This is the second post in a series of tips on using social media for business users. Note: This post assumes you already have your strategy set and by no means should you be engaging your customers without one in place.

1. Remember main goal of the page and ask yourself before posting if the post is on topic.
2. Leave a little room for fun. Your fans will enjoy it if it doesn’t overwhelm the reason they fanned you in the first place.
3. Delegate a project ownership, if you don’t have time to post continuously.
4. Give the page a username for unique and memorable Facebook URL (facebook.com/”brandname”). Go to facebook.com/username – select your page from “My Pages” and then apply for username. MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT SELECTING FOR YOUR PERSONAL PAGE. Then double check, because you can’t change it. Maybe even have someone watch you do it, really.
5. Don’t forget there may be a larger community discussing your category, you can join and post there, too. Feel free to post respectfully.
6. Monitor daily at best. Weekly at worst. Set alerts so you know when someone has written on your wall.
7. Facebook should only part of your online presence. Use it to capture fans and then drive them to deeper content on a blog, connect on Twitter, and promote video on YouTube. But, most importantly, they need to be moving toward business goals.
8. Use other online vehicles to recruit Facebook fans including links on your homepage, ads, promotions and other social media sites.
9. You are only a small reason your fans are on Facebook. Be respectful and don’t over-promote or you risk losing them.
10. Put fans first. Consider what is valuable to them and link to it or post about it.
11. Consider promoting others on your page who have done something significant in your area.
12. Listen, converse, energize, help, support, or embrace are six things you should ask if your post do.
13. Keep things as positive as possible.
14. Promote offline and integrate with other marketing materials. (Example: Put that unique URL on your ads.)
15. Respond to comments.
16. Thank people for becoming fans.
17. Ask people to use the “share” button if it’s a particularly important post.
18. Ask fans what they think about a subject or post, when appropriate.
19. Consider using apps to give your fans something interesting to do.
20. Promote real-world events. This connects online and offline.
21. Facebook isn’t just for kids anymore – consider that FB is getting more mature, less edgy. Don’t treat fans like kids.
22. Put a fan box on blog and site.
23. Take notes. Make an Excel spreadsheet with stats. (Don’t rely on Facebook to store your data.)
24. Occasionally use Fan Page as focus group and consider giving a prize for participation.
25. Track fans. See if you have people leaving or coming. Try to figure out why.
26. Frequency is key. You can’t ignore fans and expect them to stay interested.

Posted on: February 25, 2010, by : Jimmy Gilmore