How Facebook Pages Can Use “Invite Friends” to Gain Fans

The following is an excerpt. The complete article, available in our Facebook Marketing Bible, includes a full walk-through of how to send invites for friends to Like your Page using the “Invite Friends” tool Facebook launched this week, as well as additional strategies for maximizing the conversion rate of the invites you send.

To grow a Page, you need dedicated fans. These are the people that share your Page with friends, tag it in status updates, and take actions that seed Facebook’s Sponsored Stories ad unit. Page administrators can convert their friends into dedicated fans using the “Invite Friends” tool which sends notifications to friends suggesting they Like a Page. This can help jumpstart growth for new Pages or facilitate further viral growth for established Pages.

Here we’ll walk through how the tool works, and provide strategies for attaining the highest conversion rate on your invites through timing, targeting clusters of friends, and more.

“Invite Friends” can be accessed from the right-hand Page admin menu that admins see when viewing their own Pages. It is the most direct and visible way Facebook has ever allowed Page invites to be sent. Therefore, we recommend using this tool now in case Facebook removes the feature or begins delivering the invites through a less visible channel.

Invite Friends Strategies

Timing

You want to send your invites at a time when friends are likely to be using the web version of Facebook. This is because users are more accustomed to browsing Pages from a full sized browser, and some native mobile apps do not support Page browsing or Liking.

Think about what time zone your invite recipients are in and send invites when they’re likely to be home, such as in the weekday evenings, rather than out using their mobile device, such as weekend evenings. This way when they first see the notification they’ll have the time and correct browser to check out your Page and Like it.

If several of a user’s friends Like a Page in a short period of time, they may see a “[friend name] and [x] other friends Like [your Page] story in the news feed. For instance, if within a few hours four of my friends Liked the Starbucks Page, I might see a news feed story that says “Eric Eldon and thee more friends like Starbucks”, with the name of the Page linked.

These stories can expose a link to your Page to people you aren’t friends with via a compelling implicit social recommendation, helping you earn additional Likes from your invites.

The full version of this article, including a full walk-through of the tool and three more strategies for sending successful invites can be found in the Facebook Marketing Bible, Inside Network’s complete guide to marketing, advertising, and ecommerce on Facebook.

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Used Right, Social Media Can Be Powerful

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Furniture Today Staff — Furniture Today, July 19, 2011

StuartASHEVILLE, N.C. – Social media and websites offer a powerful set of communications tools, but it takes effort and attention to use them effectively, speakers at the American Home Furnishings Alliance marketing meeting here said.
      More companies are looking at Facebook, Twitter and other social media as essential parts of the marketing effort, said Crystalyn Stuart, vice president, social marketing, for consulting firm IMRE.
     Her firm helps clients navigate the waters of social media, which can involve using sophisticated tools to track and analyze a brand’s performance and effectiveness online. She said her typical client now has staff dedicated solely to managing its social media and online presence – averaging about 1.5 fulltime equivalents.
     She walked the AHFA attendees through an overview of how marketers are using social media effectively.
     Later, a panel of professionals from furniture manufacturers and importers told how they conducted online and social media campaigns. Panelists were Laura Holland, director of marketing for Hickory Chair; Renee Loper, director of marketing and communications for Aspenhome; and Kim Shaver, vice president of marketing and communications for Hooker Furniture.
     “We’re finding that it takes a community, an online com- munity, to help build a brand,” said Shaver.
     Pat Bowling, vice president of communications for the AHFA, also gave an update on the alliance’s consumer website, FindYourFurniture.com. The AHFA also is now on Facebook and Twitter, she said.
     “There are a number of opportunities for you to showcase your product throughout the site, with the ‘choose your style’ section being one of the most popular,” Bowling told the AHFA members.
     She said traffic to Find- YourFurniture.com has grown steadily, with the site receiving 108,551 visits in the period from May 3 to June 2.
     Marketing meeting speaker Ron Goswell, CEO of ayr1, extolled the virtues of virtual stores, which his company helps retailers set up online. Few companies offer such stores today but many ought to, he said. They allow consumers to quickly browse through everything a retailer offers, or search for specific items, and instantly get information – including pricing, Goswell said.
     “This is about brick and mortar retailers harnessing the virtual store for their own good,” he said.
      One effective way to show product such as furniture online is with demonstration videos. Goswell said he’ll have five crews out at next month’s Las Vegas Market shooting videos in manufacturers’ showrooms, which will be available for retailers to post online.

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