Facebook Offers!
Just added to FanPages
Facebook just added a Daily Offer feature to FanPages. You can have a Special each day (if you want) and pin it to the top of your FanPage. When someone gets your offer Facebook emails them a certificate to present to your business for redemption. They also include a way to share the offer to their friends.
I created this offer today to see how the system works. It was very easy and just 2 steps – add and image and write the offer. I can think of several uses for this off the top of my head:
- Daily Specials
- Restaurants or Coffee Shops offering a Leader to bring in customers
- Specials for your Fans
How would you use this feature? Leave your ideas below in the comment area.
The New Facebook ~ Timeline
Facebook Timeline
Timeline is Facebook’s new format, as of March 2012, all Facebook Fanpage users will be automatically switched over to Timeline. Timeline is a completely new way of organizing posts in chronological fashion, and you can literally go back to the day your business started and fill in all the important events, add pictures, and highlight important business milestones. Timeline is like a detailed, digital scrapbook of your business growth.
Picture Viewer
The way you view pictures on Facebook has undergone some major changes. Now, when you click on a picture, it pulls up the picture viewer feature. This allows you to flip through albums, make comments, and check off what you like without leaving the page you are on. When you are done, simply close the viewer and you are right back where you started.
Custom Tabs
Welcome pages are gone – but custom tabs have not gone away. The access point has been moved to the icons below your Cover image. These icons are customizable so put some compelling message in the image. You can also link directly to the tab for any promotion purposes.
Facebook Changes March 30th 2012
FanPage Changes Coming
Facebook will be changing all FanPages to the Timeline layout on March 30th 2012.
What does this mean for you?
- We will now have the opportunity to have a large image at the top of our pages – 851px X 350px. This is good for:
- Building your Brand
- Advertising Events or Classes
- Highlighting Products or Services
- Welcome Tabs will no longer work. Custom Tabs will remain and be available for viewing as they are now.
- You will be able to Pin a notice at the top of the Timeline
- You can highlight posts so they stretch all the way across the 2 columns of the Timeline.
These are the highlights of the changes coming. Make sure you are ready and have your Page updated before March 30th. You will not like how your page displays if you wait for Facebook to make the changes for you on March 30th.
Facebook Cover Example
Facebook Changes
More Facebook changes to come: 2 very good ones!
There have been 2 changes this week in Facebook that I am really loving.
- Facebook Lists ~ I have been using lists for a very long time. I find it frustrating when others do not. It is so easy to do and it allows people to invite specific people to events, or to post updates for specific lists. It really cuts down on spam. Now Facebook has Smart Lists – ones it creates for you and automatically puts your friends into based upon profile information. Facebook created a Vancouver list, and Acquaintance list, and more. Now I hope people start to use this feature!
- The second enhancement that I like is the ability to unsubscribe someone from my News Feed. I found something in my News Feed tonight that I thought was inappropriate and when I hid the photo it asked me if I wanted to unsubscribe the person form my wall. This seems similar to the old Hide feature but it takes it one step further – I will never see anything from that person again (no loss) and he will not see anything from me. Not to be used lightly. It is also possible to unsubscribe from just photos, or just videos from a specific person.
I have heard many complaints this week about all the changes Facebook is making – I would like to say I think the changes are for the better. They are making it easier to use, easier to target updates (like Google +) and easier to filter my News Feed over time.
Facebook FanPage VS Facebook Profile
What is the difference between a FanPage and a Personal Account in Facebook?
I get this question on a daily basis. Business owners are very confused about using [intlink id="twitter-for-business" type="post"]Facebook for Business[/intlink].
Facebook For Business
Here are 3 huge reasons why a business would want to use a FanPage instead of a Personal Profile for business marketing on Facebook.
- Facebook Fan Pages are public – they get indexed in the search engines ~ Personal Profiles do not.
- Facebook Fan Pages can have an unlimited amount of “Likers” ~ Personal Profiles are limited to 5000.
- Facebook Fan Pages can have numerous Admins that contribute to the page ~ Personal Profiles just have you.
Marketing On Facebook
The second question I get daily is how can I market my business on Facebook? Facebook is one of the most used social networking sites on the Internet today. Currently there are over 500 million active users. I personally only need a very small percentage of those people to get a positive ROI for using Facebook as a marketing tool. Here are a few ideas for marketing your business on Facebook.
- Educate potential customers on the benefits of your product or service
- Provide specials or coupons for your business through Facebook
- Create contests on your Fan Page to get people interacting and returning to your FanPage
- Promote your clients on your Fan page
- Promote other local businesses on your FanPage
- Use your page for Videos and Photos
- Use your Review Tab
- Use the Discussions Tab
- Create a custom Welcome Tab
- Use Facebook Events
Benefits of a FaceBook Fan Page
What has Facebook done for my business?
I have gained clients for my workshops through the Facebook Events feature. When people commit to coming to an event then my event gets put into their news stream. I have gained attendees that I did not actually know by using the Events tab on Facebook. Often times when a business owner attends one of my classes they will attend more, and some have also become website clients.
I get referrals to friends of fans because I use my page for education. This keeps me top of mind and when someone needs a website or help on their website ~ I am the person they think about speaking to for their project.
I also give referrals to my circle of trusted business owners through Facebook. Others know I am a great resource ~ which always comes back around to benefit me sometime in the future. Pay it forward!
