How to Maximize Your Facebook Presence

By now, many businesses have flocked to Facebook with the promise of raised awareness, increased brand loyalty and fresh sales leads. But are you doing all you can to maximize your company’s presence on Facebook?

First, it’s important to know what kind of users you are dealing with.  Here are some key behaviors to keep in mind as you develop your campaign:

• People are visiting fan pages looking for something in return—it could be coupons or discounts, exclusive information, entertainment to share with friends or maybe even recognition.
• The majority of a consumer's Facebook experience is the wall, which is also visible in their top news feed. The 95% of Facebook users view their news feed only, according to a recent study.
• With the new interface changes that took place this Fall, there is much more “passive sharing,” meaning a news feed is more cluttered with app updates from Netflix, Spotify and other sites connected to Facebook through an automatic update system. These changes are constant at Facebook so make sure to stay on top of what’s going on and maximize the technology or at the very least don't fall behind it.

It is often challenging to get attention when the Facebook universe is so vast and deep, but fret not. Social media is all about innovation and the best tips for success are discovered simply based on trial and error. So try these suggestions out and adjust as needed based on your target audience’s response.

1. Make “Like Us” buttons prominent and easy to find. One of the best ways to promote your Facebook presence is to simply add the small “f” icon on your website, but it shouldn’t stop there. Add the icon to your employee’s email signatures, to your e-newlsetter, or blog or any other digital communications.

2. Consider custom tabs. There’s more to a Facebook page than just the Wall. Consider working with a marketing agency that has experience in creating customized Facebook tabs. These become an extension of your website and can be used for product promotions and current offerings. Your designer can even arrange for these tabs to be the first landing page a user sees when they visit your page.

3. Engage and entertain. Social media definitely has a proven business value, but ultimately, users are looking for something fun and/or useful. Create content that makes them want to share with their friends or keeps them coming back for more. Quizzes, giveaways, exclusive videos and insights into the inner workings of the company are good ways to pique the interests of your fans and keep them engaged.

What are you looking to get out of your social media participation? Once you’ve determined the value Facebook or any other site has to your business, consider using an experienced marketing agency to do the heavy lifting—content research and development, posting and monitoring. Often the largest obstacle in the way of any kind of social media success is time.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Finding the B2B Bull’s-eye

CMA works with many different kinds of business-to-business (B2B) clients and each are unique in their own right. They face different market challenges, they have different goals and have unique sales cycles. Perhaps the largest variable to consider in B2B marketing is who the target audience is.

Within a B2B company’s target zone, it’s always essential to find out who makes up the “bull’s-eye.” After all, it’s a common rule of thumb that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients—the most loyal clients. The genesis of this theory was an Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who in 1906 noticed that 80% of Italy's land was owned by 20% of the population. He then carried out surveys on a variety of other countries and found to his surprise that a similar distribution applied.

The way marketers are building brand loyalty has obviously changed drastically since Pareto’s time, but the principle remains. Consider this recent eSurvey of 1,100 North America marketers. It found that B2B marketers employ an average of eight different tactics to achieve marketing goals and those tactics mostly included content marketing.

“Content Marketing,” or custom media (sometimes called custom publishing, custom content or branded content) is the creation and distribution of educational and/or compelling content in multiple formats to attract and/or retain customers.

Essentially, what this says about the new B2B marketing landscape is that marketers are now publishers. There are many different avenues for creating useful information for potential customers while showcasing a company’s expertise.

Ready to be a publisher? Give us a call to learn the many ways CMA can bring these tactics to life for you.

Jeffrey Barnhart

President and CEO

jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com