Facebook Fan Page invitations the new spam

Since Facebook Fan Pages have become all the rage these days, I'm getting lots of requests that look something like this: "Facebookuser became a fan of FacebookPage on Facebook and suggests you become a fan too." 

Look familiar? I know it does to some because, like me, they're blogging about it. 

Case in point, in his post Facebook Fan Pages: The Difference Between Asking and Earning, Todd Carpenter states...

With the advent of fan pages, savvy real estate agents are adopting Facebook as a marketing tool and using these pages to promote their business. I think this is a great idea. However, asking me to become a fan of your page puts the cart before the horse.

What have you done to earn me as a fan? You asked? That’s not enough. I don’t think I’ve ever responded to one of those e-mails.

Emphasis on numbers rather than relevance

The emphasis seems to be on building a large fan following (i.e., numbers) rather than building one based on relevance. Even worse, some people are pimping their own Pages! 

For example, I received one such message from someone suggesting I fan a Realtor in California. While I have nothing against said Realtor, I live in Louisiana! Last time I checked, real esatate was local, even hyper-local. I saw no relevance, so I didn't bite.

Of course, the rush is on because people want to hit the 100 fan mark so they can reserve their vanity URL. I understand that, and am willing to cut people a little slack for it. But, that does not negate the need to generate a relevant fan base. 

I've always felt that, in social media, it's not how many eyeballs are reading your stuff, but who those eyeballs belong to. You can' gauge influence merely based on numbers. Like the old adage says, "It's not the number of seeds in an apple that counts, but the number of apples in the seed." 

Facebook Page growth principles

I'm in the process of creating two such Pages for myself - one related to my new book, The Digital Handshake, and one for me, the "social media handyman." What am I going to do that's different than others? I mean, is there a proper protocol? Here are a few ideas:

Lay a foundation with solid content - There's nothing worse than visiting a Facebook Page where little content exists. While it would be great to have 100's of Fans contributing Wall posts, status updates, commenting on Notes, answering poll questions, etc, in the beginning no one else is going to be there except you. Therefore, just like when you started blogging, it's imcumbent upon you to create some solid foundational content. 

That would include an Info page, some discussion questions, maybe a poll question or two, some photos or videos, Twitter and blog feeds pulled in, Wall posts and status updates. 

You have two goals. First, when visitors come to the Page you want them to feel as if there is activity already taking place (even if it's all from you at the beginning). Second, you want to entice them to interact with content of their own.

I've said it before, I think the Facebook Page apps from Involver are highly useful to achieving this goal. Even though they charge $29 per month for use of the entire suite, it's worth it in my opinion. 

Erect a framework of Fans by inviting trusted friends - I think it's okay to reach out to a few trusted allies who you know like you and would welcome the opportunity to become fans. Encourage them to invite others. Grow your fan base via world of mouth, not self-promotion. I bet, if you think about it, you have 20-30 good friends who would help you. Even with this group, relevance is a key concern.

Be a welcoming host - You're in the process of building a community. The only way to do that effectively is to reach out to people and welcome them. I recall when authors Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba first began to build The SWOM, an online community around the topic of word of mouth marketing. 

I was invited by a trusted friend, liked what I saw, and joined. It wasn't long before I received a welcome from Ben. That encouraged me to reach out to others and invite them. It felt good to be an early member of what I knew would be a vibrant, community of marketing professionals. 

I don't see that a Facebook Page is any different. (Well, maybe a little different.) Even thought people are becoming "fans," it's still a community that's forming around whatever you happen to be promoting. You need to spend some time getting to know those people on a more or less personal basis. At the very least, friend them via their personal profile. 

Focus on relevance rather than numbers - Chances are, your Page is pretty niche-specifc. It might relate to a specific locale, business, book, personality or product. Regardless, it's better in the long-run to attract those for whom it makes sense to be there. That's going to mean you're Page may not get as large as someone elses, but at least those who are there have a reason for being so. 

That's not to say you shouldn't put any focus on building numbers, just that it should be the primary motivation.  

Once you've started, you can't stop - Social media is about building long-term relationships, not about getting a quick "fix" or "rush" from getting 100's of Fans. It's not an ego trip, or even a marketing tactic. 

You have to continue contributing content, encouraging participation and getting to know members. It's best to have a servant's heart and understand that this is really and investment of time, energy and resources in other people. Keep their best interests uppermost and lose the rockstar mentality. If you find you can't do that, it's best not to start. Count the cost before attempting to construct the building. 

I know I'm pointing a finger at you when I say these things, but keep in mind, in so doing there are four pointing back at me!

One more point...

Before you do any of this, ask yourself how creating a Facebook Page is going to help you reach your marketing and business communications goals and objectives. Where does it fit in? Which of those specific goals will it help you accomplish? 

I'm concerned we're going to see a lot of Facebook Page "ghost towns" due to people not realizing the amount of work involved and the need to keep content fresh. Plus, I wonder how many are doing it just because. 

Regardless, I think if more people would take these factors into consideration, we'd probably see less "Soandso has become a fan of..." don't you think? 

Comments

[Sonny Gill]

Great points here, Paul. I, as you know, had a similar post this morning and the point that sticks out in both of our thoughts is *goals*. What the heck are your goals? Do they achieve that relevance factor and are you building an active community around your fan page or just one filled with stagnant numbers?

I think people need to better understand the point of a Facebook Fan Page before they go whoring out their link. Because they'll soon realize that they may have 100+ fans and a vanity URL, but the interaction and value won't be.

[Ginger Wilcox]

You know how I feel about this. I truly hated opening my email yesterday because I was literally flooded with Facebook Fan pages requests, many from people I don't know all that well and in states far, far away from my own.

Jason Berman and I had a conversation about this last night. I am going to make a list of everyone who requested I become a fan yesterday and analyze how many of them have ghost town pages 45 days from now.

Spot on Paul.

Chris Brogan recently wrote a post about the username and his experiment in NOT choosing his exact name. The name of the page is a lot less important than the content and how you treat the people you want to view that content.

[NYPierre]

I cannot agree more Paul, well done.

[Tara Hall]

Nicely done Paul, can always count on you to deliver the message. I have always been a huge believer in quality over quanity as well as really LISTENING to your audience. Relevance is a HUGE driver at the end of the day.