Facebook: The new frontier

With Facebook’s latest upgrade now fully implemented, auto parts distributors will find it’s much easier to do business on the social network, especially when it comes to webpage design and Facebook traffic analysis.

“The marketing potential of Facebook is unlimited, because unlike other Facebook pages, automotive enthusiasts are involved, have a common bond and a community bond – elements that are all perfect for Facebook,” states Barbara Carlton, marketing coordinator, Smittybilt.

Millions of Facebook users have been watching the latest evolution of the social network – which includes a new look and feel for everyone who has a Facebook account – rollout across the system since late 2010.

One of Facebook’s most anticipated changes is the service’s new capability to easily add framed content to a Facebook page – technically known as content presented within ‘iFrames.’ Essentially, the change enables any autoparts distributor to easily mirror the design they have on their website with the presence they have on Facebook – as long as that content is presented within an iFrame.

Scores of web designers are celebrating the move, since attempting to duplicate the look and feel of a company’s website pages on Facebook had previously presented quite a challenge in many cases.

Moreover, web marketers state the introduction of simple iFraming also makes it much easier for a business to crunch analytics, including tracking user activity on Facebook pages, and thoroughly examining how sales and other sought-after conversions are unfolding on company Facebook pages.

All told, the makeover has stimulated marketers to update their ideal marketing practices for the service.

While social networking has been around for a while. People were socializing on CompuServe discussion forums long before Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg got his first tricycle. Facebook was one of the services that made such networking so effortless, so fun and so multifaceted.

For example, once someone signs up for your ‘fan’ or business page on Facebook, they immediately start getting info about your company in their news feed, can instantly share your offers to others in their social network, effortlessly engage in discussions on your Facebook page, give their opinion about your products or services and shop on your Facebook page.

So it really is no small wonder that Facebook now has 600 million-plus registered users.

“At Federated, we have found that social media like Facebook has worked well as part of an overall marketing strategy,” states Phil Moore, senior vice president, Federated Auto Parts. “It complements our communications activities and grants us to have a direct link with those who are interested in interacting with Federated on a wide variety of subjects and programs.”

For years, web designers have bemoaned the fact that they were forced to use Facebook’s propriety programming for much of the designing they did on the Facebook site. No more. With the roll-out of Facebook’s latest make-over this spring, the service is now offering web designers complete creative design freedom within specified framed areas on Facebook.

”I, for one, am thrilled with this long-awaited news,” states Janet Driscoll Miller, CEO of SearchMojo, a web marketing firm. Essentially, any content that appears within these specially designed iFrames is no longer subject to the limitations of Facebook’s design format. Instead, the content can be easily designed with more robust web design programs like DreamWeaver or Microsoft Expression.

“This is a large timesaver when you’re trying to program pages to match your corporate brand,” Miller adds.

Facebook users can also integrate their pages with Google Analytics, a free program that has a great reputation for examining user behavior on Web sites.

A recent Facebook innovation, the capability to ‘Like’ a business, confers an instant recommendation of an auto parts business to everyone within a Facebook user’s circle – be it 12 people, or 1,200 people.

With the March 1 makeover, Facebook has made it very simple for a business to make a post to the walls of other pages. Previously, business’ messages had been restricted to appearing on the Facebook News Feeds of people who liked them, friends of those people, and of course, on the wall of one’s own business Facebook page. Used judiciously, this new freedom to post to the walls of other Facebook pages could make promotion on Facebook a whole lot easier.

The only way to continually attract attention to a business Facebook page is via constant updates to that page. Fortunately, you can post to Facebook a few times a week — or in some cases, every day — and other Facebook users won’t think about you annoying. After all, those who become friends with a page are clearly saying they are interested in what you have to say. Just be sure it’s interesting, and it includes images or video often. Graphics are the lifeblood of Facebook.

“From the beginning our key strategy has been to involve our customers, letting them be as much a part of Smittybilt Facebook page as we possibly can,” states Smittybilt’s Carlton. “They have as huge a voice in the page as we do, and often surprise us with stories, pictures, videos and links. Our customers — fans, really — know that we aren’t there on Facebook to sell them Smittybilt products,
but we’re there to let them express what makes the off-road experience so cool. We’re reinforcing the lifestyle choice they made when they bought their off-road car and added more value when they bought our products. We have the greatest fans and we let them know it.”

Businesses that use traditional advertising to broadcast their brands on Facebook are generally received with a collective yawn — and sometimes even negative retribution — from Facebook users protective of the social network’s culture.

Agrees Smittybilt’s Carlton: “Speak with your fans and not at them. Listen to what they want. They are the ones who will make or break your success on Facebook. Guide them, encourage them — but be prepared to experiment with what works and what doesn’t. Above all treat them like you would want to be treated if you were face to face.”

Quite simply, Facebook users anticipate a conversation from the businesses they befriend. And they anticipate it to be authentic.

source : aftermarketbusiness.search-autoparts.com