Let’s look at Starbuck’s Facebook page as an example.  Their community is very active and vocal.  They utilizing the page more than the Starbucks employees.  They even post pictures with their comment, such as this one:

Within less than an hour of this posting it had 6 likes and 3 positive comments.  There are several comments on the page about Starbucks being the best coffee in the world and Starbucks always bringing a smile to the face at the end of a hectic day, etc.  The community members consistently ask each other where a certain Starbucks cupcake recipe is and [...]]]> More and more of today’s consumers are turning to social media platforms, particularly Facebook, to both rave about great products or to address customer services issues.  Whether positive or negative, what these consumers post is there for everyone to see.  These postings influence other consumers and their buying behaviors in a very impactful way.  Consumers trust other consumers, not paid ads or gimmicks or obvious sales tactics.  This is why it is very vital for businesses to address both types of postings from their community members and to do so timely and professionally.

Let’s look at Starbuck’s Facebook page as an example.  Their community is very active and vocal.  They utilizing the page more than the Starbucks employees.  They even post pictures with their comment, such as this one:

Within less than an hour of this posting it had 6 likes and 3 positive comments.  There are several comments on the page about Starbucks being the best coffee in the world and Starbucks always bringing a smile to the face at the end of a hectic day, etc.  The community members consistently ask each other where a certain Starbucks cupcake recipe is and when certain coffees are coming back.  They talk about the types of coffees they always get, in which cities and even at what time of day the make their purchases.  This is not only a very engaged community, but it gives Starbucks some much useful insight into the demographics and buying patterns of their consumers, even on a local basis.

Yes, there is also a complaint here and there such as coffee not being filled high enough for the price of the cup; but for the most part it is a positively engaged community all buzzing on Facebook about their Starbucks coffee buzzes and just how much they love it and in some cases are addicted to it.  And in the midst of the all of this, Starbucks comments and engages with its community, runs specials and makes announcements.  So what is the bigger picture of what is going on here?

Starbucks has built and continues to build social commerce through their Facebook page.  The more this community buzzes positively about the Starbucks coffees and their personal experiences with it, posts pictures of unique products they like and ask each other for recipes and updates, the more those posts stream to the walls of other Facebook members who are not fans of Starbucks, over and over again.  Eventually those people get interested and click over to the Starbucks page.

There they will see an incentive to like the page and then once they do they unlock the access to the whole community and become part of it.  And they then go to a local Starbucks and try it out.  Or even if they are already a Starbucks consumer, they may go to find that neat little tree ornament someone posted a pic of or try out that caramel latte that seems to be the talk of the week.

All the while Starbucks gets more purchases out of individual consumers than they would have if not for the Facebook community and they get more consumers all together.  And they didn’t lift one finger or open one mouth to do it.  Their online Facebook community upsells existing consumers for them and also brings new consumers to their doors.  Starbucks also get to cater to the consumers more effectively because they take into account the conversations on Facebook and they cater to them.  That’s the power of social media.  That’s the power of social commerce.

To find out how Vizion Interactive can help you with your social media marketing needs, please visit Social Media Marketing

You’re not going to get very far by posting to your personal profile every half hour with your latest product or promotion without eventually annoying your friends. This is why the utilization of the Pages feature a great way to promote your brand and products because your fans are just that, fans of what you have to say. They are going out of their way to join your Page to stay attune to what you have to say as well as let their friends know of their interest in your company.

Facebook: 250 million active users, 150 million of them new in the last year and eight million of these users become fans of Pages every day. There’s the data, and you probably didn’t need me to tell you that Facebook is the social media “place to be”. This new pop culture craze gives you a chance to keep tabs on your friends and family, and with a little creativity you can use the Facebook platform to build an army of Facebooker’s to market and promote your products.

You’re not going to get very far by posting to your personal profile every half hour with your latest product or promotion without eventually annoying your friends. This is why the utilization of the Pages feature a great way to promote your brand and products because your fans are just that, fans of what you have to say. They are going out of their way to join your Page to stay attune to what you have to say as well as let their friends know of their interest in your company.

Utilizing Pages is crucial for those in eCommerce as well as large companies with franchise locations in multiple cities. For eCommerce applications, it is imperative that you create a post schedule to stay focused on posting new products or promotions on your Page. Link to the specific product page and don’t forget to include in your description applicable discounts if any apply. Taking it a step further, create contests and special promotions to keep your fans coming back. These posts help breed repeat customers and help provoke them to spread your message to their personal friend base. A compelling Facebook marketing strategy helps you to increase your reach from beyond your Page’s fan base to all of their many friends. In case you are wondering, the average Facebook user has 120 friends.

For large companies with several franchise locations the Pages strategy can be utilized within a local search perspective. Besides having an official company Page, each location should have a Page. This is an opportunity to increase brand visibility as well as an opportunity to think at a community level, literally. Locations should take advantage of Page promotion within print collateral as well as in-store. Potential visitors visit locations and based on appeal are likely to join the Page therefore announcing to all of their friends their interest. This is great word of mouth, social media style!
Taking full advantage of these free Facebook marketing strategies is paramount in this day and age. A quick look at your completion will likely tell you that they are already working on this front. Getting dirty with a little grassroots Facebook marketing alleviates your need for outlets such as Facebook paid advertising, leaving you with a larger marketing budget and an army of marketers.

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