As those who are involved in online marketing know, content is king, and this is true even on Facebook. A lot of people make the mistake of putting a lot of effort in the design of their fan page and then disregarding content completely, since they assume that the visual effects will be enough to draw followers.

While it’s true that there are a lot of visitors who like seeing beautiful graphics and can be enticed to look at what you have to say if you offer a good-looking fan page, the appearance of the page isn’t enough to make them stay. The presentation of the Facebook fan page is only the icing that will make your page appealing to them. What will ultimately make them stay is if you actually continue to give them information that they are looking for, as well as some tidbits that will hold their interest. If you don’t keep your fan page updated, the followers you have painstakingly collected can and will unsubscribe from your page, which means wasted effort and the possibility of you starting from scratch all over again.

facebook marketing

Given all of these, what type of content should you post on your Facebook fan page? Of course, it’s a given that you should post content about your company and your products. After all,the reason why you’re on Facebook is to market what you’re selling, right? However, you shouldn’t just focus on posting about what you have to offer. Not only will you run the risk of running out of things to say (there’s only so much you can say about a toaster, no matter how awesome it may be), you may also end up boring your audience. They may be interested in your product, but probably not so much that they want to be bombarded with praises about it on a daily basis. Aside from just posting about what your brand is all about, consider posting other things as well. Some suggestions you may want to look into when posting content on your Facebook fan page are:

Use teasers. Don’t just copy and paste the content you put on your website on to your Facebook fan page. Not only is this redundant, it can also mean potentially losing traffic to your own website. What you can do instead is to post a teaser that will draw the attention of your followers and then include a link to the page on your website that gives in-depth information about this. Make the teaser catchy. If possible, include an eye-catching photo that will increase the likelihood of your followers clicking the link that you’ve posted. It’s also a good idea to use a shortened version of the actual URL, as this will help you avoid having a long, long link appearing on your update, as well as to further disguise what the actual post is about, thereby adding more mystery to it and generating even more interest on what you have to say. There are websites that allow you to make URLs shorter for free, so getting this done shouldn’t be a problem.
Post creative content. Content on Facebook isn’t the same as writing droll, dull news articles. In fact, going down the boring route can actually mean losing customers instead of winning them over. Make sure that the copies that you post are written in a way that will appeal to your audience. Don’t be afraid to use a casual tone when you write. That way, you will be seen as more approachable by your audience, which can do wonders for consumer relationship. You can even use humor, not only because funny things easily catch the eye of people, but also because it can make you more likeable.
Post a call to action. Don’t just post weak information. Invite your followers to take action, even if the action is as simple as asking them to “Like” the post you've just put up.
Post photos, videos, and sound clips alongside the text. One great way for you to increase the amount of interest people have in what you have to say is to add multimedia files such as photos, video clips, and audio clips that will go with the text. This will make your audience become even more intrigued with what the text says.
Write about other relevant information related to your niche, not just about what your company and your products are about. Again, there is only so much you can say about your products. Don’t be afraid to branch out and post news and information about things that are related to your topic. For example, if you’re selling guitars, you can post news about musicians and artists. If you’re selling cookware, post recipes. By posting relevant content, you will be able to retain the attention of your followers and keep them interested in what you have to say to them.
Ask questions. You can also post questions on your fan page directed to your followers to get them involved. The beauty about Facebook is that it allows people to interact with each other, so take advantage of that! Ask questions that are meant to generate personal responses from them. For example, if you’re in the music industry, you can ask them to name the top 5 musicians of all time for them. You can also ask holiday-themed questions such as “What’s your favorite Christmas song?” or “What’s your favorite holiday?” Ask questions that will generate interest and incite responses from them.
Offer exclusive deals. One reason why a lot of people are willing to follow Facebook fan pages is because they know that there is something in it for them. In exchange for having them follow your fan page, you can also post deals that will be exclusively available to them, such as price cuts on some products that you’re selling, freebies, and other such goodies. You can even offer rewards to your loyal followers. These offer several benefits, including creating an image of generosity to your audience base (resulting in them trusting in your brand even more), a higher chance of going viral as yourfollowers will want to share these great deals with the people in their network, and an increased number of sales, since the discounts will make your products more affordable to buyers.
The important thing about fan pages is that you need to make sure that you constantly post updates. Don’t become so involved in all of your other marketing efforts that you ignore your fan page; otherwise, you may end up finding your page a ghost town when you return to it. Try to post updates daily or at least a few times in a week. Not updating can be your biggest mistake, since this can lead to your followers losing interest and unsubscribing from your fan page, which means all of your effort will end up wasted.

Of course, you need to make sure that you don’t end up spamming in the process. While it’s important that you keep your fan page updated, don’t make the mistake of posting just about anything that pops in your head just to provide content to your website. Don’t post meaningless gibberish, or you’ll end up turning off a lot of followers.

Make sure that the content you post are informative, stimulating, and will leave your followers asking for more. Also, don’t forget to respond to any messages thrown your way by your followers. You can even drop by and leave them messages on their walls from time to time to let them know that you’re still around. That way, you will be able to establish your presence with them so you will become relevant to these individuals. Think of all of these efforts as you building a virtual community. You will want to do what you can in order to make the community rich and interactive.

Source: http://skywebteck.com/tips-on-what-to-publish-on-your-facebook-fan-page/

Great write-up, useful tips. Will try some of them out