Take Free Out Of Your Facebook Marketing Strategy

_Part III of a series on effective Facebook marketing. Part I is here and Part II here
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In a first for the airline, British Airways launched its latest commercial on Facebook. The reason for choosing Facebook was so the airline could reach the widest possible audience at no cost. The fact that it had close to 100,000 fans for its Facebook page and the media buzz of an innovative social media campaign launch should have provided a nice opening to the ad.

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A little less than five hours since the launch, the ad had received a total of 301 views. Unfortunately, this is also the story for most campaigns that look to leverage the free in social media.

In focusing almost exclusively on free, marketers are missing a huge opportunity. Facebook is a great marketing tool…but to really enjoy the benefits of its 750 million+ active users, you have to look at a different set of metrics. Use the same tools that you deploy when working out a traditional media campaign across Print, TV, Radio and Outdoors. The results will shock you. Here are a few stats:

• Facebook has over 750 million active users.

• These users spend on average 6.4 hours a month on the site.

• You can target your campaign by geography, gender, age and interests.

• Facebook ads provides better value that Google Adwords.

• There is far less clutter on Facebook.

A few more pointers for an effective online marketing strategy:

• Send the traffic to your site: Not to your social media business page. Here’s why .

• Personalise: Social media has proved that users are looking for a personal, tailor made experience. Your ability to create a personalised experience for every user is critical.

• Conversations are at the heart of every social media platform. Move away from simple information sharing platforms that most sites are today to truly community interaction platforms.

• Content is key: Great content is at the heart of every successful viral campaign. This is critical to break through the clutter.

Finally social media platforms have identified what users expect from websites. It is up to you to recast your online identities to meet these expectations.

PS: The next set of posts will focus on how to rebuild websites to incorporate the best elements of social media platforms.

For more on social media marketing check out Surajit Agarwal’s blog: marketingshylock.blogspot.