facebook marketing — Shoestring Marketing

50 Ways to get more Facebook “Likes”

July 6, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 13 Comments

If you have a Facebook Page for your small business, it doesn’t take long to realize that you need people to “like” your page before you can do much of anything.

Here are 50 ways to directly (and indirectly) get more folks to “like” your Facebook page:

1) Create a vanity URL.

Instead of using the default Facebook URL, you eventually need to have a vanity URL that clearly describes your small business. Once you have 25 page “likes”, you can create a custom URL.

2) Upload a memorable picture.

The picture area on the left-hand side of your page is valuable marketing space, so let the creative juices flow. Upload a picture that gives your prospects a visually stimulating look at your small business brand.

Your picture size can be 520px wide and any height that you would like. You can download DreamGrow’s great cheat sheet to help you understand the Facebook picture dimensions.

3) Let your fans vote.

There’s nothing better than allowing your fans the chance to vote. It’s a great way to create user engagement around a hot industry topic. You can use the Easy Vote application to create your polls.

4) Integrate plugins into your page.

There are thousands of plugins that can enhance the overall experience of your Facebook page. Take a look at some of the more popular plugins on the Facebook developer page.

5) Invite your email subscribers.

Ask your email list to “like” your Facebook page. Of course, if you offer some type of incentive, this will only increase the amount of likes you receive from your list.

6) Include a Facebook “like” button in your ezine.

If you send out a regular newsletter or ezine, you should always have a prominent “like” button embedded in a prominent location.

7) Suggest your page to friends.

You can use the “suggest to friends” feature of your page to send out a request to your friends to “like” your page. However, make sure that you are only suggesting your page to folks that you know so that you don’t come across as a spammer.

8) Update your status at least once a day.

If people are going to “like” you, then they need to see that you’re active within you page. Make sure to update your status at least once a day (and even more if possible).

9) Drive visitors to your page from your blog.

Whenever you post to your blog, encourage your readers to become a Facebook Fan at the end of the post.

10) Include Facebook Share button on your blog.

Your blog should allow your readers to easily share your content with their Facebook friends. A great share plugin for WordPress is Share This.

11) Include a link in your email signature.

Every time you send out an email, you should have a link to your Facebook page embedded in your signature.

12) Invite fans to join via SMS.

Your fans can join your fan page via text message. Once you secure your Facebook vanity URL users simply send a text message to 32665 (FBOOK) and include the words “fan yourusername” (minus the quotes).

13) Create a landing page.

When new visitors land on your Facebook page, it’s important that they don’t land on your wall. Instead, create a static landing page that gives them a succinct overview of your small business and what they can expect if they “like” you.

Here’s an awesome example of a landing page from Red Bull.

14) Make a welcome video.

When new visitors land on your page, there’s nothing like a welcome video to entice them to join. Your video should be 3-5 minutes long and describe the benefits of “liking” your page.

15) Interact with your fans.

There’s nothing worse than landing on a Facebook page in which the administrative doesn’t respond or interact with the fans. If you want more fans, then you need to interact with your fans in a variety of ways.

16) Embed “how-to” videos on your site.

Videos are hot, hot, hot right now. Record a few “how-to” videos and embed them on your site. Your fans will love it!

17) Use pictures.

Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words, so upload pictures about you and your small business.

18) Upload audios or podcasts.

If you produce podcasts or audios of any kind, don’t forget to add them to your Facebook page for additional reasons for fans to “like” you.

19) Use Slideshare.

Create a quick PowerPoint that educates your target market. Upload it to Slideshare and share it on Facebook.

20) Run a contest.

There’s nothing quite like a contest to get loads of new “likes” to your Facebook page. Using the Wildfire app, you can create a contest around any topic imaginable.

21) Include a link to your Facebook page on your business card.

There are now quite a few companies that print your Facebook URL right on your business card. Here are a few examples from Zazzle.

22) Display a placard at your front desk.

If you run a physical business, place a placard inviting your customers to join your Facebook page. You can even offer them a coupon or other incentive to join.

23) Add a Facebook badge to your website or blog

Don’t forget to add a Facebook badge to your website or blog in a very prominent location.

24) Link to your page as your place of employment.

Now that the info box under your profile picture has been phased out, you can add a static link to your page under employment. Once you do this your Facebook Page will appear under your name on your Profile Page.

25) Offer an incentive for people to “like” you.

If you want more “likes”, then you will need to give visitors a valuable incentive to become a fan. You could give-away an ebook, whitepaper, video or coupons.

26) Install a Facebook “Like Box” on your site.

Installing a “Like Box” allows visitors to become your fan without leaving your website or blog.

27) Include a link to your page in forums.

If you are active in forums, make sure to include a link to your Facebook page.

28) Connect your page to Twitter.

Connecting your Facebook Page to Twitter is a simple way to convert your Twitter followers into Facebook fans.

29) Hook up your RSS Feed.

Using an app from Involver, you can syndicate your blog to the news tab on your Facebook page and utilize the power of blogs and updatable content to widen your reach and encourage people to join your conversation.

30) Connect your YouTube channel.

Deliver video directly to your social networks by incorporating your YouTube channel as a tab on your Facebook page.

31) Use a Facebook link in your blog comments.

Include a link to your Facebook Page when you comment on blogs.

32) Press releases.

Include a link to your Facebook Page in an upcoming Press Release.

33) On-line or off-line articles.

Whenever you publish and article, include a link to your Facebook page in your author’s bio box.

34) Link to your Facebook page from your Linkedin profile.

LinkedIn allows you three slots on your profile to include outside links. You should write the anchor text as a “call to action” such as: Join my Facebook Page for exciting Shoestring Marketing updates

35) Track your growth with Facebook insights.

Facebook insights helps you analyze what activities drive the most growth so that you can duplicate your most successful activities.

36) Analyze your demographics with Facebook insights.

Facebook insights allows you to analyze the demographic make-up of your Facebook fans. This important information will help you target your ideal market more closely.

37) Make a Facebook window sign.

Bluesky has created a fun window sign that you can use to entice folks to “like” your page.

38) Ask your customers or clients to become fans.

Don’t forget to ask your current customers and clients to “like” your Facebook page. They are often your biggest fans!

39) Use status tagging.

Use status tagging by entering the @ sign, then typing the name of the page or person you want to tag.

40) Promote your events.

Through EventBrite, you can let your Facebook fans know about upcoming live or virtual events.

41) Use Hootsuite to manage your page.

Sometimes a little organization goes a long way. Use the free application Hootsuite to manage your Facebook page from one location.

42) Host a “fan of the month” promotion.

To encourage active fans, you might consider running a “fan of the month” promotion that highlights your most active and involved fans.

43) Remind your friends to “like” and “share” your content.

Facebook has simple sharing buttons that make it easy-as-pie for people to promote your page to their network of friends. Remind your fans to click the “share” button so that their friends will also receive your updates.

44) Publish testimonials.

iEndorse allows you to use testimonials as a way to build trust with your visitors.

45) Use “fan-only” coupons and promotions.

A great incentive for visitors to “like” your page is to offer “fan-only” coupons and promotions. You can grab a great coupon app at Klout.

46) Include a FAQ page.

This simple FAQ application allows your users to ask questions for you to answer.

47) Offer a quiz.

Who doesn’t like to take a fun quiz? You can create a fun quiz for your fans through the Quiz Maker app.

48) Create a contact form.

Your visitors will feel more inclined to “like” your page, if they notice that there is a way to contact you and your small business. You can create a simple contact form through the Contact Me Contact Form .

49) Deliver an amazing user experience.

Your Facebook Page should be a place filled with content, information and education that will help your visitors solve their most pressing problems.

50) Be a social participant.

Although delivering useful content is important, it’s equally important for your fans to see you as a real person behind your small business. So go ahead and be a bit transparent allowing your connections to get to know you in a meaningful way.

So, if you’re looking for ways to increase your Facebook fan-count, this little list should keep you busy!

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Filed Under: shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing, top 50 Tagged With: facebook marketing, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, social media marketing

50 Free and Fabulous Traffic Strategies

May 25, 2011 By Jessica Swanson 6 Comments

As a small business owner, you probably already know the obvious ways to generate free traffic back to your website. (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging, video marketing, etc.)

But as a Shoestring Marketer, you’re going to need to tap into an arsenal of creative, high-impact and hard-hitting tools.

Here are 50 fabulous traffic strategies that you may not be currently using.

And remember, the best part is that every one of these marketing tools is totally, completely and absolutely free:

1. Offer to write a guest post on a blog that caters to your niche. Join Blogger Linkup to connect with bloggers who are looking for guest posts.

2. Use Trackback links when you refer to other blog posts. The best part is that a link to your blog is now included on their site.

3. Manually submit your site to at least 100 web directories in order to receive 100 priceless backlinks to your site.

4. Record an article and upload it to podcast sites such as Podcast Alley

5. Find ezines in your industry that accept guest articles and offer to write one. You can search for ezines at Ezine-Dir

6. Create a “hub” of unique content on Hubpages

7. Comment on high-traffic blogs and include a link back to your site.

8. Write an informational eBook and give it away on your blog or website in exchange for your visitor’s name and email.

9. List your free eBook in popular eBook directories such as Free-ebooks

10. Upload your eBook to popular document sharing sites such as Scribd

11. Add your free eBook to Craigslist

12. Place your eBook on Ebay

13. Start a viral campaign by giving away your free eBook when others Tweet about it or Facebook “like it” using CloudFlood

14. Write a press release and submit it to Free-press-release

15. Send your press release out to journalists and editors. The company Gebbie Press will send you a disk full of addresses for free by filling out a form on their website.

16. Submit articles to offline trade magazines.

17. Start a LinkedIn Group Linkedin Groups

18. Create a short Powerpoint that teaches a specific skill and post it on Slideshare

19. Create an informational video and post it on dozens of video sharing sites using TubeMogul

20. Create an informational product that someone else will include as a “special bonus” for the product that they are selling.

21. Build a lens using Squidoo

22. Create stories using social media at Storify

23. Create a short and snappy signature and use it in all of your emails.

24. Post in forums appropriate to your niche and include a link to your site in your signature.

25. Send a free copy of your product to bloggers in exchange for a product review.

26. Answer questions in LinkedIn Answers Linkedin Answers

27. Answer questions at Yahoo Answers

28. Run and publish surveys using Survey Monkey or Question Pro

29. Allow your customers to share, vote and interact through Ideascale

30. Analyze and schedule the best time for your Tweets using Timely

31. Create website polls using Micro Poll

32. Submit your site to Cool Site Of The Day in hopes that they will feature your website.

33. Join Triberr so that your “tribe” can re-tweet your blog posts.

34. Create a course an add it to Learnable

35. Offer fun quizzes on your site using Question Writer at Question Writer

36. Offer fun contests on your site.

37. Load a top bar to your site that directs your visitors to perform a certain action (sign up for your newsletter, subscribe to your blog, etc) using Hello Bar

38. Participate in a banner exchange program Banner Exchange

39. Make free business cards online and hand them out using Freepdfcards

40. Create a newspaper style format of popular Tweets using Paper.li

41. Supply a testimonial for a product or service that you have used in exchange for a link back to your site.

42. Place your free offer on someone else’s thank you page.

43. Set up an integrated social network on your blog using Buddy Press

44. Set up a separate social network using Ning

45. Create a “how-to” video and submit to tutorial sites such as Good Tutorials

46. Get involved in a Google Group related to your niche at Google Groups

47. Optimize each page of your website for a particular keyword or search phrase using a plugin called Scribe SEO

48. Make a custom 404 error page for your website redirecting people back to your home page.

49. Place your text ad on thousands of websites for free using Adsvert

50. Start an affiliate program to get the word out about your small business.

That should do it! With a bit of creativity and tenacity, there’s absolutely no reason as to why you can’t generate thousands of visitors back to your website without spending a dime.

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Filed Under: blogging, free offers, seo, shoestring marketing tips, small business marketing, top 50, traffic Tagged With: blogging, facebook marketing, shoestring marketing tips, traffic

10 Tips For Creating a Fantastic Facebook FanPage

March 15, 2010 By Jessica Swanson 17 Comments

1. Create A Memorable Name And URL For Your Fan Page.

It’s important that your fan page is immediately recognizable to your prospective customers and clients.

Depending on how your prospects recognize you (either through your personal name or company name), you will want to name your page as an extension of your brand.

Once you have named your page, and have at least 25 fans, you will want to secure your username at http://facebook.com/username.

This allows you to promote y our fan page using a vanity URL which is much shorter and simpler for your fans to find.

2. Use A Compelling Image

One of the most important components of your Facebook fan page is the image that you upload.

It’s important to understand that the ideal image is 200 pixels wide by 600 pixels high. Therefore, you’ll want to edit your image to these dimensions before you upload it to Facebook.

Of course, you also want to make sure that your image is clear, compelling and is an excellent representation of you and your small business.

3. Control Where Your Fans First Land

Most small business owners don’t realize that you can control where your fans first land when they visit your Facebook fan page.

Believe it not, you probably don’t want them to land on your Wall. The main reason is that you don’t have total control over what is posted to your Facebook Wall since much of its content is created by your fans.

Facebook allows you to create a customized page for your Fans to land on. You can even include pictures, text-links, videos and many other pertinent applications.

To create a customized landing page, search through the Facebook applications and find the FBML application. Paste in the FBML code and then edit your fan page settings to select the specific tab that you wish newcomers to land on.

4. Integrate Facebook Applications

At the time of this writing there are over here are over 55,000 applications on the Facebook platform that can be directly integrated into your fan page.

This means that as newcomers land on your Facebook page they will have various ways to interact with you and your brand.

It’s important that you create a memorable experience for your Fans so that they continue to visit your fan page again and again.

5. Import Your Blog

One of my favorite Facebook applications is the Notes application.

This allows you to import your blog feed so that every time that you post to your blog, your fan page is automatically updated.

Of course, fans are then able to read, comment and interact with your blog post directly on your fan page.

6. Interact With Your Fans

As you build your fan base, you will begin to receive comments on your new status, photos or videos and new discussion threads.

It’s vital that you interact with your fans.

We are in the midst of a marketing revolution that revolves around building and sustaining relationships.

Therefore, it’s vital that you participate in the discussion, answer questions and take the time to engage with your fans on a daily basis.

7. Publish Relevant Content

Your Facebook fan page is no different than other social media platforms.

It’s incredibly important to provide interesting and engaging content to your readers.

Take the time to update your status with interesting facts about your industry, integrate your blog posts and publish informative videos and articles that will position you as an expert within your industry.

8. Update Your Status Regularly

Although quality content and engagement with your fans is crucial, the most important aspect when marketing through your Facebook fan page is persistence.

It’s imperative that you keep your fans engaged on a regular basis.

Not only does this bring in a consistent flow of new fans, it keeps your brand continuously in front of your current fans as well.

9. Promote Your Small Business Through Your Bio

If your Facebook fan page is interesting and interactional, many fans will want to find out additional information about you and your small business.

Make sure that your bio is fresh, engaging and lets your fans know exactly what you do and why you are a leader in your industry.

In addition, it should include a hyperlink that fans can click on to visit your website for additional information.

10. Promote Your Events

Events (live or virtual) are an amazing way to promote your brand to fans.

You simply create an event in your Facebook account and allow your fans to register and attend your event.

Obviously, this can create incredibly engaging and interactional experiences for your Facebook fans while promoting your small business in the meantime.

A Facebook fan page is fast becoming a necessity in today’s marketplace.

So, make sure to create a powerful Facebook fan page that positions your brand as a leader in your industry.