Keeping up with the ever changing landscape of Facebook can be a challenge for marketers and business owners. This mini-eBook will provide you a quick resource full of tips and ideas for using Facebook as a marketing channel. The guide includes the following topics: common mistakes business owners and marketers make, why you should invest in a Facebook page, how to create a page, why you should use custom tabs, welcome page ideas, how to grow fans and followers, how to find customers, and some free additional resources. We hope you enjoy the guide.

1. Facebook Marketing
Updated For
Quick Guide
Timeline
March 30, 2012
Keeping up with the ever changing
landscape of Facebook can be a
challenge for marketers and
business owners. This mini-eBook
will provide you a quick resource
full of tips and ideas for using
Facebook as a marketing channel.

2. Page 2 of 12
Table of Contents
Common Mistakes Business Owners and Marketers Make…………….………………..…………page 3
Why You Should Invest In a Facebook Page……………………………………………….…..………page 4
How to Create a Page……………………………………………………………………………..…………….page 5
Why You Should Use Custom Tabs…………………………………………………………..….……..….page 6
Business Page Tips w/ Timeline….………………………………….…………………..………………….page 7
How to Grow Fans & Followers….……………………………………………………………………………page 8
How to Find Customers…………………………………………………………….……………..……………page 11
Free Additional Resources……………………………………………………………………………………..page 12

3. Page 3 of 12
Common Mistakes Businesses Make on Facebook
Profile instead of a page
Facebook has designed and developed its business pages for optimal use by
business type. It offer pages for local businesses or places, companies,
organizations, or institutions, brands or products, artists, bands or public
figures, entertainment, and causes or communities. They will continue to build
out these offerings as the ads platform continues to expand. Some of the
functionality that is lost by using a profile in place of a page includes less visibility in search
engines and in Facebook, less analytical data about the page. No business or brand should
have a personal page.
Engagement with Customers or Clients
A static Facebook page is not worthless, but it’s close. The point of Facebook is to engage with
fans and followers to build community around your brand, business, product, etc. If you are
shutting off comments, not using your wall, or not posting content to your own Facebook page,
you are totally missing out on the opportunity to directly communicate with paying customers.
Remember, this was not even possible just a few of years ago.
Self-Promotion
Self-promoting is a sure-fire way to drive Facebook users away from your page. If it’s self-
serving enough, this type of post could even cause a user to un-like you. If you don't have
anything better to talk about than how great you are, you may need to find another medium.

4. Page 4 of 12
Why Invest in a Facebook Page?
EdgeRank – Facebook’s Secret Sauce
EdgeRank is the algorithm Facebook uses to determine what content is shown
to whom. Every post you make has a quality score. If the post has a high
quality score, it is seen by more people. The main factor of the quality score is
the number of interactions you're getting on your post: likes, comments,
shares and how often and long all of those actions are being taken.
Build Community
The Facebook wall is the place to build community with your fans. Your fans will interact with
you here and you should interact back with them in a conversational, non-promotional way.
This area gives you direct communication with your fans and followers, unlike any
communication tool we have used to date. This is equivalent to a phone call or someone
walking in your businesses door and you can build relationships with this tool.
Promotion & Advertising
Facebook allows business owners and marketers to run targeted ads based on a variety of
demographics and interests. The number one reason people become fans of pages is to take
advantage of promotional offers. If you advertise, make sure that your fans are seeing
targeted ads. Then, take them to a targeted landing tab where they can take an action: like
the page, share the offer with friends, etc.

5. Page 5 of 12
How to Create a Page
Now, users are able to create a page that has its own profile. There should be no reason for
issues if a team member creates a page and then leaves your organization or if you decide to
leave an advertising agency that has created a profile for you. With unique profiles for business
pages, you can now act as the page, making updates and posting content on behalf of the
page, not individually.
To create a page, simply log in to Facebook with your personal account, navigate to the footer
(the very bottom of the page) and click the Create a Page link. You will then be prompted to
choose the type of page you are creating. The rest is straightforward. For full instructions, see
this Getting Started Guide.
1. Click Create a Page Link
2. Choose the Type of Business (Above)
3. Complete the Fields When Prompted

6. Page 6 of 12
Why Use Custom Tabs?
What Are Custom Tabs?
This is a fairly recent addition to Facebook, allowing page owners
to create custom pages using HTML, similar to how we build web
pages. Prior to HTML, Facebook required users to create pages
using its own version of HTML called FBML, however, they
converted to HTML early in 2011.
Why It Matters
This is a huge deal that not nearly as many pages are taking advantage of as should be.
Basically, you are able to create a page on Facebook (just like most that have been created
throughout the broader web). Now, we just have to think about landing pages in a social way,
within the context of Facebook.
Brand Consistency and Calls-To-Action
Having a consistent look and feel to your Facebook page, as you do with the rest of your
marketing, helps develop brand equity. Calls-to-action allow you to increase the top-level of
your sales funnel with actions like the following: Like Us on Facebook, Sign Up For Our Email
Newsletter, Sign Up For Special Offers, Subscribe To Our Blog, etc. These actions give you
permission to send your target audience specific communication based on what they requested.
We can also use Google Analytics to track the performance of these pages, in addition to the
fantastic analytical tools offered by Facebook.
Facebook is the Destination
Facebook is a destination site meaning that users want to stay on the site. Facebook users
spend more time on the site than Google, YouTube, Bing, and Yahoo combined. This is
incredible. People are willing to spend some of their Facebook time with your brand, but they
want to stay on the site and be able to interact with the other streams of communication while
they do.

7. Page 7 of 12
Business Page Tips w/ Timeline
Likes are Comparable to Email Subscribers
Yes- Facebook pages are just like email lists. Just as you need to make it clear what a
subscriber will receive when they sign up for an email newsletter, you should do the same with
you Facebook business page. Facebook likes are ultimately another form of subscriber and it
shouldn't be more complicated than that. Who wouldn't want to grow a list of fans and
followers?
Below is an example of our new business page on Facebook. When managing a new page or
converting your page to timeline, use each of these steps to create a successful presence.
1. Set Your Cover & Profile Photos
2. Add Milestone to Identify Important Events
3. Pin Important Stories to the Top of Your Page
4. Post Regularly
5. Use Admin Panel to Manage Page
6. Respond to Messages
7. Rearrange Apps
8. Claim Your Vanity URL

8. Page 8 of 12
How to Grow Fans & Followers
Leverage Your Existing Marketing
Use your existing marketing efforts to promote your page. Email lists,
direct mail lists, in-store signage, physical newsletters, fliers, menus,
brochures, business cards, and signature cards all offer a great way to
promote your new page.
Claim Your Place
Facebook lets businesses claim its Place page which allows customers to check in to your
physical store location and share it with their friends. Businesses can also create special deals
for people that check in. If you’re in retail, you definitely want to use this feature.
Create Remarkable Content
The point of being on Facebook is to form and develop community. In order to form and
develop community, you must create content that fans and followers want or need. Creating
content that they view as remarkable, a phrase coined by Seth Godin, is “content that they
can’t do without.” Remarkable content helps solve problems and provides amazing offers that
they can’t resist. Most importantly, if you can create content that fans find interesting enough
to remark upon, you will succeed in developing community.
Off Facebook Calls-To-Action
Social calls-to-action, such as adding Facebook like buttons to any content you create on your
website or blog and offering Facebook fans special offers and promotions by liking your page,
are examples of ways you should optimize your Facebook presence.
The biggest reason why people like a page is because they were invited through an email or
website or they were driven to the page by an advertisement. Another popular reason is
because they were referred by a friend to receive promotional offers.
Adding widgets to your website is another way to optimize your off Facebook calls-to-action.

9. Page 9 of 12
Develop a Conversational Calendar
A conversational calendar is simply a planning tool that will help to keep your Facebook fans
engaged with your page. It should consist of company goals, the approach the company will
take on Facebook and themes for each day. See sample conversational calendars provided by
Facebook below.

10. Page 10 of 12
You may access these calendars in the Facebook Paged Optimization Guide.

11. Page 11 of 12
How to Find Customers
Facebook Ads
You can find out how many potential customers you have on Facebook
without even running an advertisement. Simply sign up or have a
professional marketer sign up for Facebook Ads and you can begin to
target users based on demographics and interests, seeing a specific,
immediate reach that changes with every choice you make.
This platform is truly something that every business should try. We're talking about a daily
user-base of over 500 million users worldwide. Try it!
Check out this special $50 offer from Facebook Advertising!
The Value of Geo-Targeting
Geo-targeting is simply targeting an audience by location. With the click of a button in the
Facebook Ads Manager platform, we are able to see an immediate number of people that the
chosen criteria will reach. We can offer ads to everyone on Facebook, a particular state, city, or
a surrounding area based on radius around some point.
The Value of Behavioral Targeting
Behavioral targeting is simply targeting an audience by what your audience is interested in.
With the same immediacy of geo-targeted criteria in the Facebook Ads Manager, we are able to
target by: language, education, work, age, gender, birthday, relationship status, likes and
interests, friend connections and connections. This is an area where Facebook has an edge
over most other advertising platforms and a compelling reason for businesses to try it. The
specificity of the target audience is remarkable. We can target more specific interests as well,
such as entertainment properties, celebrities, sports teams and players, political figures, and so
on. You can literally choose your most ideal target audience. All that said, you will need a
professional to write and test creative ads that compel targeted users to take action.
Examples: A dental practice could target women within the geographic area it is located, and in
a certain age range, that like a particular TV show which most of its clients like. A sports store
could target fans of the particular apparel it’s offering. Business-to-business services can target
prospective customers by title or by interests - a commercial real estate company might target
the titles “business owner”,” President”, “CEO”, or “COO”.

12. Page 12 of 12
Free Additional Resources
Facebook Timeline Introduction
Facebook Marketing Solutions
Online Database of
Social Media Governance Policy Database
Social Media Policies
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