4 Ways to Engage With Customers on Facebook Part 2

There isn't a right or a wrong way of using Facebook and although big brands are best positioned to push the boundaries, any business can take inspiration from some of their campaigns.

Over time you will need to monitor how your followers respond to what you do and learn what works for your brand. A significant point to note is to lay your cards out and be honest about what you're doing from the very beginning. If one day you switch from using Facebook as a fluffy information portal to a hard sales pitch tool, you could push people away as they may feel cheated. It is important to ask yourself at every stage in your social media campaign, what is the advantage for your customer to follow you?

Here are four approaches you can take inspiration from to engage with existing and future customers.

Users want to be in the spotlight The Old Spice Guy, a modern day face for the aftershave from the past, is winning over fans by answering questions on the brand's Facebook page. The short video clips are addressing everything from 'what's your best pick-up line' to 'what do you want your lady to smell like?' and are personalised to each user posing a question. It has been really appealing for users to engage and the campaign has been hot on everyone's lips. Other companies like Oreo ask for fans to post a photograph of themselves for the chance to feature as fan of the week. The winner's picture is then posted as the page's profile image for everyone to see.

Users want a freebee Starbucks have just finished promoting their ice-cream product to American Facebook users by giving away 20,000 coupons per day, limited to X number per hour on a first come first served basis. The coffee house company has a huge following on its global Facebook page, which at the time for writing stands at a staggering 10,556,223. They have also previously offered a coupon for a free pastry with every coffee bought.

Users want to be entertained Lots of people love playing casual online games, especially if they're quick and easy to dip into, therefore Facebook the ideal platform. Sony Ericsson currently has a Pinball game on its page and Oreo links out to a lick racer game. The Discovery Channel is set to launch a Deadliest Catch game, based on its most popular tv show, late in 2010 but, of course, you will need a developer to help with such an ambitious PR project.

Users just want to be your friend Some Facebook pages are just great big cyber cuddles intended to make their fans feel special, listened to and that their opinion really counts. By resisting using the platform as a direct sales tool you can do market research to find out what people really think of your existing products and ask what they want for the future. However, be prepared for some answers you might not like and remember others will inevitably see negative as well as positive comments. Getting an honest insight into consumer's behaviour can be tough but if done well, Facebook may lead you towards your next product.

It is difficult to quantify what social media is actually going to do to improve your business, is it about service, or listening, or promotion, or bottom line sales? It may be nice or even trendy to play about on Facebook and you might learn a lot or little about your customers. However, at the end of the day cool stuff and engagement alone doesn't pay the bills so be daring, be creative and learn from what the big brands are doing.

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