B2B Facebook Marketing: 20 Recommendations, Tips, & Resources

This past weekend, Hitwise, via Computerworld, announced that Facebook grabbed 8.93% of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010. That makes the social networking site the top destination in 2010. What is unprecedented and eye opening is that Facebook succeeded in beating out Google, which slipped to the No. 2 position with 7.19% of all visits.

Facebook Worldwide Relationships
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Does that news mean every B2B marketer should drop what they’re doing and invest full bore in their Facebook strategy? Not so fast – BUT – marketers (B2B or otherwise) should not continue ignoring Facebook and the impact it may have on their organizations’ internet marketing strategy.

In an effort to get the B2B marketer started, here is a list of basic recommendations and applications, as well as resources and articles we have found valuable from others for leveraging Facebook from a B2B perspective.

  • Fill Out Your Fan Page Basics
    Having a comprehensive fan page is the first step. Leave as few blanks as possible and make sure to include company information, overview, products/services, your web addresses (more than one if needed), etc.
  • Maintain an Active Fan Page Wall
    The wall is a primary communication method for a company on Facebook. Keep this area active with a regular stream of updates. Make sure to respond to comments and feedback in a timely manner as well.
  • Leverage Fan Page Applications
    In addition to third party fan page applications (we have added a few recommended applications in the next section), make sure to leverage the basic applications inherent to Facebook fan pages: photos, video, events, etc.
  • Don’t Forget to Cross-Promote
    In the effort to build your network, create visibility for your Facebook fan page in key online (and offline) destinations. Consider cross-links from your main company website, blog, newsletters, and marketing collateral.

Facebook Fan Page Applications for B2B Marketers
These fan page applications enhance your organizations’ presence and provide more ways to interact with Facebook users and fans. While there a hundreds of Facebook applications available, these five should be of specific interest to the B2B marketer.

  • Contact Form – A simple to use application for building a contact form on your fan page. Form fields can be customized and form submissions are emailed to a designated email address.
  • FBML – While our understanding is that Facebook is no longer supporting FBML specifically, this application will still allow marketers to add custom content via FBML and HTML on their fan page, including contact forms, welcome messages, and promotional campaigns.
  • RSS Graffiti – A simple way to automate, customize, and integrate RSS feeds from your blog, Twitter, and other RSS feed sources.
  • YouTube – Use the app to maintain favorite videos (not just from YouTube), images, links, etc. and decide which ones to publish on your wall or your page’s YouTube tab.
  • SlideShare – Add your company or individual SlideShare presentations on your Facebook Page.

B2B Facebook Resources and Recommendations
A collection of resources and opinions from respected B2B marketing colleagues and professionals.

Facebook: Just for Fun Information

We hope you find this post helpful and good luck in all of your B2B marketing endeavors on Facebook. And while your at it… make sure to check out and “Like” our Facebook fan page as well if interested 🙂

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