In many respects, Facebook is the quintessential Web 2.0 app. Facebook allows users to connect with others, share photos, videos and website links, take part in discussions — and a whole lot more. And, although Twitter seems to make the news a lot lately, Facebook remains the most widely used social networking website — and the one most useful to dive retailers.
Facebook provides a number of ways for businesses, groups and individuals to interact with one another.
- Personal Facebook pages are the most common. Best suited for individuals, personal pages can only be fully seen and accessed by individuals whom the page owner has accepted as “friends.”
- Group pages are public and best suited for clubs and organizations. Any Facebook account holder can join any Facebook group. Once you become a group member, you will be copied on anything written to the group’s Wall.
- Business pages (also known as fan pages) are similar to group pages, but better suited for use by dive retailers. Unlike group pages, Wall postings are more prominent, and there are places to list store hours and location, and a link to the store website. Equally important, visitors don’t have to be accepted as a “friend” — or even be logged into Facebook — to see your page.
Understanding What Facebook Can
(and Can’t) Do for Dive Retailers
- To start, understand that only a certain percentage of your customer base has Facebook accounts and accesses them regularly. Fortunately, those who do are likely among your better customers and posting on Facebook allows you to interact with them on a more regular basis than your website and eNewsletter does.
- Additionally, it’s important to understand that, while Facebook allows you to post and share images and video, it is nowhere as easy to use or as effective as a dedicated image-hosting website such as Flickr. Similarly, Facebook is not the place to post a lengthy trip report (that belongs on your blog).
- Finally, your Facebook posts cannot be purely promotional in nature. If they are, your “fans” will lose interest and disconnect from your page.
The key to effective Facebook posting is to make certain as many of your posts as possible contain links to pages where readers can either find more information or view photos and/or video. Examples of good Facebook posts include:
- You just uploaded a set of photos from last week’s Cayman Aggressor trip to Flickr? Great! Let all your Facebook fans know, and provide a link to the Flickr page for that set.
- Did one of your staff just post an “after action” report on this past weekend’s Pumpkin Carving Contest at the rock quarry on your store’s Blog? Again, let your Facebook fans know, and provide a link to the blog posting.
- Did you just add a news item, new class or trip page to your website? Post a brief description and a link on Facebook. (Just make sure that all your Facebook posts aren’t purely promotional in nature.)
- Have you come across an interesting website, YouTube video or blog post you think your fans might like — even though it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with your store? Post a link on Facebook.
There are some types of Facebook post that don’t necessarily need an external link. These are the ones that answer the question, what are you doing right now? One of the partners in our company is notorious for using his mobile phone to take a still image or video of a scuba unit sitting by the edge of a pool and posting it on Facebook, along with a comment that says, “This is my office today.”
Not only does this sort of post help underscore the fun endemic to the diving lifestyle, it encourages your fans to make similar posts on their Facebook pages, creating high-tech word of mouth on your behalf.
Click on the browser tab in which you earlier opened the sample website. Right click on the Facebook link near the top of the right-hand column to open it in a new tab. See what happens.
Getting Started with Facebook
To create a Facebook page for your store, you will first need to set up a personal Facebook account (it’s free). Once you have done so, and are logged in, use this link to create a separate Facebook page for your business. As soon as your page is created, bookmark it — or you may have difficulty finding it later.
As the creator of your Facebook business page, you automatically become its Administrator, and have total control over its settings and profile information. You can invite some of your staff members to log in and become “fans” of your page. Once they have, you can grant them Administrator status as well. Any posts made by someone with Admin status will be identified as having been made by the store, not by that individual.
Among the first things you will want to do with your new page is to go to the Profile section and add information on store location and hours, and a link to your website. You will also want to create and upload a profile picture. This will be used as the logo that appears near the top of your business page and, in a reduced form, next to each of your posts.
Your profile picture should measure no more than 200 by 200 pixels. It should incorporate your logo (or at least prominent elements of that logo), as well as your store name in a manner that is easy to read. Avoid fine details; remember that this image will also be reduced to a 50-by-50-pixel icon that goes next to your posts.
As soon as your Facebook page has been created, and you have made one or more posts to it, you will want to start driving traffic to it and gaining “fans.” You need to wait until the next business day, however, before doing so. This will give Facebook the opportunity to fully integrate your new page into its system. Steps you will want to take include:
- Announce and link to your new Facebook page on your website and blog.
- Encourage customers to visit your Facebook page and make themselves fans.
- Have your instructors and other staff members become fans of your Facebook page, and to link to it from their personal Facebook pages.
Each time you (or anyone else) posts to your Facebook page, fans will see this posting on their personal Facebook home pages. Unlike your website, fans don’t have to make the effort to come to you; this info goes directly to them. Facebook also allows you to send updates to your entire fan list on a regular basis.
It’s important to remember that only a certain percentage of your customer base (albeit an important one) connects with Facebook on a regular basis. Being on Facebook does not absolve you of the need to make regular posts to the News section of your website’s home page — and sharing this information, on a monthly basis, through your eNewsletter.
Experience shows you can’t send out an eNewsletter much more often than once a month before you start losing subscribers. In contrast, Facebook provides a means to stay in touch with some of your very best customers on almost a daily basis. Like your blog, it allows you to connect in ways that are more personal than you can get away with on your website.
In other words, it’s someplace you really need to be.
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