Okay, so you know what a Facebook fan page is. Heck, you’re even a fan of a couple pages yourself.

But still you find yourself asking, how can a Facebook fan page  help my business, though?

I’m glad you asked! Facebook has provided something to business owners that is completely unprecedented. Before Facebook, businesses could only dream of viewing the individuals and demographics that make up their business’ fan base, then hyper target them for maximum effectiveness.

Read on to see how you can use these advantages to leverage profits for your business…

Give it to me straight, how can a Facebook Fan Page help my business grow?

Facebook fan pages can have a massive impact in not only sales, but every different aspect of your business as well.

1. Cultivate a stronger following of loyal customers that will increase your word-of-mouth marketing.

2. Revolutionize customer service through speed, experience, and transparency.

3. Increase sales by keeping the sales floor open 24/7 with an online store app inside your fan page.

4. Allow sign-ups, opt-ins, and subscriptions to your business’ content and information.

5. Share important, memorable, and relevant information about your business across the social web.

6. Increase your brand’s top-of-the-mind-awareness through high quality, consistent updates.

Why not just use my personal profile?

Fan pages have some key functionality differences that make them much more powerful than a profile page (like apps!).

1. Fan pages separate your business from your personal profile, keeping personal info more secure.

2. Facebook Fan pages allow you to target customers and prospects; a profile page is to update your own family and friends – and only up to 5,000 of them, for you super socialites!

3. Apps, apps, apps! Applications are what make your fan page so powerful. Place these inside your fan page to give you greater functionality and so you can connect with your customers.

4. Posting business updates from your personal profile can often appear as spam to your friends. Facebook Fan pages only update those who’ve Liked your fan page, preserving your personal connections.

5. People can connect with your fan page without becoming your Friend. This also keeps you from constantly accepting friend requests from your followers.

BUT…before diving head-on into creating your own fan page, put yourself in your customer’s shoes.

In the words of Ernest Hemingway:

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”

Think about some other fan pages you’ve seen out there, and ask yourself one question: “Do I want to see updates from this page?” Often times, the answer is “NO.” Why is this?

Honestly, most businesses aren’t particularly interesting and most of us only use a product or service because we need to, not because we want to.

Bottom line: In order to successfully promote your business on Facebook – any updates, posts, images, etc on the page have to be relevant, interesting and encourage interaction.

Authors & Speakers

1. Get more book sales and speaking engagements by increasing your fan base on Facebook. Build your Friends list, make ‘share-worthy’ posts, and update fans on upcoming book signings and speaking engagements.

2. Free up an immense amount of your time and email inbox by using a fan page to create a community for readers and listers to congregate under. This drastically increases online exposure.

Consultants

1. Because this day and age is full of internet spamalot and trojan horses, we want to find companies, websites, forums, etc that we can trust. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that we actually almost crave a business that we can trust and will gladly pull our wallets out once we find it. Capture this market!

2. Connect with your fans and followers at their level. What’s a good, easy way to do this? Try segmenting your audience into “ideal client” categories. Purpose your content to target at least one of these categories.

Bands, Musicians, & Artists

1. Want record sales? (see what I did there?) Hold contests and giveaways for music and merchandise on your fan page! You can also offer things like discounts on MP3 downloads to people who Like your page.

2. Make your fans go absolutely nuts! At your next live show, use the Text-to-Like strategy to get all your fans to Like your page right from the middle of the concert! Try offering a free t-shirt to 5 people who text the words “Like [Your Band Name Here]” to 32665 (FBOOK). Everyone who does this will automatically like your fan page!

Hotel Owners, Operators, & Managers

1. Say Hello to 0% vacancy rates! Generate more direct sales and maintain those repeat customers straight through your fan page. Allow people to easily book rooms in your hotel and share with their friends on Facebook’s massive social scale (quick factoid: Facebook has 900M users and counting!)

2. Brand your hotel as the traveler’s essential resource to wherever you are located. Post area reviews, give directions using pictures, and include videos of the surrounding area – even the lush interior of your hotel!

Visual Artists & Photographers

1. Facebook is the most effective form of referral. Facebook groups contain focused, interested buyers, so join a few and network with the members to drive traffic to your fan page.

2. Having a Facebook fan page is like keeping your studio open 24/7 – 365, with little-to-no extra effort on your part.  Post your favorite pic of the week and offer a free print to one lucky winner after the post gets 100 Likes. Easily place an online store into your fan page, or even drop your existing website into its own app on Facebook!

Real Estate Professionals

1.  Generate hotter leads and close more of them by giving your clients the ability to do more than ever before, without leaving your fan page. Give virtual walkthroughs of your listings, offer incentives for clients to “check-in” at listing locations.

2. Attract new business and get your clients excited to follow you! Gain thousands of Likes, comments, shares, and other interactions by offering interesting, quality content on your page.

Restaurant Owners, Operators, & Managers

1. Restaurants that use online marketing tend to be viewed by consumers as modern and popular, according to a study by the NRA. Use this to your advantage by holding contests for things like free drinks, or a one-hour open bar for a customer and 9 friends.

2. Get customers screaming ‘ORDER UP!’ Today, only 14% of people trust advertisements, while 90% trust peer recommendations. Use a fan page to help you generate positive customer feedback, and display it for potential customers to see!

Retail Stores & Shops

1. Get tons more foot traffic through your doors and more followers online by using the Text-to-Like strategy. This can be extremely effective when combined with a great customer experience.

2. Make customers drool over your products by holding contests, giveaways, and discounts on your fan page, exclusively for your Facebook fans. Offer giftcards, a chance to be featured on your page, or even a free/discounted product!

Your Turn

Readers, what have you experienced – what has been the most successful aspect of a fan page on Facebook for you?

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Meet David A. George

David A. George I'm a UX + Growth Marketer passionate about people, music, intelligent UX, Android, and breathing underwater. I'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn, Twitter, and on my website.