Facebook: The New Marketing Arena of Social Media

Sept. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- Most businesses and individuals have recognized that social media (SM) is the new arena in marketing. Of the numerous choices, Facebook has become the standout social media platform for most new promotional and advertising initiatives. With millions of global users, Facebook is an excellent avenue to pursue and is quickly becoming an essential part of a good marketing plan.

Businesses and individuals are now injecting billions of dollars per year in the arena of social media such as Facebook in order to create product awareness and generate leads. Facebook will receive a large percentage of these dollars, with the final eye set on increasing a brand’s fan base by way of Facebook page applications or Facebook ads. If you do some research you will find that there are now more than 140 Facebook pages with over 10 million fans. Studies have shown that the number of Facebook pages with 1 million fans or more has skyrocketed from 300 in 2009 to 3,000 in 2011.
Facebook users are looking for people and products they already know. Brand new connections are more likely made through referrals rather than on a whim or search by the user. The challenge is to make your repeat customers and clients return to your page again and again and subsequently refer others to do the same. With the fan count becoming a less rewarding incentive, businesses and individuals promoting should consider looking into more creative opportunities that will boost brand awareness and loyalty within Facebook by promoting select and elite content on their pages. One way to achieve this is for brands to take full advantage of new opportunities offered by social entertainment for example; one can sponsor events such as music, movies, sports and concerts right on Facebook.

A good example of this would be for a company to sponsor popular pages that its fan base would appreciate. In exchange for dollars and promotion of the event to your fan base you can sponsor for example, a live concert on Facebook. Many companies have been known to sponsor live concert events. In exchange for partially funding the event to countries around the world, each sponsor is given significant exposure during the event and on the event page and of course fans can be treated to some of their favorite songs.
Ultimately, by finding partners that will sponsor the broadcast of live events can greatly reduce cost and at the same time create a lasting impression for fans. Although, this type of social entertainment has yet to reach significant numbers in mass, you will find a significant amount of events in the works that could benefit from sponsorship money. So keep an eye out for these opportunities; for it’s the early adopters of these sponsorship opportunities that are more likely to corner the good deals.
Another example would be to host an exclusive event on your Facebook page. By taking the previous example a step further, larger brand companies can host live and recorded events on their own Facebook pages. Not only does this help generate social good will but also helps to generate brand endorsement. After all, the essential nature of any social media is being sociable. If you seek out social events that your fan base would enjoy the results can be very impressive.

In another creative marketing approach a company or an individual can issue what is commonly called and known as Facebook Credits. Facebook Credits are hot. More and more businesses — both large and small — are exploring how they can incorporate Facebook Credits into their overall social strategy. But they all have the same question: How? If you didn’t know, Facebook Credits can be applied to the purchase of virtual goods, digital goods and Facebook Deals.     Now this is where your social media savvy comes in, on a smaller scale, issuing Facebook Credits that can be used to attend a social event is an excellent way to attract new fans while rewarding existing ones.
Consider this, you or your company could issue 40 Facebook Credits to new customers while directing them to a new movie release or live concert on Facebook. By the same token if a customer makes a purchase at a certain level, you can reward them with extra credits. It’s simple enough to identify social entertainment events that you could drive traffic to. All you need to do is work with a Facebook Credits issuing company (e.g., ifeelgoods) in order to enable this functionality.

As your business looks to get into the Facebook Credits game, here are some things to consider.
1. Sell Digital, Not Physical Goods
2. Incentivize Fan Engagement
3. Think Globally
4. Deploy Digital Content
5. Be a Sponsor

Facebook Credits may seem like uncharted territory, but that also means there's a wealth of opportunity. With 750 million users, Facebook is the must-use vehicle for companies and individuals looking to connect, engage and monetize fans. Those who take advantage of it early can look forward to better relationships with current fans and a valuable tool for earning new ones.

It goes without saying, but when using Facebook as a marketing platform just make sure you incorporate its enhanced social features. By including features that enhance interaction with friends and taking advantage of the growing number of technologies available today to leverage the Facebook platform, you will greatly improve the engagement and virility of your brand. While Fans have the opportunity to “Like” a product for 15 seconds before it disappears and the next social feature arrives, you may want to leverage the social nature of Facebook by researching other available third-party tools and technologies that can make your promoting more interactive with fans. By using these tools, marketing heads are finding newer ways of connecting with their target audiences, capturing more fans and subsequently driving more traffic to their business.

As you can see these are just a few creative ways to apply your marketing dollars on Facebook. Get creative, associate your company or yourself with popular celebrities, entertainment and sports by providing a shared experience that becomes socially engaging. After all, Facebook does offer a 750 million-plus audience worldwide, so why not reap the benefit and get your share of it?

Talina Perkins is a self published author of both fiction and non-fiction works, publicist and successful online article writer. She is an internet marketing business owner and a multi-top pick Official Book Reviewer for Night Owl Reviews.
For more information, visit http://www.bookinitreviews.com and http://thebiblesoffacebookknowledge.weebly.com/

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