During the month of November of 2007 Facebook started to allow businesses to establish profiles on their network. These business profiles are called pages (no cost) and while they are more restrictive than a personal profile page, they allow companies to establish and communicate with a fan base (Facebook’s name for friends of commercial enterprises).

Given the fact that Facebook now has over 100 Million members this is a windfall for companies who are looking to move into the social networking arena and reduce their advertising expenditures while increasing effectiveness.  I have written about the positive effect of social network marketing many times and you can access our white paper library at http://www.octanecorp.com/WhitePapers if you are interested.

There are several other ways companies can use Facebook as a marketing tool. These include setting up groups, which can target member’s specific interests, the events tool that allows you to invite members to events, and applications you create and members add to their own profiles. Of course, you can also advertise on the network. Interestingly, MySpace has just introduced a similar advertising tool that allows you to create, target and implement ads on MySpace.  Competition is good!

Facebook Members Are Interested in Brands

Some companies, large and small, have set up pages and have amassed large numbers of fans. A product company now has over 400 thousand fans, a national retailer has over 86 thousand fans and a soft drink company has over 600 thousand fans. It’s clear Facebook members are willing to connect to companies. You will see Alcoholic beverage companies setting up pages soon, as Facebook has recently introduced a tool that limits access to pages by age. There is no doubt that companies can attract fans, but most are totally missing the boat by treating Facebook pages like they were magazine ads.

Social networks are by nature all about interacting with others. People join social networks so they can engage and interact with other members.  Companies must do the same and become part of the community and provide value to their fans.  

Old School Marketing Driving Social Network Marketing Strategies

Old school marketing techniques such as creating an ad and then hoping someone reads it do not work well on social networks. You might attract fans because you have spent millions over the years building your brand via other media, but you will not get the results you want unless you engage those fans. They expect that you will provide them with information that is relevant to them, valuable, and interesting. If you don’t they will not pay much attention to you. Yes, of course, you get some branding value, but social network sites are more about doing than just being seen.

Companies creating apps on Facebook also fall into this trap. Many apps have little or no value except for a brief period of time when you can send someone a virtual plant or a good karma image. This get’s old fast. Wouldn’t it be better if the app had real world value? One such app is Pandora, a music website, which allows you to share the music you select on the Pandora platform with your friend base on Facebook. This is something people like to do and it generates users for Pandora. There are other apps that provide unique propositions and drive sales for the sponsoring company, but not many.

I think part of the problem companies are having with Facebook is the misconception that it is just for kids. It is not! Once Facebook opened to all people the demographic changed rapidly. The latest figures released indicated that 72% of Facebook members are 18-34 years old and only 15% are 13-17 years old. Interestingly MySpace has a similar demographic user. Female users represent 55% of Facebooks members.

Social networking is one marketing boat you do not want to miss.