Facebook “fan” change aims to increase business page visibility

Apr 01, 2010•Blog Posts•Online & Digital Media•Social Media• by Michelle

Facebook has recently changed the way its users affiliate themselves with pages set up by businesses and brands with the hope that the move will generate more visibility for those business pages.

The social media site has replaced “Become a Fan of” with “Like,” a move that MediaMemo says is based on leveraging the already popular “Like” feature to increase clicks. That site says Facebook users currently use the “Like” button nearly twice as much as its “Become a Fan of” counterpart.

As Facebook makes changes to increase traffic to business sites, you, too, can follow some simple tips to getting more and more Facebook users to “Like” you.

Become a resource
Are you a car dealership trying to build a following for your Facebook page? Offer helpful information about things like vehicle maintenance, how to change a tire, what different octane gasolines mean for your car. Are you an athletic apparel retailer? Provide seasonal hints for getting the most out of your workouts or how to avoid injuries. Adding valuable tidbits makes your page more relevant to a broader base of people.

Grant status to your Facebook users
Creating offers or coupons that are only available on Facebook will not only give potential customers a reason to visit your page, but it can also give users a sense of being an insider with your organization. Announce sneak previews of upcoming sales or events first to your fans. Cultivating a sense of belonging will strengthen your relationship with your customers.

Know your audience
While targeting one type of customer may seem to be a good way to increase users initially, your “like” base will grow more consistently if you target multiple groups. Especially for local businesses, connections will be finite if you don’t broaden your page’s appeal. Keep in mind that when one person is a social cluster “likes” a business, that message is broadcast to his or her friends. You don’t want to spend time targeting users who are unlikely to be customers, but you do want to make sure your page content has a broad enough appeal to be relevant to many social clusters.

Stay in the picture
Update the content on your page often enough that update alerts keep your business top of mind for those following you. But don’t overdo it. There’s a fine line between being perceived as providing timely updates and being seen as a spammer. Updating content and status every few days is enough to keep your page fresh without annoying your followers.

Engage your Fans
Brands and businesses who are using Facebook well create great content that invites interactivity. Videos, games, applications, posts, and other elements can generate feedback and comments from your fans and can provide you valuable information about your fans. For example, posting information about a neighborhood 5K of which your business is a sponsor is relevant and local, and can get people talking. When your fans DO engage, be sure to respond and stay active in those conversations.

And don’t be afraid to post information about other local (non-competing) businesses and to have them do the same for you. Conversations that make your fans feel part of a community will keep the coming back.

Do you have approaches you’ve used successfully to build your Facebook base? We’d love to hear them! Please post your stories in the comments.