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10 Steps To Create The Ultimate Facebook Fan Page for Your Brand

By Ayelet Noff on March 24th, 2010

Brands today have the incredible opportunity of interacting with consumers on the #1 social network in the world – Facebook – and creating relationships with them that are long lasting, personal and relevant.

Companies today no longer control their own brand, the power has shifted to the masses. It is the public’s desire and feedback that will decide the brand’s fate in the end. Therefore it is clearly apparent that Facebook must play a major role in every brand’s social media marketing plan.

A few facts about Facebook (taken from the site’s blog):

  • More than 400 million active users
  • 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
  • Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook
  • More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week
  • More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook
  • More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day
  • Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans
  • More than 250 applications have more than one million monthly active users
  • There are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices

Facebook is now the 2nd most visited site in the world after Google and time spent on Facebook is higher than on any other site in most countries. It is clear that Facebook is an important component of any social media marketing plan, if not the most important.

Here are the 10 steps you should follow for the creation of the best Facebook Page for your brand:

1) Open Page – As a company, you should open a Facebook page. I have often seen the mistake of many companies opening a group or a personal profile for a company. Facebook has created Facebook pages for commercial companies to be able to carry on conversations with their consumers. Pages (unlike personal profiles or groups) enable brands to view insights such as fans demographics, number of interactions with fans, etc. Insights which are a necessary part of evaluating and assessing your brand’s marketing activities.

2) Content is king – When you’re initially building your Facebook page, fill it up with interesting and relevant content. Content doesn’t need to be specifically about your brand. Find insightful articles that have to do with your company’s vision and perspective and post them. Add dynamic content such as screenshots of highlighted areas on your site, videos of explaining your service, stuff that people would be able to look at when they make the decision of joining your fan page or not. You want to make sure that before you start inviting people to your page, you’ll have good high quality content to show them. Make sure to continuously upload great content to your page on a daily basis so that fans will want to see your page on their news feed when they open up their Facebook in the morning.

3) Networking – After you’ve uploaded enough interesting content, suggest your page to relevant members in your network. Obviously the more of a social networker you are and the more connections you’ve already managed to attain in your personal network, the easier this step will be. Keep building your network of connections for the future.

4) Find your target audience - Finding the people within Facebook that will take an interest in your brand and in your campaigns and make sure they know your page exists. Are you a social network for animators? Are you offering a new, healthier product for coffee lovers? Find your relevant audience who’s already on Facebook and let them know that you’re there. In today’s world wide web, people are getting more and more used to information finding them and not vice versa. Those brands that have understood this point and are reaching out to their target audience within Facebook and creating relationships with these individuals, are already placing the competition at a huge disadvantage.

5) Keep the conversation awake – Create live discussions on your page by both utilizing the status feature and also the discussions app. Get your fans involved in your discussions, ask for their feedback, show them you care about what they have to say. Enable a free flow of conversation even if you don’t like to hear what is being said by some folks. Use this opportunity to listen to what people have to say and take control of the conversation. Be happy for the opportunity you’ve been given to win them back as customers. Always make sure to be attentive, patient and answer as quickly as possible. Remember that Facebook doesn’t sleep.

Utilize the information of the crowd to learn more about how to lead your brand forward in the market.

6) Excite people about your brand again and again - Create frequent contests and special campaigns for fans to take part in and reward them for their participation with either social or monetary incentives that have to do with your brand. In this manner you are ensuring that those people who enter your contest are potential future clients who take a true interest in your product.

7) Create a Welcome tab – A Facebook page that says “Howdy” to all the new comers is both welcoming and a good opportunity to let them know what they can find on your page. Utilize it to express the benefits of joining your page, promote special campaigns you’ve got going on at the moment, anything you like. Welcome new fans to your home on Facebook.

8 ) Bring Value - Create other tabs that are relevant to your brand – for example, a “fashion tips” tab if you’re a clothing brand, a “book reviews” tab if you’re a publisher. Build fun applications for fans and potential fans that will not only help you create exposure for your brand but will also give added value to the users who install it.

9) Utilize Facebook’s Insights - How many interactions did you have with fans this week? How many people commented on your posts? Where are your fans located? Are they mostly female or male? The answers to these questions will of course enable you to make better use of your page plan of future activities.

10) Increase your exposure - Promote your Facebook page on your email signature, on your homepage, in other social networks that you’re a part of and in all outgoing materials to bloggers and journalists. Let your employees and customers know about your page so that they can become a part of the conversation.

Building a good, solid Facebook page may look easy and it is the best Facebook pages that excel at making it look so easy, however, maintaing an online community is not at all easy. Just like any community, it has needs and thoughts and opinions and as administrators of a Facebook page we are responsible for keeping its interest and shall I even dare say turning the members of your community to patriots of your brand.

Interested in more social media news and discussion? Join TNW Social Media on Facebook and Twitter, or grab our RSS feed here.

About the Author

Ayelet Noff

Ayelet Noff is the founder and CEO of Blonde 2.0 , a New Media PR agency helping brands create brand awareness and increase social engagement. Check out Ayelet's Blonde 2.0 blog and Twitter.

Discussion - 61 Comments/Pingbacks RSS feed for comments on this post

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  1. Silicon Beach Training says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Interesting, I just posted almost the same blog post! http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/blog/face...

    Luckily our advice is slightly different though ;-)

    Natasha

  2. gas700girl says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    This is all very well and good but the facebook apps are awful. I've been trying to get rss feeds to my wall for ages and none of them work because of the terrible facebook api. It's a known issue but facebook won't do anything about. The companies that write these apps are pulling their hair out and so are the companies that are trying to build decent fan pages.

  3. Steve Bennett says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Great information. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on moving the monetization of commerce out to Fan Pages. For example, Do you think viral marketing would be acceptable to Fans if the procurement function or the couponing function, “The Deals” were moved out to a Fanpage Tab?

  4. Bosneki says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Hey I am creating a facebook page. Photography and digital art is my hobby and I also sell my art on deviantArt. Be up to date and become a fan :-)
    It is online since 2 days: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bonsekis-Gallery/...

  5. Gnuboss says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    It's always great to have killer posts like this to take the guesswork out of doing stuff, I still need to get around to creating the fan page for my new sites.

    This one's fav'd for future reference and sharing, thanks.

  6. thementalcoach says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    I liked your FB welcome page so much I took a screenshot and saved it. Very clever! Thanks for writing an article with great content I can use.

  7. Lorraine says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Great Article. More businesses, especially ones just getting started with Facebook need to understand the concept of Page vs Profiles. To “friend” request from a business unless the owner is a personal friend feels like an invasion of privacy. Thank you for encouraging Fan Pages!

  8. Candace says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Very good article. I like the focus on conversation. I think a lot of businesses who promote themselves on social media forget that conversation is the key factor. They seem to think they can throw a page together, use it to promote only and benefit from that. It's just not the case when you are dealing with sites like Facebook.

    My only disagreement is with adding so many apps to a Fanpage. Facebook's apps for Fanpages need some major improvements.

  9. Kyle Griffith says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Great post Ayelet…I have not started a fan page ..yet. But you show enough gave me a push with your great tips. I will share this.

  10. Jeremy Campbell says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    The welcome tab is an overlooked one, I didn't even realize they existed so thanks for mentioning that aspect of the fan page.

  11. Patrick Klingaman says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Since creating a Facebook Fan Page is next on my to-do list, your post came at the right time. Concise, well-written, practical. Great job!

  12. Mike Venti says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Keep in mind this post doesn't only apply to companies but also to artists, musicians, freelancers, small businesses…basically anyone who needs to grow their brand.

    Great Post. It really is all about engaging your community.

  13. giftsproject says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    I have a company that enables friends to chip in on facebook for each other's group gifts: http://www.giftsproject.com. We would like to redesign our fan page. Any ideas or recommendations for a good experienced FB fan page designers?

  14. giftsproject says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    I have a company that enables friends to chip in on facebook for each other's group gifts: http://www.giftsproject.com. We would like to redesign our fan page. Any ideas or recommendations for a good experienced FB fan page designers?

  15. ViaSoc - Social Media Portal says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    here is the video tutorial , how to create facebook fan page

    http://fbbusiness.com/

  16. blonde20 says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Thanks for the nice words guys! Glad you found my post helpful. I will be writing a series of posts here with tips regarding social media strategy.

  17. Lis says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    Question: If you DID create a group page Before you realized how to create, or that you could create a FB page from your company, how can you get people to move over to the company FB page and delete the group page?? Any suggestions. I don't want to lose followers because of this :(

  18. Zee says March 24, 2010
    Reply

    no joke, great work Ayelet.

  19. benrschmidt says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    great stuff… good ideas

  20. Florian Muff says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    Thanks a lot. Great Stuff.

  21. OutOfAfrica says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    Thank you for your insightful article. I have been looking for information on this topic. I have a new website for my Car rental business and will find your posting helpful.

  22. OutOfAfrica says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    Thank you for your artice, which is helpful towards promoting my new car rental website.
    http://www.car-hire-international.com

  23. Paul Zweben says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    Hi Ayelet-
    Your article is fantastic and informative!
    Thank you so much!
    Paul Zweben

  24. J Flowers says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    I agree with everyone that Ayelet post is great info.

    If you created a group instead of a fan page for your business, here's my idea. Create the new fan page, add some content, then invite the group members to become a fan of the page. Make a big deal about the new UPGRADE. You can remove them from the group as they become page fans until you have the group cleared then you can delete it; or keep the group to use those initial members for a limited purpose like a focus group or opinion source. You'll think of something! Be sure to include the link and basics of the fan page in the group's narrative.

    Once you have 25 fans you can go to http://www.facebook.com/username for a shorter page name.

  25. Music and Movie Treasures says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    Great post, thank you. Promoting my Facebook Fan Page is the part that I am struggling with.

    Do you have recommentions on how I should go about “Finding my relevant audience who’s already on Facebook and letting them know that I'm there?”

    Thanks for any suggestions.

  26. Digital Orchard says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    Great post. Thanks

  27. NikkiPilkington says March 25, 2010
    Reply

    Great list – I've added it to our 'Here's My Fanpage' promotion page http://www.facebook.com/fanpagepromotion?v=wall

  28. terrabyte says March 26, 2010
    Reply

    Would a group ever be better than a fan page for selling a product? Don't groups also provide member information?

  29. Robin Low says March 26, 2010
    Reply

    I just created my page a few weeks ago. http://www.facebook.com/socialhub With your tips, I hope to make it successful and network with more people. Thanks!

  30. michaelstagg says March 29, 2010
    Reply

    Great post! Some of the things mentioned I'm doing already but there are several that I will begin incorporating ASAP. Thanks Ayelet!

  31. Mor Halali says March 29, 2010
    Reply

    Great Tips Ayelet!
    I most agree with you on the large power that FaceBook has on the market
    You can promote everthing you want throw that powerfull toll of the fan pages.

    You are more then welcome to visit my site on Pick Up Women
    חג שמח ( :

  32. Michelle Salater says March 29, 2010
    Reply

    Thank you for emphasizing the value of networking and content. Too often brands just throw information out and hope it sticks. A successful Facebook fan page creates a two way conversation that engages fans. It should attract the brand's target audience and then cultivate a relationship with that audience.

    In number 6 you talk about exciting fans with frequent contests. What are your thoughts on Facebook's new contest rules?

  33. Thomas says April 12, 2010
    Reply

    How do you create a Facebook Page I would like to create a page that points to my website that I have. I don't know how to go about this because there are so many options. My website is http://www.datematchmade.tk

  34. Nadya says April 15, 2010
    Reply

    Thank you!!! Great article, really! I've created a musician page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Irina-Dubcova/109...
    Could you please explain how to invite people to my page? instead of my friends… Hop for your help! Thank you again!!!!

  35. leighkostiainen says April 25, 2010
    Reply

    There is no reason you couldn't have the group page and the fan page as you can actually message you members in a group page with a personal internal message. Where Fan pages do not have this capability but do access news feeds. Think about your Fb startegy and see if you have room in your plan to manage both. They are a critical tool in your social media strategy.

    I talk about this in my weekly webinar http://apps.facebook.com/vpypebroadcaster/broad...

    Nice Article :) Found you on Twitter LOL

  36. leighkostiainen says April 25, 2010
    Reply

    Hi Ayelet,

    I liked your article. As a fan page owner I wonder if the term Fan Page is now redundant or we will still continue to call them Fan Pages as opposed to Like Pages or Facebook Pages.

    I especially hope we do continue since my page is called Promote My Fan Page LOL
    Hope you don't mind a link, remove it if so … http://www.facebook.com/PromoteMyFanPage

    Cheers
    Leigh

  37. Debbie says April 28, 2010
    Reply

    Great article, thanks. Just how does one create a Welcome tab though?

  38. Rachael Donohoe says July 23, 2010
    Reply

    great info as i’m getting started with facebook fan pages

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