Turn Facebook âLikesâ into customers

With the seemingly endless growth of Facebook – more than 800 million users and counting – it’s easy to get caught up in the rush of seeing how many “Likes” you can generate. But at the end of the day, the number of fans you have isn’t very important if those “Likes” don’t tie into overall strategic goals such as increasing sales, leads, brand awareness and overall revenue.

As you’re racking up those precious “Likes,” remember to focus on both turning casual fans into customers and engaging already-loyal customers so they become even more passionate about your brand.

Here are eight tips for getting your Facebook “fans” to convert:

1. Use Facebook to drive email opt-ins
Facebook offers a golden opportunity for you to boost subscribers to your email programme, where nurturing of relationships and conversions is more likely to occur. Yet only about one in 10 companies is leveraging Facebook for this purpose.

Start turning fans into customers by creating a unique tab on your company or brand’s Facebook page that houses an opt-in form, where fans can sign up for emails without leaving Facebook. To maximise your success, make sure it appears in your top three tabs so it’s displayed just below your main image.

Give the tab a distinct name such as “Newsletters” or “Email offers” and use it to describe the contents of your core email programme and reinforce specific value propositions, such as being notified of special sales before non-subscribers or receiving invitations to events.

Communicate your typical email frequency and use screenshots of recent email newsletters or other communications to show potential subscribers what they can expect from your emails. And finally, remember to promote email sign-ups in wall posts visible to anyone who comes to your page.

2. Offer vouchers for your ecommerce store/physical store locations
According to a CMO Council study, 79% of consumers are using social media to take advantage of special offers and discounts, but only 43% of companies are offering deals and savings via social.

Give customers what they want by serving up vouchers on your Facebook wall for your physical locations or online store. Be creative with your offers, perhaps making the discount amount a surprise until the voucher is redeemed or tying voucher redemption to a loyalty programme.

3. Display customer-centric videos on your Facebook page
Video can be a powerful tool for nudging a person towards a purchase, so consider embedding videos on your wall or creating a special tab on your Facebook page to house your videos – or both. Imagine the possibilities: Customer testimonials or product demos can help nurture a prospect through the sales funnel.

A how-to guide or online tool can position your company as an industry leader. A humorous ad can encourage a purchase and build loyalty. And as an added bonus, videos are one of the most potentially viral pieces of content you can feature.

4. Run sweepstakes to get fans to engage with you
Given that 65% of social media users connect with brands on Facebook for the games, contests and promotions, gamification can be a savvy way to give your marketing campaigns some pizazz and connect more strongly with your followers.

Try offering Facebook-exclusive sweepstakes and awarding cool prizes to build buzz, perhaps providing an extra entry if the user shares the promotion with his or her social network. Consider announcing the winners on your Facebook wall and making the announcement as interactive and share-worthy as possible.

5. Offer sign-up tabs on your Facebook page
Offer sign-up tabs for white papers, webinars, how-to guides and more on your Facebook page. Those who “Like” your brand or business on Facebook could be just about anywhere in the buying cycle. Make sure, then, to prominently feature thought leadership pieces and educational resources on your page, creating sign-up tabs (and related download forms) specifically for the purpose of highlighting these documents.

Remember to embed social-sharing calls to action within these documents – for example, a “tweet this!” social-sharing button at the top of each page pre-populated with a sample Tweet – to help create more awareness for your content

6. Post teasers on your Facebook wall
Tease fans with product updates, news and announcements, driving them to your website. Although you don’t want to get too product-heavy on your Facebook wall, you shouldn’t shy away from sharing exciting product news either. Given that 55% of consumers connect via social for new product news, Facebook can be a fantastic platform for pushing traffic to your website and spreading the word about your big news.

Related tip: When applicable, consider running Facebook promotions offering fans exclusive sneak peeks at new products – you’ll increase loyalty, build buzz and promote sharing.

7. Share links to your tabs on your Facebook wall
Putting tabs on your wall is a savvy tactic, but there are challenges: Facebook limits the number you can display at one time, and some visitors aren’t used to them and may not understand their function or importance. What can you do to drive traffic to these “hidden” or overlooked tabs, then?

One suggestion: Try putting them front and centre on your wall. Remember to take a service-oriented tone with these teaser posts so they come across as helpful rather than self-promotional, explicitly communicating the value that they deliver to the Facebook user.

Also, you may want to consider putting a “Fan Gate” in front of these pages, requiring visitors to “like” your page in order to complete the form. While this tactic can increase “Likes,” use it judiciously as it can also lead to form or page desertions and may not seem very “social” if overused.

8. Integrate Facebook with your other marketing channels
Since your customers and prospects are likely moving in and out of multiple channels throughout the day, cross-pollinating your message across platforms will help you reach more people and maximise your chances of success.

Use your Facebook wall to communicate the value proposition of your other social networks, mobile apps, check-in programs, as well as promotions involving these channels.

Whether it’s highlighting your email content in wall posts on the same day you send it to regular subscribers, inviting fans to join your loyalty rewards check-in campaign via Foursquare, or allowing in-store visitors to fill out an on-site iPad form using their Facebook login, the possibilities for cross-promotion are many.

Richard Evans, Director of Marketing EMEA, Silverpop

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