Fan Pages: The Great and the Pointless

I tend to classify fan pages into the great and the pointless.  The great majority of fan pages are pointless. No one really likes them (I mean Facebook like, not highschool like).  They are a billboard lost in an ocean of billboards that no one really pays attention to.  Alternately, your fan page can be great and Nike has proven that.

Nike’s recent fan page (which I ‘like’) falls into this category.  Nike has defined a target market (women, over 20, into fitness), and created a page for this market featuring inspiring information and photos of women who are successful, inspired, empowered and engaged in fitness training. 

Quotes from fan page “Nike Women”

“Make Yourself Lean. Knee Tucks really work it. They’ll increase your heart rate, burn fat, build up your shoulder stabilizer muscles, develop your core, and give you a power boost. Just be sure to keep your weight over your shoulders and your abs tight. Want more moves? Download the Nike Training Club app” 

Nike is speaking to their target market and engaging them, providing them with something useful and of value.  When creating a fan page, always keep in mind the intended audience.   Here is another example. 

 Nike  Sport inspires hope, instills discipline, reduces depression and disease. What has sport done for you?      NikeBetterWorld  www.youtube.com   

“Dedicated to serving the athlete and making a better world through sport http://nikebetterworld.com/  Learn more about Nike's plan and ongoing efforts towards factories, environment, communities, and public policy.”

The most important thing to remember is that the page is meant to speak to your target market and be useful to them. 

Answer these questions when creating your fan page: 

1.      Identify your customers.  Who are they?  Why are they doing business with you?  What are they looking for?  Can you segment them?

2.      What are they looking for and why are they doing business with you? 

3.      How can you fulfill that need through inspiration and verification?

4.      Can you connect them to the inside track?  Can you give them special insights, special inclusion and membership in a group?  Social Networking is all about exclusive networks. 

And like Nike says:  “Just do it”  . 

Using Facebook Fan Pages for Business

     A Facebook fan page can be a great tool for marketing your company or product. Facebook users simply have to “like” the page and they will receive any and all updates you post to the page in their home newsfeed.  An important thing to consider when creating a fan page is how much access you want to grant to your fans (i.e. whether they can post comments, photos, etc to the page). If you have many people who like the page, it may be best to restrict their access to these features, as it can result in many notifications for your fans and it can be difficult to constantly monitor for negative commenting, etc.

     To restrict fan access to your page, simply visit your page and click the “Edit Page” button on the top right hand side of your page. This should bring you to the “Manage Permissions” page for editing. By default, the three options (users can write or post content on the wall, users can add photos, users can add videos) will be selected. Simply deselect these to restrict user access.

     If you would like to allow certain people to be able to post content to the page, simply go to the “Manage Admins” page (under the same list as the “Manage Permissions” page in the Edit mode).  You can add an Admin by typing a friend’s name where it says to do so.

     Facebook fan pages can be an extremely useful tool in marketing when used correctly. They can act as a sort of one-way public broadcast to your fans by posting in their newsfeed, effectively sharing with them the latest news about your company or product. Make sure you’re inviting your Facebook connections to visit your fan page and to like it if they so choose. This is the best way to promote your page. Check our blog daily for more tips and tricks about a variety of social media.

     We also offer a course on Social Networking for business, mortgage, insurance and financial professionals. For dates and locations, visit www.escomputertraining.com.