The first step that any company needs to take, when entering the Social Media Matrix, is to publish a Facebook Fan Page.
As Facebook has made it relatively easy to create a standard Fan Page, companies and Brands are now competing for the best looking customised Fan Pages which are developed in FBML (Facebook Markup Language).
Fanpages developed with FBML, have new and exciting functionality and may even be used to embed your website, into your Facebook Fan Page.
What is so powerful about a Facebook Page ?
When a person decides to follow a Facebook Page, they subscribe by pressing the “Like” Button.
People who Like your Page are basically approving of, voting for and promoting their love of your brand to their friends. This digital word of mouth is a personal recommendation of your product, from one friend to another. Marketers know that a personal recommendation is the best form of promotion for a brand or product. The more attractive and engaging your Facebook Page is, the better chance you have of people following your page.
The Benefits of having a popular Facebook Page
- As soon as they click the “Like Button” , a notification is posted on all of their friends News Feeds, that they like the page. Friends can then click the link and in turn also like the page. This is called “going viral”
- Notifications of Updates and News posted onto the Facebook Page appears in the subscribers News Feed.
- The administrator of the page has the facility to send a message to all fans of the page
- Any interaction that a Fan has on your page, is broadcast in their and their friends news Feeds. (such as makes a wall post, posts a comment or joins in a discussion or review)
- Features and Functions of the page can be limited to Fans of the Page, to encourage them to become Fans of the Page.
- It costs less to advertise your Page on Facebook, than to advertise a website.
- Fans can suggest the page to their friends, through a personal invitation.
Case Study
My Letter to Mandela is a social campaign which aims to spread goodwill, by collecting Letters and Messages, written to Nelson Mandela.
The campaign was launched as a combination between a Facebook Page and a Website, with full integration with Twitter and Social Bookmarking Sites.
Facebook Members who discover the Page, via their friends notifications or invitations are able to Post their letters to Nelson Mandela via the Page and via the Site. The more people that interact with the site, the more notifications (free advertising) are being broadcast to friends profile pages and news feeds and more people get to see your page.
Much success is achieved by having some sort of incentive for people to become Fans, such as a competition, special offer, give away or sneak previews.
