Facebook is both a fun social networking site and a serious business tool. You can use it in a wide range of applications. Restaurants, bars, books, clubs, groups, products, ideas, just about anything you can talk about. This means being flexible in your writing and ideas. Connecting with like minded people and exchanging ideas through discussions is what makes Facebook a great communication tool.
Active posting is what gives the page interaction. People feel they can talk to someone and they want to know what others have to say. Postings by members of a page can turn into conversations. This makes Facebook pages into a fun or useful place to learn new things or ask a question. Unmoderated discussions take a life of their own. As a page builder and operator you can sit back and just watch. Moderated discussions can be your way of talking to the community. Ask questions, makes suggestions and tell people something about the subject.
Growing connections is a sign of a vital community. This is one area where you can put in time and effort and see a return in terms of numbers. Facebook has become the most active social media site. People use Facebook to read, listen, look, basically communicate and make connections. By inviting people to your page, starting and keeping discussions going, and posting interesting (relevant) stories, people will come to you. This is what makes a Facebook page alive.
These elements are a starting point to make good use of Facebook. Once you have the basic elements working, comes the real work of peeking the interest and influencing people to take action. In product promotion that may mean testing a software program or signing up for a newsletter or a demo. It could also mean taking action by posting your experience of a product. Converse, the shoe company, has a very popular Facebook page (2,811,193 Likes on June 21, 2010). Take a look at their photos tab:
Here fans are taking action by uploading a photo. It is not such a big involvement, but still an engaging activity. Next Converse can have a contest between pictures. They can give away shoes to the photos with the most amount of comments or the highest score in different categories. There are all kind of activities that can be done once there are enough involved individuals. This is what a social media professionals at Lion Buzz can help you develop. Strategies and tests of involvement programs are useful to get you started. Managing discussions, promotion and community growth inside Facebook and outside is also something Lion Buzz can do for you. Building different style pages with different written material is also useful to see how different communities respond to each type of message. This can tell you where to develop more material and how to motivate people to participate. With known brands like Converse you can do market research and develop products in response to what people say and do on the Facebook page. The possibilities are endless, and so is the work.