According to a study released this week by interactive marketing agency Rosetta, 59% of 100 top retailers are now using Facebook. I think that's pretty impressive, and goes to show that Facebook can be used as part of a well-targeted social media strategy.
I've recently started learning the in's and out's of Facebook fan pages, and you may be thinking about how you might be able to leverage one for your business. Here's what I've learned so far:
- The most effective Facebook fan pages are updated on a regular basis with new content.
- If there's actually evidence that the page administrator is visiting regularly and interacting with the community, via discussions and what not, the more engaged fans will be (check out the Wall on Dell's page).
- Facebook pages work best when their less about "me me me" and more about "you you you" (in other words, the customer). Best Buy does a good job of this with interactive apps that offer value to the fans (like the Cozi and Tripr apps).
These are the main, overarching lessons I've learned about using Facebook for marketing and community building. There are lots of more technical things that I'm learning little by little, and I'd like to share a few resources that I've been referencing:
- Nick O'Neill's All Facebook blog keeps you up-to-date on the latest with Facebook, offering news, opinion, insight, and analysis.
- Justin Smith's Inside Facebook blog has Facebook tips especially for developers and marketers.
- Mari Smith's Why Facebook? blog also has excellent advice for Facebook marketers and business users.
I also scoured Amazon for some books that were about using Facebook for business, including developing apps for Facebook pages:
I hope at least one of these resources will help you in some way as you build your Facebook presence. If 59% of top retailers can do it, so can you!
