A couple of weeks ago, I was reading a post on the Klout Blog about increasing your score by connecting your networks. Klout allows you to connect your Twitter account and your Facebook account to help increase your Klout, or influence score. Some people have differing opinions on whether or not Facebook should be included in the metrics. There were 60 comments to the post. The first comment really got me thinking. Read it for yourself:
Lilly’s comment caused quite a stir. As you can see 19 people agreed with her. But there were several comments that disagreed. Personally, I disagree. I think that Facebook is a very valuable social media tool. Although it started as a way for classmates to keep in touch with each other, then friends, and family, it has expanded to much, much more. I admit that I was one of those that signed up for Facebook and then let it sit for probably many months before I really started using it. But I’m glad that I did. And, if you consider yourself a brand or you run a business, and you are not on Facebook, you are missing out on valuable connections and advertising. This means that you are missing out on potential new clients and customers. But, exactly how should you use Facebook to promote yourself and your business? Well, I cannot tell you exactly how to use it. Everyone has different routines and ideas. However, here are some great tips on things that you can do.
Your Profile Page
This is your main page on Facebook. No doubt you are using this each time you log into Facebook anyway. However, lots of people like to keep their page personal. This means connecting with friends, family and old classmates, and it stops there. Just one important note: when you first setup your Facebook page, you should check your security. You may not want everyone viewing photos of your children or you partying the week before, or your contact information without you giving them permission.
My friends list is mixed. Besides my friends, family, and classmates, I also connect with blogging friends and others on my personal profile for networking reasons. If you have a blog or a website, you can share information on your Facebook page which will reach some who otherwise might not have ever seen your content.
Your Facebook Fan Page
Just about every blog or website you visit these days have a button for you to LIKE the site on Facebook. You do have one don’t you? If you don’t, you should. Why? Because it creates instant interaction with your readers. Just think about how many people are addicted to Facebook. Some people spend quite a bit of time per day reading Facebook statuses, updating their own, and browsing fan pages. The huge plus to having a Fan Page is that if you post something, it will instantly hit all of your fan’s homepages. Hopefully they see something they like, and they click on it. You can take this one step further by hooking up your blog posts to automatically post to Facebook (post coming soon).
Facebook Ads
Once you have your Facebook fan page setup, you might want to consider creating an ad for your page. This puts a nice unobtrusive box in users right sidebar where they can quickly click LIKE. The prices are actually pretty reasonable and can help attract more fans. Just remember, the more fans you have on your Facebook page, the more your reach.
Connecting with Other Networks
Facebook allows the ability to connect just about every other social network that you use. This can be very useful for vloggers who often upload new videos to YouTube. The minute your video is live on YouTube it can also post to your Facebook wall to get more viewers. You can also connect your Twitter account, Flickr and various other networks using Facebook apps.
What is your feeling on Facebook as a marketing tool? Do you currently use it to promote your blog or business? Are you planning to? What is holding you back?
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