![]() I was hooked on Facebook (like many others) long before I started managing Facebook (and other social media) pages for my website clients. And on this, Facebook's 10 year anniversary date, it seems appropriate to sing the praises of the success it has brought to many businesses all over the world. But what if you have a business Facebook page and its NOT successful? Furthermore, what really makes a business Facebook page successful? I'm about to give away that secret - but its really not THAT big a secret - more common sense than anything. But before I divulge this critical no-nonsense secret, lets get a little background on Facebook and how the whole "Facebook frenzy" started! Surely, everyone knows the name, Mark Zuckerberg, one of the founding creators of Facebook, but did you know it originally started as "Facesmash"? Read the following script taken from The History of Facebook on Wikipedia: "According to The Harvard Crimson, Facemash "used photos compiled from the online facebooks of nine Houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the 'hotter' person". To accomplish this, Mark Zuckerberg hacked the "facebooks" Harvard maintained to help students identify each other and used the images to populate his Facemash website. [12] That the initial site mirrored people’s physical community—with their real identities—represented the key aspects of what later became Facebook.[13]" The article goes on to say that Zuckerberg started writing the code for Facebook in Janaury 2004, and launched thefacebook.com on this date, February 4, 2004. The rest, as they say - is history. Initially, Facebook was sort of a "private membership club" - open only to students at Harvard and other Ivy League schools, but as it quickly expanded globally, it was opened up in 2006, to everyone 13 years or older. In 2007, a new concept called "company pages" was started, which created the gateway for businesses to start harnessing the incredible popularity and powerful advertising strength of the world's biggest "word of mouth" advertising platform. From there, it snowballed into a global phenomenon - attracting such big industry investors like Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo and LinkedIn. As of February 2013, Facebook was reported to have 845 million active monthly users and its website featured 2.7 billion daily likes and comments! Now while everyone doesn't "like", and is not a fan of Facebook, citing everything from privacy concerns to advertising overload, there is no denying the unlimited advertising potential it has to attract new customers for ALL kinds of businesses! After all, even those who "hate" Facebook, will be found "lurking around the Facebook pages" just to see what more they can find to hate, often becoming customers from a business post or comment they saw. It's sort of a "friendly addiction" - and that is EXACTLY why YOUR business not only NEEDS a Facebook page, it needs to be a SUCCESSFUL page - drawing in and attracting new customers every day. That crucial point leads me to expose the aforementioned hidden secret to having a successful business Facebook page.... I can sum it up in one word, (but being a writer of sorts, you can be sure there will be two hundred more to follow), but for starters, the word is ACTIVITY. Facebook is a SOCIAL media platform - the word social meaning : "relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other. : liking to be with and talk to people ..." In other words, you have to interact with other Facebook users (your potential customers) to truly reap the financial benefits of having a successful business Facebook page. I've had business owners to tell me that "Yea, I gotta a Facebook page - but I don't have time to look at it, much less post to it." Well, there's your problem - you're not engaging with your customer base, so how can you expect it to grow? Same with your business - if a customer walks in your store, and you don't speak or offer to help them, you're most likely going to lose a customer, right? And if you open a business and never advertise or show people what you have to offer them, how are they going to know you exist? Same thing with your business Facebook page - you've got to apply what I like to call the AEIOU concept - be Active, Engaged, Involved, Outgoing and USE it! Now, I realize that most business owners - especially small ones - are already pressed for time in just running their day to day business activities and waiting on customers. Many don't even have time to stop for lunch or even a potty break, much less have time to post a comment on Facebook, right? And if you're thinking your part-time help is going to do it, think again; once they get to socializing with their OWN friends on their personal FB page, they'll forget all about posting that big sale you're having this weekend! The temptation to "scroll and read" is too powerful, and before long, the hours have quickly passed by and it's time to go home. No, you need someone who is going to babysit it like a newborn baby - giving it the time, feeding and attention it needs on a daily basis. So, by now, I think you will agree with me that having a business Facebook page is a "no-brainer", due to its growing popularity and powerful word-of-mouth advertising benefits. And with the way Facebook users post AND SHARE photos, recipes, reviews and stories with their Facebook friends and family, you'd be crazy NOT too harness some of that powerful social media contact for your own business! But if you don't have the time to post and share yourself - who's going to do it for you?? Well, never fear - LT Web Designs to the rescue! Lucky for you, I just happened to be a Social Media Network Marketing consultant, as well as avid Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn user myself! I can not only get your business Facebook page up and running before you can say Mark Zuckerberg, but monitor, maintain, and babysit it on a daily basis to insure you're following the AEIOU concept of smart social media network marketing - thereby increasing your social media visibility and harnessing that awesome word of mouth advertising that only Facebook can give! And if you're worried about privacy issues, be assured that with a few small tweaks in your Facebook privacy settings, and having someone to daily monitor your posts and comments, you won't have to worry about unwanted or unsolicited feeds coming through. Your reputation and privacy is always my UTMOST concern with ANY website or social media platform I control. So, now that you know the secret of a successful business Facebook page, why not call LT Web Designs today and expose YOUR business to the countless MILLIONS of potential customers who feed in the friendly waters of the Facebook frenzy! And don't forget - I also offer Social Media network training for those who want to have control over their OWN social media pages! Call or visit our website for more information! http://www.ltwebdesigns.com/social-media-marketing-services.html
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Lisa TippetteWebsite designer, social media consultant, nature photographer and published author, with over 10 years experience in business advertising and marketing!
LT Web Designs specializes in website design and social media marketing for small and local businesses in Eastern North Carolina. Archives
February 2018
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