Launched on February 4, 2004, Facebook is a social networking website. In an effort to interact and connect with others, Facebook users can join diverse networks. The networks are organized by city, workplace, school, and region. Users can also add friends and send them messages. By updating their personal profile, users can notify friends about themselves.

With penetration mainly in North America and England, the site has over 80 million users and 16,000 Apps on it’s platform. These users are typically college educated and spend on average about 20 minutes on the site (some people spend far more time on the Internet than in front of the Television). That’s a lot of people and a lot of time. That’s also a great opportunity to market your product, brand or service. Facebook has a variety of tools and techniques for use as a core marketing channel for customer acquisition. Examples of these include: Facebook Business Solutions, Marketplace, Applications, Social Ads, Groups, Paid Groups, Events, Fan Pages, Facebook Apps, Share, the News Feed, etc. These examples allow for demographic targeted marketing to the lead generation by providing brand extension, exposure and customer loyalty.

I’ve combined a few ideas (from other sites and my own) on ways to promote and market with Facebook:
1. Create a Profile.
• Make sure when you fill in your profile, you include your blog or website URL.

2. Start a group about your niche or product.
• Pages are a good option for small or local businesses that want to establish a presence on Facebook. Like groups, they’re another free and easy way to do viral marketing.
• Pages are more customizable than groups. You can add HTML, Flash, or even Facebook applications to your pages to extend their functionality and the depth of experience users can have with your brand.

3. Sell and promote on the Marketplace
• You can promote and sell your products, or promote some of your affiliate products that are relevant to your group.
• You can buy flyers from Facebook- $10 for 5000 impressions- that you can use to promote yourself or your business in the marketplace.

4. Advertise an event you are running or attending.
• Don’t hard sell. Members of Facebook are overwhelmingly college-educated and internet-savvy. They do not like to be sold, and hard selling techniques will drive them away. Seek only to educate and create value for users.

5. Join other groups and participate.
• There are millions of members on Facebook and thousand of networks. The opportunities to promote yourself and your business are extensive.

Like most social networking sites, Facebook takes time and effort to use effectively. Don’t expect thousands of friends in the first few days. You must interact with others to get interaction and WOMA for your own page.

Now, go ahead and start friending! Good Luck.

Did You Know- The website’s name refers to the paper face books depicting members of a campus community that some American colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus.

My Best,
Kathy Kane
Market Insights