Effective Strategies for Marketing via Facebook

Once a company chooses the appropriate channel to reach their desired audience, the challenge lies in creating a compelling and effective campaign.  After observing current flyers, groups, polls, events and applications it becomes clear that certain tactics work and some simply don’t.  The following is a list of effective marketing strategies on Facebook:

1. Offer something for free - It doesn’t matter what it is, Facebook users love free gifts.  This could be anything from a free download, to a free “Facebook gift” to a discount coupon.  A shining example is the Apple group which offers periodic downloads of pre-selected music or TV samples.
2. Support a charity or social cause - Facebook users want to make a difference, and if they can do it quickly and easily through Facebook they will.  Some examples are the “Causes” application that helps charities raise money, the badges or ribbons that people can post on their pages to show support for a cause and the groups that raise awareness about a cause and sometimes even donate money per number of group members.
3. Allow for a new ways to interact with friends - Facebook users want to build relationships with their friends.  Some of the post popular applications are the “Super Poke” and the “X me” applications which allow users to send messages to their friends that says they’ve been punched, drop-kicked, hugged, stepped on and a range of other actions.  Facebook users like the “Free Gift” application where users send graphics of presents they’d like to give, the “Happy Hour” application where users can send a virtual drink or the “Vampires” application where people can bite their friends and turn them into virtual vampires.
4. Provide entertainment value - Applications that allow users to play games, listen to music, share photos or watch videos are always popular.
5. Be edgy, current and funny - Facebook users want to be associated with what is hip, fun, funny and cool. 
6. Allow for self-promotion and narcissism - Facebook users love to share information about themselves, their personalities and their lifestyles.  Most Facebook users view their profiles as a direct reflection of themselves.  Users will install/join applications and groups that fit their own personal brand or garner compliments or ego boosts.  Some examples are the “Compare me application,” “The Honesty Box,” “Horoscopes” and the “Are you interested? Application”
7. Balance eye-catching yet simple - There are two schools of thought among Facebook users: those who want flashy pages that stand out, and those who cling to the nostalgic uniformity of Facebook before applications.  An effective application will be colorful and valuable yet not too distracting or take up too much space.  The choice to create a flashy application or a simple application might also depend on the target demographic.  Older Facebook users gravitate toward the simplicity and professionalism of “old-skool” Facebook, while younger users are drawn to the busy, flashy “MySpace-like” applications.

While the persona of a Facebook user is evolving, it’s important to remember what Facebook users were drawn to in the first place.  Facebook created a feeling of privacy and focus on friends.  Users could customize their privacy settings and show information to only their close friends.  Facebook was simple, uniform and uncluttered.  It was also exclusive and separated users by network.  While Facebook has expanded and lost some of its original draw, many of the most loyal Facebookers still appreciate these qualities about the site and look for those attributes when choosing groups, applications, and activities on Facebook.