Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Marketing. Web-to-Print. Warehouse Management.
Facebook Basics For Marketing Services Providers
Posted by 
on Monday, December 21, 2009 
at 6:14 PM 
in Are you Facebooking your prospects and customers? With today’s technology and the multiple ways you can interact with your prospects and get your message across, it’s important to take advantage of the more popular social media sites where your prospects and customers hang out. Did you know that Facebook has over 200 million active users? Don’t you think your current and future customers are among them? So stop putting off the inevitable and set up a Facebook business page so you can connect with prospects and customers, promote your products/services, and also the content you put out (articles, videos, audios, etc.) about your products and services.
Keep in mind that there is a difference between personal and business accounts on Facebook. Business accounts are limited in the information they are able to access compared to the standard accounts. You can’t send or receive friend requests. However, this shouldn’t prevent you from creating a business page for your company. In fact, there are benefits to business pages, where you can designate multiple administrators to manage and post to the account. Also, the pages are public and therefore will attain rank in Facebook and search engine results.
A business page can garner “fans” and you can still post events, pictures, videos, polls and other interactive ways to promote your business and build the buzz.
So remember: profiles are personal but pages are business in Facebook world. So you’ll want to set up a page (not a profile). And remember to only create one account, because Facebook doesn’t take kindly to those who create multiple accounts.
After you create your Facebook business page, you want to find “fans.” Here are some ways you can build that fan base:
- Make sure your page is searchable by the general public. This is typically the default setting, but you may want to double-check and look at the Settings on the Edit page. Make sure your page is “Published (publically visible).”
- Announce your new Facebook page on your website / blog with a link to your page and an invitation to become a fan.
- If you have a newsletter, be sure to include the news about your new Facebook page.
- Send out an email to all your existing contacts asking them to check out your Facebook page, become a fan and leave a post.
- Leverage your other social media profiles and invite those connections and followers to check you out on Facebook. For example, if you’re active on Twitter, you should tweet the link to your Facebook page and ask your followers to become fans.
- Post a Facebook badge or widget on your website to let your site visitors know about your Facebook page.
- Think about using Facebook ads. Yes, it costs some money, but the advertising will get your business name in front of a lot of eyeballs.
Of course, it will be easier to get more fans as you build your page and add content that is informative and engaging. Add polls, events, links and videos. Invite commentary by posting questions. Pull in the RSS feed of your blog. Post about special discounts or coupons. As you build upon your page, current fans will share the page with their colleagues and friends and your fan base will grow.
Remember, Facebook is not just about information or entertainment. It’s also about relationship building. Connect with your fans and respond to any posts by prospects and customers. It’s important to create a dialogue with your fans, rather than just have a running monologue of business information.
Tags Marketing Services Provider on Facebook
There’s a wise old saying that goes something like this:
“Let me listen to the things you say….. and I’ll tell you what kind of person you are”.
Over the years, many people have certainly said that far more elegantly. But no matter how it’s said, the principal is and has always been true.
How this helps Marketing Services Providers
If you are trying to transition your company into a marketing services provider, there certainly are many steps that will help you succeed.
One of the most important steps involves transforming how people think of you. If they think of you as the person that solves only their print needs, then that’s why they’ll call you.
But if you want people to call you for help launching email marketing efforts, measuring trade show success, launching a banner ad, and more, then you need to change their perception.
This starts with how you position yourself. It includes the text and pictures on your website. It may include the tag line on your business card.
Also, your social media presence can play a big part in how people think of you. The items you post and share can cause people to look at you and your company as thought leaders… as people that care about marketing.
Someone who is doing it very well
One such company that is taking these actions is H & H Graphics Group / Sir Speedy Lancaster. (Full disclosure: H & H Graphics Group / Sir Speedy Lancaster is an interlinkONE customer. That certainly makes us especially proud when we see their marketing efforts.)
If you’ve watched their Facebook page over this past summer, I believe that you will absolutely think of them as someone who can help you with your marketing needs… not just the printing & fulfillment portions.
Here is a sampling of a few recent posts:
H & H Graphics Group: Facebook Posts
They certainly are setting a great example for other print and fulfillment service providers that are looking to offer marketing services to their customers.
They are not the only ones – there are many companies out there that are taking similar steps to transform their business.
To you….we salute!
