What Can Facebook Do For Your Business?

Just a few months ago buried away in the pages of Facebook, you might have stumbled upon a link showing you the way to create a Facebook page for your business. It was difficult to find and business pages were few and far between. Now the link is available right on the front page . Business pages are popping up everywhere.
If you sell Brand X Boring Widgets, you might be asking yourself “Why does my company need a Facebook page?” This is sort of like asking why Aflac needs a duck screaming “Aflac!”  A non-buzzworthy business still benefits from using social media.

Here’s why:

Your employee Jill sells widgets for you. All of Jill’s friends knows that she sells widgets for you. However, Jill doesn’t feel like talking about selling widgets for you when she is around her friends. In fact, she would probably like to talk about almost anything else. It’s not that Jill is ashamed of where she works; she just has other interests. The funny thing is that three of Jill’s close friends work for companies that could really use your widgets.

Here is how you can speak to Jill’s friends:

• Set Up Your Audience

Create a page for your Facebook and have a meeting with your employees. Tell them what you are doing and encourage them to become fans of your business. For most, this will come natural. Facebook is a self-promotion tool and people enjoy adding as much content about themselves as they can.

Create incentive to get your employees talking to their friends about becoming fans of your business. This is whom you want to be speaking to.

•Publish Your Blog’s RSS feed To Your Company’s Facebook Page

This is your core content. Your company probably already has a blog. Use this content to fuel your Facebook page on autopilot.  This is an option for your Wall right out of the gate and is very simple to do. Each time a new post is published it will now appear on your Wall.

•Systematically Post Your Content (Videos, Announcements, Etc.) To Your Page

Now you just need their attention. The key here is timing. Resist the urge to post everything you have all at once only to then forget about your page forever. Create a time-line to release your product videos, your company announcements and anything else you have created or are about to create. Similar to your company blog, Facebook is organic and needs updates to thrive.

Congratulations! Your “boring company” is now techy and social. Better yet, you now have a brand-new (free) web presence with an entirely unique and personal audience.