Facebook Marketing- Get a Vanity URL or Lose It!  (Facebook.com/YourBusinessName)!

The vanity URL on Facebook (also called ‘Usernames’) is a compelling feature to easily promote your presence on Facebook with a short URL. This simple URL can be used in your marketing communications, company website and business cards.
A Vanity URL allows you to easily advertise your Facebook location – “Just type in facebook dot com slash OurBusinessName” is much easier to promote at a networking meeting or printing on your business card than “visit us at facebook dot com slash pages slash my-business-name slash 1037784823052389?ref=qvg”  . Vanity URLS also help promote your search engine ranking for your business name.
To get your vanity URL, you will first need to get 25 Fans for your Page. Once you have 25 Fans, got to www.facebook.com/username and enter the username for eligible Page to see if it is available. If you delay this process, your first choice of name may have been taken by another person- So Move fast and Claim it!
Remember, you will not be able to edit or transfer this username, once you set it. So CHOOSE CAREFULLY!. Facebook also has policies and restrictions on what you can and cannot choose as your Vanity URL name.

Business owners, managers, and marketers are all working overtime to unravel the secrets, tips and tricks for successful Facebook marketing in the fast paced, internet-managed business world. Facebook has grown to be the favourite social media platform of businesses, completely replacing MySpace. With global acknowledgement, more than million people spend time on Facebook, creating a location of 2^nd place next to Google in the most visited websites list. There is no doubt that if you want to get your business’s name on the front lines globally, Facebook is the key.

So, how do you successfully promote your products or services through Facebook medium? Most importantly, how are companies using Facebook for marketing without seeming spammy? There are several factors that need to be assessed and taken into consideration prior to using Facebook for marketing. For instance, is your business targeting the B2B market or the B2C market? Do you have a concrete, structured marketing campaign or are you merely trying to join the internet bandwagon with your Facebook fan page? Or are you willing to spend some time and money on a Facebook application?

Although targeted CPC ads seems like the most effective marketing strategy for Facebook, it actually lands below the top five successful strategies detailed below. Here are the five strategies of marketing on Facebook for business:

1. Update Constantly-The search engines, visitors and customers are attracted to constantly updated content. The cyberworld loves fresh, unique and constantly updated content. Maintain a goal of updating the status at least once daily and then ramp it upto three times a day. Remember that the more status updates you post, the more your business’s name is in people’s minds. Each time you post on your Facebook fan page wall, it updates on your fans’ news lists. A word of caution here – Do not post status updates just because you have to- Make the content unique & interesting- Something that adds value to your targeted customers. This leads us to the second point.
2. Say Something That Inspires Anticipation-People do not want to hear the same things over and over again. They want current news and interesting and engaging content. Create an air of anticipation to keep their curiosity peaked with status updates that will entice them to visit your Facebook fan page. Encourage conversations on your Facebook fan page wall.
3. Engage In “Conversations”- Become a “real” entity on Facebook with a personality and style that people will enjoy. It is ok to take a side and have an opinion on any topic but present your arguments in a professional and objective manner. For highly controversial topics, you may want to present a balanced and neutral approach by presenting a ‘pros and cons’ based arguments, which leaves the decision to the readers. Or, if you are up for a polarized approach, which will invoke ‘passionate’ discussions and comments, you can indeed take a strong one-sided argument (Remember, it still needs to be professional and logical argument) with your Facebook fans and defend it. The polarized approach will definitely stick out your brand recall, although it may put some readers off. But that is your decision. Either way, the number one rule is ‘ the conversation must be engaging- something that inspires anticipation and action’. Bottomline, the more your business name pops up on Facebook, the wider you fan base can span.
4. Accept All Possible Fans-This is a given-why would you turn any potential clients or customers away? Be sure to approve all requests quickly and efficiently.
5. Hold Contests-People love contests. Invite all your friends and encourage them to invite their friends to participate in your contest on the Facebook Fan Page -the more, the better. Use the third-party Facebook applications to hold and manage your contests (More on that in our next Update)

The best strategies for marketing with Facebook are the “soft sell” strategies. You can advertise your product, but shouting to the world that your product or service is the best on the market will not make your product stand out from any other product.

People by from People. People buy because of recommendations. Advertisements can only do that much.

Engaging with people and becoming a Facebook entity that people enjoy conversing with and listening to will promote your product or service much more effectively via Facebook Marketing.

Maverick Mav (www.maverickmav.com.au) is a social media & internet marketing and web development company based in Australia. You can contact us for Social Media Marketing, SEO, Google Marketing, Web and ecommerce solutions by calling 1300 618 418 or email: sales@maverickmav.com.au