Business & Personal Finance

Here are three great tips for Facebook marketing that I've picked up in the last few weeks.

Be aware of when you post

A new report by Buddy Media concludes that certain times of day may be better than others for posting new content on your Facebook Page. It notes that most people engage with Facebook in the early morning, after work, late at night, and on weekends. 

You want your post to be close to the top of the News Feed when your customers go to their profile. So posting during hours you are working may not be the best idea – it's better to post when your fans are looking. 

The Buddy Media report goes into this in a lot more detail – even to the point of noting that different days of the week may be better for posting than others, depending on the industry.

For example, if you are in the media industry, avoid posting on Monday.  But if you are in the fashion industry, Facebook users interested in your business tend to engage most on Thursdays. Fascinating!

Have a look. (You'll need to register to download the report.)

Offer coupons

People love coupons, and they are a great way to draw people to your Page. You can offer coupons through status updates and/or Facebook advertisements.

An example of a company that did this with great success is Healthy Choice. After their coupon advertising campaign, Healthy Choice had increased its fan base by 900%! 

Other businesses offer fans coupons every time they check in to their company Page. For more information, see the Facebook case study about the Healthy Choice campaign.

Use the question feature

I get a kick out of answering the questions that my favourite companies post on their Pages. For example, one of those companies recently asked "What kind of cake should we use as our St. Patrick's Day special?"

Answering made me feel like I was a part of that business, even though it was in just a little way. Of course I checked back onto Facebook regularly to see what kind of cake they actually did use. The interaction had created a personal connection between me and the company, and connections are a very large part of what Facebook marketing is all about.

Have a look at Why Facebook’s New Questions Tool is Good for Brands and Businesses for more ideas. This article is on one of my favourite sites for keeping up with all this: Mashable.

One more tip: the Library

Although Mashable is great for updates, I go to books for more detailed explanations of how all this works. I also find them essential as overviews of subjects that are looked at in their individual parts on the web.

The Library is always buying the best and most current books on the subject. Here are a few of the latest in our collection.

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If you know of any other great Facebook tips, share them with us!