How to use Facebook for effective marketing

Facebook! The second that you utter this word it brings about one of two clear reactions: Love or Horror. There is one group that has wholly embraced this social media phenomenon (and we do believe it is a great tool, especially for social media marketing if utilised in the right way). Then there is the other group that simply can't see the point of Facebook, and consequently steers clear.

But within the group of pro-Facebookers there is seemingly a rising anxiety over the use of the social media platform. Indeed, a recent study by Scottish researchers has found that the more friends people have on Facebook, the more stressed or anxious they feel about using the site.

Although this study only covered private users, the same could easily be true for businesses when things go wrong - and for the whole wide world to see. So how can marketers embrace Facebook so as to add value to a product, service or brand?

Here we offer you a few tips on how to best utilise Facebook into a successful marketing or brand experience campaign mix. (Note: Afterall a huge number of businesses are using Facebook as a highly effective marketing tool. Added to that many companies are now building communities of brand ambassadors by means of Facebook.)

Another factor worth thinking about is that a massive 600 million people now use Facebook - and this is a vast potential community of consumers in which any marketing campaign might like to connect with.

Build a community: The aim of most Facebook marketing strategies will be to build a loyal band of followers. The more people you have who activity want to follow a brand then the greater the potential to sell/campaign to a wider audience.

But how do you do this? A marketing strategy needs to be clear. For example US biscuit company Oreo has successfully engaged with its Facebook fans (it now has 16 million fans!) by starting fun and lively conversations. So one conversation starter they planned was: "If milk could talk, what would it say to an Oreo?". This gained a stunning 8,300 responses and 19,000 additional "likes".   But if, as another example, you are a university the objectives for a Facebook page, and thus a successful marketing strategy, would be to offer a space where people can go to find information about available courses and facilities In short, it's important to think about what the goal will be for using Facebook marketing.

What to write on Facebook?: The aim of a Facebook marketing strategy is to engage as many people as possible with a brand. And the chances are you already have a whole host of articles and content that you've used in adverts, marketing promotions, industry events, etc so you can easily "re-purpose" this material into your blogs. It's important to write regular blog posts so you should try to have a schedule that you stick to. Write blog posts ahead if you have time and you can think of a suitable topic, and then simply post the blogs are regular intervals.

Manage your social media: Once you've started "conversations" via a comment system of Facebook, it's important to keep engaging. Reply to enquiries and questions and always respond to positive, or negative, feedback. And make sure you "converse" on-line according to your brand's tone. Tone is nothing new I the marketing world but it is important to continue to "live" the brand when conversing on your blog, on Facebook or via Twitter. These days companies are starting to employ a social media employee; someone for whom their sole role is to manage the social media conversations, including blog writing, Facebooking and tweeting. This isn't a work experience person's job, but a fully fledged professional blogger or social media engager. The time has come when every marketing and promotional campaign should embrace an on-line, as well as off-line, strategy.

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