What’s the ONE most amazingly successful thing you did on Facebook for your business that you would recommend? What results did you see?
This was the question posed to twelve business experts. The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.
1. Create Weekly Fan Albums
Fans share pictures of themselves wearing Modify through email, Facebook messages, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Each week we take these shots and create a "ModiFoto" album, highlighting different individuals — we tag them, providing recognition as part of our close-knit community. Since starting this program, we have seen an uptick in engagement and a spike in "likes" and shares. —Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches
2. Send Facebook to the Rescue
I’m from Joplin, Mo., which was made famous by the $2.8 billion F5 tornado that virtually leveled the city. Within 20 minutes of the disaster, we launched a Facebook page called Joplin, MO Tornado Recovery to help people in need get help. Within four days, we had 179,000 people on the page and ultimately raised $2 million to help Joplin recover. — Brent Beshore, AdVentures
3. Target Your Facebook Ads
As a Facebook Preferred Developer, we have the inside track on some of Facebook’s best ad practices and have built a platform to help brands leverage Facebook ads for retargeting. We drink our own Kool-Aid – this year, we used FB Exchange to retarget our website visitors; we saw a 150% spike in successful lead gen from the previous month. — Abby Ross, Blueye Creative
4. Link Surveys Back To CRM
We recently ran surveys via Facebook (linking back to our CRM) for some of our affiliate websites, containing questions concerning the product line, suggested ideas, and customer service questions. We had an awesome response rate, upward of 20% of our fans, which provided important data for future sales. — Jordan Guernsey, Molding Box
5. Connect With Prospects in Groups
Joining Facebook groups where your prospects might be hanging out, and then being helpful and leading them to your products when it’s a fit has done wonders for me. It garnered more sales, and also built some goodwill and showed my business in a positive giving light. The trick is not to spam, but be genuinely helpful before ever pitching your products. — Nathalie Lussier, The Website Checkup Tool
6. Get Personal
I had some concerns about whether I should show a picture of my newborn. However, it was a big hit, it was the most responses I ever got on my Facebook. People want to draw the personal connection and it provides great conversation for connecting with business contacts you haven’t spoken with in some time. So don’t be afraid to show your personal side. — Raoul Davis, Ascendant Group
7. Give Visual High-Fives
We started recognizing our employees on Facebook with pictures of how we show our appreciation. In September, it was Employee Appreciation Month. Each week during that month, we would post pictures of our team with our employees whether it was delivering sandwiches to employees off-site, recognizing our Star of the Month (aka Employee of the Month) or raffling off a flat screen. — Nicole Smartt, Star Staffing
8. Start a Private Group of Clients and Experts
I have a private group on Facebook where I invite clients, potential clients, and industry experts. The topic of the group is Social Media Marketing, and the group shares interesting links, case studies, and questions to the community. I’ve closed over 10 business deals because of the Facebook Group, and I continue to grow it on a consistent basis. Best Facebook decision I’ve ever made. — Jay Wu,Best Drug Rehabilitation
9. "Question of the Week" Series
When we first started off on Facebook, we did nothing more than post content relevant to what we thought our friends wanted. However, our efforts really took off when we started our “Question of the Week” series. We post a question for our followers to answer, and often use their answers as the basis for articles we write on the site. Since then, we’ve noticed a huge increase in followers. — Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance
10. Share Customer Feedback
Whenever our customers give us great feedback, we post it to Facebook and tag them in it, telling the whole world how smart they are. We also tag pictures of clients who attend our events (only the good ones, and we get their permission first!). Since pretty much everyone loves attention, this has dramatically boosted visits to our Facebook page. — Robert Sofia, Platinum Advisor Marketing Strategies, LLC
11. Simple: Post Daily (Minimum)
My Facebook page sat there and did nothing for years. Sure I’d continue getting new fans, but I didn’t start seeing traffic to my site, leads, and sales until I started posting every single day. Sharing quotes, photos, and questions to increase engagement has made a night and day difference in the success of my Facebook marketing. — Sean Ogle, Location 180, LLC
12. Pay It Forward
We told our fan base that for each comment they left on our fan page, we would donate $1 to FirstBook.org, a charity we support. This really got people engaged, helped boost our reputation, and helped Firstbook; it was a win-win-win! — Nicolas Gremion, Foboko.com
