Building a small business fan page to lure followers

So you've jumped on the social media bandwagon and started your own corporate Facebook fan page.

Now what?
With more than 3 million active pages on Facebook - about 1.5 million dedicated to businesses alone - it isn't enough just to be in the game. You have to consistently engage and interact with your audience to compete with the masses, experts say.

"Most businesses aren't utilizing their fan pages correctly," explains Jessica Swanson, founder of Shoestring Marketing Inc., a Highland Park, Ill.-based small-business marketing and training development firm. "They build them but they don't brand them, and they're not unique."

Public face
Separate from a user's individual profile, a fan page is a business' public profile on Facebook, where followers can keep up on the latest news, offers and information on a company/organization, says Swanson, who has her own fan page at facebook.com /shoestringmarketing. If a person elects to become a follower of a page by clicking the "like" button (formerly "become a fan"), they can receive updates and news feeds on a specific company or brand.

"It's completely free to build a fan page," says Swanson, who offers 10 tips on creating one at jessicaswanson.com/10-tips-for-creating-a-fantastic-facebook-fanpage.

But once you build a page, you need to attract followers. This can be done in numerous ways, including extending invites via e-mail to clients and prospects, says William Corbett Jr. of Corbett Public Relations in Floral Park, which has its own fan page (facebook .com/pages/Corbett-Public-Relations/146053144732?ref=ts) and has created and consulted on dozens more for clients.

Compelling content
The more compelling the page content, the more willing people will be to become followers, explains Steve Haweeli, president of WordHampton Public Relations in East Hampton, which has its own fan page (face book.com/wordhampton) and has created dozens for clients.

WordHampton will post relevant news and links about marketing and social media on its page, as well as company happenings or client placements.

"You need to post frequently," says Haweeli, "a minimum of three times a week." You also need to interact with your audience, he adds. If someone posts a comment on one of your links, you should respond and recognize it, notes Haweeli.

After all, there's no point in having a page unless you're willing to communicate with your "fans," says John Tunney, who owns five restaurants, including Besito and Honu in Huntington. He has fan pages for all his restaurants, which WordHampton helped create. Besito's alone has more than 5,000 followers.

"It's about interaction," says Tunney, who has more than half a dozen staffers go on the company's corporate pages up to six times daily to respond to comments, posts, etc.

Engagement
This kind of interaction is critical, explains social media specialist Callan Green of Bailey Gardiner, an integrated marketing agency in San Diego. With recent Facebook changes (see dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/ new-changes-to-facebook-fan-pages), your updates will most likely not appear in your fans' news fed if they're not getting enough engagement (i.e. comments, likes, etc.), she explains.

"Now you need engaging content or there's no point having a page," says Green, who highlights top corporate fan pages at mashable.com/2009/06/16/kill er-facebook-fan-pages.

Asking questions is a good way to get engagement, and talk about topical industry-relevant issues, says Corbett, who tries to keep his individual profile posts separate from his fan page posts. "You have to be careful to keep your personal Facebook page and your business fan page separate," he says. "Mixing the two can cause problems in terms of your image if you're not careful.

Setting up a Facebook fan page

1. Scroll to bottom of your personal Facebook main page.

2. Click on advertising link.

3. Look for flag icon that says "pages" and click on it.

4. Then click on green "create page" button.

5. Select kind of page you want to create (i.e. business, organization).

Source: Corbett Public Relations