Don’t do it. You’ll want to. Those above you will want you to. Your marketing department will tell you it can be done. But don’t do it. Don’t market on Facebook; communicate on Facebook.
There is a difference.
Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear he wants to build a universal communication tool (world domination much?). That they’ve been unable to turn profit using it as a marketing platform should raise eyebrows.
Instead of trying to shove your message down the throats of curious parents, take advantage of the growing community. Don’t force them to hear you, give them a place for their voices to be heard read.
The redesign of the homepage has made filtering and selective-viewing impossible. While this could be the precursor to a more ad-heavy homepage, it dilutes everyone’s updates and your message with them.
With sponsored pages, FB provides a free, grossly-populated place to compile videos, a blog, promotional ads and forum topics. Usually this information is scattered throughout the interweb but FB puts it in one place where 175+ million have ready access.
Bring people to your FB page as a place for customer support or inquiries. Use it instead of just placing stale copy there to show up when someone searches after taking a “do you know [inane topic]” quiz.
Once you have that free space for comments and brand message, use Twitter, your website or email to diffuse promotions. People using those tools receive these promotions voluntarily and are less likely to immediately dismiss them as useless.
Besides, if you’re trying to build a brand message (without even going into digital reputation management), do you really want it looking exactly like your target’s nephew’s spring break photos?
(The answer is no, in case you were confused.)
Tags: advertising, social tools