I've been on a Facebook kick all week, so going to wrap it up with a post that asks a question. But first, let me set it up with some background.
Let's go back to around 2004/2005 when blogs were the social medium of choice for the most part. In those days, one could leave a relevant comment on a popular blogger's blog post and almost be guaranteed traffic back to their own. (Keep in mind this predates "nofollow" tags too.)
I experienced that very phenomena myself. I'd go hang out over at Seth Godin's blog (this was during the time when he accepted both comments and trackbacks), leave a comment or two and, invariably, I'd see traffic from it back to my site. I could count on about 10 percent of that traffic staying with me too. It wasn't a bad strategy for such a nascent time.
The field is way too crowded today and blogs are a dime a dozen, so that technique doesn't work nearly so well as it used too. However, I'm of the opinion that the old is new again, this time in the form of Facebook Pages.
As previously mentioned, I've set up a Facebook Page for The Digital Handshake. One technique I'm using to market it is by finding other authors in my field who have their own Pages, becoming a fan and favoriting their Page on my own. Not only that, I'm writing Wall posts mentioning their books, sort of as a way of expressing good will and camaraderie. I'm also commenting on their Wall when it's suitable to do so (meaning when I have something to say that's relevant).
My question is, do you think that technique will produce similar results? Does becoming a fan of, say, Chris Brogan's new book, Trust Agents, mean that some of his fans will become mine? I think it's a possibility, though I'm not sure how to measure the effect, other than by raw numbers.
The other thing that I'm wondering is whether Facebook Pages are the nouveau riche way of marketing via Facebook, over and against using Groups, personal profiles or Ads, for example. What do you think? Feel free to weigh in.
Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons, Marcin Wichary, photographer
To see most personal profiles you must be a FB member. You don't even have to have a personal FB account to set up a Fan page. Facebook pages work better then groups simply because they are public and indexed in the search engines (groups are neither). An effective FB Page will interact with Fans. This is more about engaging and less about "marketing".
By commenting on Pages that have a similar theme or interest, you will draw people to your personal profile (you can not comment as your Fan Page). As people become familiar with you, they will become familiar with your book. The people that resonate with your philosophy will become fans of your page. Those are the people you want to connect with as they are already invested in what you are sharing – and those are the ones most likely to buy. In effect, you are pre-qualifying your leads, which makes the whole marketing pie a lot easier to swallow.
Intersting. I have a Facebook page for http://www.LafayetteGrapevine.com. I don't use it much, so maybe that's why I don't have much traffic on it, or from it.
I much prefer Twitter, which is much more interactive. Sort of like football over baseball.
To answer your question, the techniques you described won't hurt your mission, can only help. Engage and be interactive, where ever you can. Like Jim Rome says, "Have a take and don't suck."
Best to you,
Todd
LafayetteGrapevine.com
@AskOzzie
Hey Paul,
Here is my take. I beieve any exposure is good and if people fan you, then they are buying in to what you are selling. So getting fans to me is a good end result, but I wouldn't suggest chasing people around and trying to make them fans.
My Facebook philosophy:
Facebook is like having a tons of people that live in a huge apartment complex. In the center of the complex is a common area where people can elect to converse or just look into the courtyard and see the other groups conversing.
Think of it that way and you will be successful.
Example 1: In real life, you wouldn't walk up to a group of people carrying on a conversation and start pedaling books. It's just plain rude.
Example 2: If you are a hermit and you never speak with anyone and you never show interest in anyone elses conversations, then more than lkely they will not want to join in on your conversation. People do not post their pics and status updates just to do it. They post because they want people to interact with them. Humans desire acceptance and they want to feel relevant. Make them feel relevant and they will reciprocate.
Fan pages are good for confirmation that people care, but the reason they care is because of you.
Facebook is like old school networking and referral gathering with a twist of technology.
That's my take.
If you want Facebook to help you with marketing or growing business….
Do it more on a personal level and it will definitely help.
Example: When you are at a party and getting to know people that have been acquaintances in the past many times the starter of the conversation is "So what do you do?". They are interested in you as a person because you apparently have mutual friends or you have met before. Using that gateway, you can now take it to the next level and have them develop and interest in your work. **Remember: It is rude to talk about what you do and not ask what they do.**
Facebook is an excellent place to do business.
@AskOzzie
Paul Chaney is the MAN!!!!!!!!!!!
Great article! I believe you guys really know your stuff, very impressed with the way you approach internet marketing and look forward to reading more.
Have an awesome day!
Tom Becks
Thanks for saying Tom. I appreciate that.
Facebook marketing is awesome, with the like feature, it is so easy to go viral on it
Yeah i agree great article and yes face book fan pages are huge, a terrific way to market online, if done right it drives an amazing amount of traffic, good old social media, remember to always add the human element back into your marketing, to be very successful.