Promoting with Facebook


Facebook is a popular social network website that allows users to connect with friends and share information, photos, and events. It has grown far beyond its roots, expanding both the number applications available and the people who are allowed to register. With so many confirmed users, the site has become a hot spot for advertising and promotion. How do companies, independents, and the average person get their name onto those frequently visited Facebook webpages? There are a number of ways to connect with Facebook account users, both free and at cost.

Facebook Flyers allow people to advertise to a targeted audience based on age, gender, school, workplace, location, and interests. The service is easy and relatively cheap to use, providing a 25 character-limit title and a 200 character-limit body text with optional photo and a web address. The website provides a simple online form and billing submission, showing the choices and costs. With Flyer Pro, the advertiser only pays per click his or her ad receives. Detailed reports are available for the activity the flyer gets, and cost is determined at maximum per click rates and a maximum daily budget.

For a cost-free advertisement, or marketing strategy, a few options are available. One way is for an advertiser, or a member of the company staff, to get a Facebook profile and to "add" as many friends as possible. This way the advertiser-user (ad-user) can use the interconnectivity of Facebook to their advantage. The site allows users to send messages, as well as share notes, links, and pictures.


A majority of the ad-user's activity will then show up on their friend's "newsfeed," as well as "notify" them that the ad-user has shared something with them. The friends may then check out the shared or posted item, clicking on pictures, reading notes, etc. Those friend's friends can then see if the users comment on the ad-user's posting. This way, Facebook can potential work as a tree, branching outward to reach more and more users. Of course, it is to be said that friends might not appreciate this free-advertising technique, and ad-users should take caution when using it. Even when not enlisting this technique, ad-users should be certain to include their business information on their profile, especially website links.

Another free Facebook marketing technique is to add third-party applications that allow users to bring outside websites visibly onto their Facebook profile. Applications such as "ToadFire Blog", "Live Blog", and "Blog Friends" allow users to interact with blogs. Some examples of file sharing applications include "Audio Messages" and "Flash Attach". Basically, any outside media or site that the advertiser can imagine connecting to their profile, can be connected.

Facebook has an application called "Groups" which allows users to join groups and create groups. The savvy advertiser can create a group centered on their company, an aspect of their company, or something similar. Ad-users can even come up with a campaign as complex as a comic strip or postings about a figure such as "The Daily Mischief and Foolishness of Employee Bob". The aim of a Facebook group marketing plan is to establish a location (group) that draws attention, either by word of mouth from happy customers or Facebook-user gossip. The group would have its own profile, and like the ad-user profile, can be used to provide business information.


Non-profit organizations are able to use Facebook to raise money by using the social network to raise funds for their cause. An independent application, "Causes", has been created to allow nonprofits and campaigns to connect with users who also use the application. Users can then donate to over a million registered causes. Another application, "I'm making a difference", allowed users to vote for a cause to which $10,000 would be donated. Many other such applications can be found, and committed non-profits can create their own applications or find a developer to do so. By using a Facebook application or creating a "Group" that has been added or joined by a large number of users, nonprofits can easily lure sponsors to their causes.

For more suggestions on how to market on Facebook, the website has sales representatives that can reply about how best to use the opportunity to advertise to the young adults the site caters to. An advertising link is located at the bottom of the Facebook pages.

Disclaimer:This site is not authorized, sponsored by, or affiliated with Facebook, Inc. FACEBOOK and THEFACEBOOK are registered trademarks of Facebook, Inc.