In this blog, we have written a lot of generalities and nothing specific about how to use social media. I am going to dedicate the next couple very sacred “Marketing Mondays” as a way to educate our viewers on how to use the free & nearly free resources that social media has to offer. I hope this is useful 
and will get the ball rolling for your company, no matter what stage it is in.
First of all, how do you use Facebook? Facebook originally started out as a way for INDIVIDUALS to communicate, keep up friendships, acquaintances, share pictures, chat and meet new people. Well, then businesses and Facebook realized that this could be a good way to advertise the company whether it be for reputation up keep, promote specials, job offers….anything positive, you name it.
Becoming a friend of a business just didn’t seem right, because your friends with people, you can’t be friends with Staples or IBM. If someone said, “Ian who do you consider your best friends?” I wouldn’t say, “My best friends are Jeremy, Tyler, Snickers, David and Microsoft.” This just wouldn’t work and I think the multi-billionaire company Facebook probably thought of that as well.
To fix this problem, they created “Fan pages.” A fan page on Facebook allows your company to upload photos of the company, describe its location and business hours, link viewers to your website etc.
This is all very simple, all you need to do is set up a profile for yourself and then on Facebook it will say “Create a Fan Page” in the settings section. Facebook will then walk you through every step from general info, business hours and the about section. After this step is done, you should take all the friends that you have for your personal profile and suggest that they become”fans” of your fan page. If some do, automatically they will receive updates about your company and receive updates on their wall. Then, hopefully, some of those people will like your page and product so much that they will refer their friends.
It astounds me, when companies are willing to advertise on billboards, television and radio, but aren’t willing to use the resources that the internet offers, like Facebook. This is free, set it up today and if you have any questions leave a comment and we will be in touch so your company doesn”t fall behind.
-Ian
I’d much rather be a “friend” of the Chamber than a “fan”. Being a “fan” sounds so impersonal.
The Chamber might be a business, but it’s made up of individuals. It’s not a huge entity like Microsoft.
Great suggestions, I will have to do it.
Tracy,
Great point and you’re right when you say that the Chamber is made up of individuals–all working hard to improve the community! However, as an organization or business, Fan pages are better equipped to share information and manage on the back-end (which is why we recommend it for business). For example, you can get statistics, place inexpensive ads and engage your fans in different ways than “friends”. Don’t worry..all of our fans are still our friends
-Beth Trejo, Director of Investor Relations
Good point, Beth. I guess it’s just a matter of samantics! (sp?)