordan for letting us know about this service!

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Posted in Facebook Marketing | 1 Comment »

HGTV Uses TV to Promote Social Media

Monday, February 1st, 2010

At this point, I think most of our regular readers know my feelings about traditional advertising: TV, Radio, Print Ads – They are just too expensive and you don’t see much return-on-investment. Consumers simply tune them out. With that said, if traditional advertising is part of your marketing mix (in some cases it is still relevant, but those cases are dwindling), I’m a big advocate of promoting your online efforts through your traditional ads. I was watching some HGTV (my girlfriend and I are big fans) this weekend when I noticed the stellar job they do of incorporating their social media into their own TV spots.

On at least two instances, an entire 15 second TV spot for HGTV centered around their social media. Many of the HGTV personalities have their own Twitter and Facebook profiles. HGTV came up with brilliant campaign to incorporate the activity on their hosts’ profiles into their TV ads. Basically the ads go something like this, “Brittany from Georgia wrote the following comment on Sabrina Soto’s Facebook wall, Sabrina, your design-sense is one of a kind and I’ve incorporated many of your ideas into my own home. Thank you!” The TV ad then ends with the following, “Sabrina Sota responded by thanking Brittany and asking her to submit some pictures of her newly updated home. Remember that you can follow HGTV and our hosts on Facebook and Twitter.” I may not have the exact language correct, but you get the gist.

HGTV is not only promoting their social media, but they are promoting their fans as well. It’s adds to the connection. Can you imagine how you’d feel if HGTV mentioned your Facebook comment on their TV commercial? I’ll bet you’d tell a bunch of your friends, both online and offline. In turn, that may increase fans and followers of HGTV social media sites, as well as, possibly increase viewers of their TV programs.

This is just another example of how traditional advertising can compliment your social media marketing. Again, if you have limited spend, you may want to dismiss traditional ads altogether, but if you’re someone who is running some radio spots or print ads, you should definitely find ways to drive listeners/readers to your social media sites.

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Posted in Facebook Marketing | 3 Comments »

How Facebook Tagging Can Help Your Small Business

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Do you have a Facebook fan page for your small business? If not, as I said in a previous post, you definitely should consider creating one (if your target customers use Facebook). For those of you who do have a Facebook fan page for your small business, Facebook tagging is a great way to build relationships with other businesses and customers, as well as, getting your fan page in front of more potential fans.

Facebook launched their tagging effort a few months ago, after they realized just how powerful Twitter was becoming. The very nature of Twitter is to tag followers in your tweets through their Username if you want to communicate with them or recommend them to others. Facebook decided it would be a good idea to implement similar functionality. The benefits of Facebook Tagging to business owners isn’t really talked about much. That’s what this post is for. First we’ll learn how to tag others in your Wall Posts and then we’ll discuss why you should be doing it on your small business Facebook fan page.

When creating wall posts for your fan page you can tag your friends and pages that you are a fan of. The first step to this is to become a fan of other local or relevant businesses. If you’re a restaurant in Doylestown, PA, then perhaps you should be a fan of the local jewelry store and clothing store. This connects you with your peers, but it’s also the first step in getting in front of more local customers. Each of those businesses have fans of their business and through tagging, you can get your fan page in front of their fans.

One big requirement for your posts to appear on the walls of your friends and pages is the settings on those walls. As you know, you can either set your wall to allow only your (the owner’s) wall posts OR you can set it to allow your friends and fans to post to your wall as well. In order for your tags to appear on someone’s wall, the owner of that page must allow for OTHERS’ posts to appear. If you tag someone and your post doesn’t appear on their wall, more than likely their settings specify that only they are allowed to post wall comments to their wall.

The act of tagging is actually very simple. When you’re writing a wall post on your small business fan page simply type the “@” symbol in the text field and then begin to type your friend’s name (or the name of a page you’re a fan of). As you can see from the image above, Facebook pretty much takes care of the rest. Once your friend’s name appears in the drop-down, simply click it to make it fully appear in your post. Then finalize the content of your post and click submit.

You can tell that you’ve successfully tagged someone when their name shows up in blue on your wall post.

The next step is to navigate to their page to see if your post appeared on their wall. It’s easier than ever now to navigate to their page because all you have to do is click their name (in blue) on the wall post you just created and that will automatically link you to their page. That’s one of the reasons why other people like when you tag them in your wall posts. Not only will your post show up on their wall, but you’ve recommended them to your fans and your fans can easily find them by clicking on their name in your wall post. It’s always about mutual benefits – that’s a key to building great relationships. As you can see from the image below, my wall post has now shown up on The Rise To The Top fan page.

Some of the main benefits to utilizing Facebook’s tagging feature are:

  • You can build relationships with other business leaders by recommending them on your wall
  • Your fan page gets in front of new prospects/fans
  • You’re seen as active in the Facebook community
  • Your fans appreciate you opening them up to other great fan pages

If you have a Facebook fan page for your small business, start tagging.

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Posted in Small Business | 5 Comments »

Why it’s Important to Have a Custom Facebook Fan Page URL

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Do you have a Facebook Fan Page setup for your small business? If not, then get one up ASAP. For those of you who are already on Facebook, you know just how powerful a tool it is for your small business. Today’s post is intended to help you understand the importance of having a custom URL setup for your Facebook fan page.

Does your Fan page have an ugly URL string like the one below?

Did you know that your Facebook fan page URL doesn’t have to look like the one above? You have the ability to customize it. If you have 25 fans or more, Facebook allows you to create a custom URL for your small business fan page. Simply go here, and click “Set a username for your Pages”. Be sure to double-check the Username that you select as you cannot change it. It should be something that’s short, but also something associated with your business. I simply chose my business name, as you can see below.

There are a few reasons why you should create a custom URL for your Facebook fan page.

  • It looks cleaner than a string of code
  • It’s better for search engine purposes
  • It’s easier to promote – Check out my post on promoting social media in your print ads for more information
  • It’s easier for people to remember if you’re giving your URL out during a face-to-face conversation
  • It’s another branding element for your Facebook fan page

It’s really easy to setup your custom Facebook fan page URL, so take a few minutes and do it now. Then let everyone on Twitter know you did it (just another way to let people know you have a fan page that they can be a part of).

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Posted in Facebook Marketing | 2 Comments »

What Social Tool Are You Considering Using for Your Small Business?

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

There are hundreds of social tools out there for business owners to take advantage of. With that said, in order to be effective, you must choose tools that fit your business needs. The first step to figuring out what tools to leverage versus what tools to stay away from is conducting market research. Figure out what tools your customers are using and make sure your business has a presence on those tools. If your customers are using FourSquare and Yelp, then you should be using those tools as well.

What online social tool are you considering signing up for and why? How do you think this tool will help your business? Leave your responses in the comment section. Hopefully we can get a good list of social tools. Perhaps you’ll even find a few new tools that you’ve never heard of.

UPDATE: Download our new FREE eBook: How to Use Foursquare to Grow Your Business

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Posted in Online Marketing | 1 Comment »