There's a wide variety of Facebook apps to chose from for your Facebook Page and Profile, but which ones will give you the most bang for your buck and keep your audience coming back for more? Let me walk you through five Facebook apps that get my seal of approval.
What Apps Can You Use To Create A LIKEable Brand Page On Facebook?
If you've spent any time at all on Facebook, it seems like there are always new apps coming out to enhance our experience. If you're fairly new to Facebook Pages, you may be swimming in options and curious how to sift through the confusion and move on to a clean start. This post is meant for the latter group.
Lets first begin with a solid canvas...
You As Your Top Brand Ambassador
Just as your Facebook Page is "mission control" for all business interactions on Facebook, your personal profile is your passport to everything you do on Facebook. While Facebook has strict terms of service for conducting business, you are able to identify yourself as the top ambassador of your brand via your profile.
A quick video how-to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVlmLxtJnU
Pretty simple, eh? :)
Branding Your Facebook Page
You need a cover banner and a version of your logo that you feel confident representing your business brand with each status update. Cover banners should be 851 x 315 pixels and logos should be 160 x 160 for best visual effect.
Only about 2% of your fans will ever return to your page, unless driven there by you. So, you should certainly make good visual impression on your Facebook Page, but work harder at reaching your fans in the news feed with attractive posts and updates.
While we're talking about Timeline Cover Images - New uploads here do reach your fans in the news feed, so be creative and feel free to change the cover image from time to time. Here are 18 creative tips and examples of making the most of your Facebook Page's cover image space.
Also important - Your "About" Panel. Optimally, you should include your key words and a clickable website link. A Twitter link too if you can fit it and plan to be active on Twitter.
[caption id="attachment_2813" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Idea Girl Media: Note the About Panel & Custom Tab Images[/caption]
A "Welcome Tab" helps potential fans understand what makes your brand special. Lujure makes a great FREE tab that allows 810 pixels across, and includes tons of really easy features: hot spots, social links, counters, really...many cool features! Ultimately, you want customized tab images that reflect your brand - 111 x 74 pixels. Here are details and video that speak to customization at Social Media Today.
Special Note: You can also customize the names for each tab/app!
Being Fancy With Your News Feed
It's no secret: People are becoming more visual. So, video, photos, and infographics will bring more interaction. Think of it as setting out "eye candy" for your fans to nosh on. Fans will spend greater time looking at albums of 3 images or more.
Top 5 Apps To Create A LIKEable Facebook Brand Page
The following are recommended to get you optimal "bang for your buck":
ContactMe
An easy way to capture inquiries from fans if you do not have a Constant Contact or MailChimp account. I'm currently using it, and receive pretty consistent messages from fans with questions and wishes to subscribe to my Email newsletter.
Networked Blogs
If you're serious about social media, you should be blogging! A great way to bring your blog to your Facebook Page and create optimal "Facebook SEO" is this tab. The link provided leads you to my tab, and you will see a feed of my most recent blog posts as example. You can also reach the Networked Blogs site directly so you can connect your blog and install your own tab.
Tip: Do not auto-syndicate your posts; Post the link directly to your Facebook wall.
Pinvolve
Ohhhh... This one will make you cry pretty purple velvet cupcakes!
You AND your fans can pin your Facebook posts right to Pinterest!! It's like a stealth weapon for attracting fans to your page. Remember my recommendation for creating eye candy? This is the catalyst connector for all things visually delicious!
A red "Get Pinvolve Now" button can be found via the link above. ;)
YouTube by Involver
Really nice interface, and more "plush" than the Facebook version. It provides a feed of your most recent or preferred video clips to show off. PLUS -- It offers the "Like" & "Send" buttons AND Facebook Comments right on the tab!
Edit your settings right from the tab, and reach the Involver website for more great options too. :D
Booshaka
Looking for a nice way to recognize fans and encourage more interaction? This app is as unique as it's name!
You can recognize:
- Top Fans.
- Top Posters.
- Top Commenters.
- Top Likers.
- Top Movers.
Consistently see who is interacting most on your page.
The nice thing about this app is it automatically tags those you wish to recognize so they get a notification to visit your page and/or respond.
Look for the "Get This App" button at the top of the page via the link above.
Extra Bonus Time
The apps mentioned above are easy to install and bring good interaction on-page or directly to you.
Not tickled enough? They're all FREE!!
Talk about "bang for your buck!" :D
What apps are you using on your Facebook Page?
Did I leave any really good ones out?
Please tell me in the comments box below...
36 Replies
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How to link our app to the FB page button?
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TechyJeev, Thank you for your question. This is an article about apps that you can add to a Facebook page to create an engaging experience for a brand’s Facebook fans. Since the article was written, there have been several evolutions to the social network. Apps are not as common as they once were. The Facebook Like button is still widely installed and used. Keep those that you have installed. The Facebook page buttons are currently set up with their own settings. Each option will have their own customizable options. You can access these functions through the Settings are of the Facebook Admin area of each Facebook page. Hope that helps, ~Keri
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Thanks you so much sharing this post! Really a golden advice.
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Claire, Thank you for your great compliment, and for sharing your thoughts. It is my pleasure to share, and hope we might bump into each other online again! ~Keri
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Thanks for this positive post, it help a lot!
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Mia, I hope that you did find insight that will help you with your own Facebook Page. The app I like a lot that had a hiatus and is back on track is Pinvolve. I’ll be doing a follow-up on that one soon. Stay tuned! Thank you for your comment! ~Keri
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I’ll never tire of reading anything that’ll teach me a thing or two on how to further improve my online presence. And your post just made my day. This is definitely a must-read for those on the look-out on how they can further improve their FB pages. Cheers!
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Melonie, Nice to see your smile! 🙂 Glad to bring some positive vibe from the post. There will be a follow-up post coming soon. For now, thank you for sharing your thoughts!! 🙂 ~Keri
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you answered all my questions in Facebook page on how to do handle and be effective on it. Thank you so much sharing this post, it help a lot. 🙂
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Tilly, Glad I could help! The apps listed above have all served me well. I do not recommend anything that I would not use myself. Please let me know if you have any questions, I am happy share resourceful details. Thanks for your comment, ~Keri
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Thanks for this great post Keri. I will have to pay attention to my facebook page. Your cover image looks awesome..
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Melanie, Thank you for visiting my site, and for your comment. I appreciate your compliment on my Facebook Timeline Cover. That is something I rotate every now and again. You may have seen the one featuring two of my fans — I do try to keep a community spirit on Facebook. Please let me know if you need help with your page. 🙂 ~Keri
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Yeah, sure I’d like some help on how to customize my facebook page. For instance changing the blue background and using a different color, for instance pink. I love pink and I will be happy if my facebook page had is as the background.
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Melanie, Customizing Facebook Business Pages is different than customizing Facebook personal profiles. I love color too, and wish we had more options! But, I suppose, just like we want to reinforce important brand touch points for our businesses, Facebook wishes to keep with their blue branding where ever possible. There was an application available for customizing Facebook personal profiles, but it was buggy, and the colors or patterns did not transfer well to all browsers. This seems to be unavailable now since Facebook introduced the Timeline format. The nice thing about Timeline is that you can customize the Timeline cover and change it as often as you like! That is actually a nice feature, because it gets seen in the news feed for your fans to see, where this was not always the case with the old format. Hopefully I’ve given you a few tidbit goodies. Thank you for your comment, ~Keri
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Hi Keri – Thanks for post! I use several @involver apps you mentioned. There’s also their Twitter App http://www.involver.com/applications/
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Mark, Great to see your smile! Involver really puts out some wonderful stuff, eh? I do use their Twitter app on a few pages I manage, and their Flickr interface is nice. Thank you for the helpful reference, and for sharing your thoughts! ~Keri
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Keri – great post! Thanks for giving the suggestions and the tools. I need to get to work!
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Lois, Thank you for reading and for sharing your thoughts. With Facebook, there is always work to do. The tool that makes it fun is definitely Pinvolve — Enjoy!! 🙂 ~Keri
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What about the Social Passport app (socialpassport.net)? This app allows brick and mortar businesses to utilize QR codes in order to push social media marketing. Merchants can come up with their own deals or loyalty programs in return for advertising space on customers’ facebook/twitter/foursquare etc. But, perhaps the best aspect of using their technology is the metrics that the merchant has access to afterwards allowing them to customize deals to specific researched demographics.
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Ari, You must be an ambassador for the app you mention. Thank you for sharing and educating readers here. This app has not appeared on any of the apps list I’ve been referencing recently; I offer comment only when I’ve had a chance to use, and am in the position to offer constructive feedback. Some of the features sound terrific, though some are available already for those that wish to access. The exchange of Facebook advertising space, as described, is against Facebook terms of service. I’ll keep an eye out – Thanks for sharing, ~Keri
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A fun and education-loaded post, and they’re all free, who doesn’t like free? I love Pinvolve, I use it quite regularly!
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Sherry, Pinvolve — It creates interaction magic, doesn’t it? Free is always good. There are so many options on the apps list now! Thanks for your compliment, and sharing your thoughts, ~Keri
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I need to read this over and over again
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Darleana, Glad you found this post helpful! Looking forward to seeing you here again, ~Keri
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These are excellent finds for add-in apps. I find that my small business students all seem to struggle with understanding that content is critical for engagement and then finding the time to create content. I’m telling them more often that they need to look at Social Media as an advertising expense just like they did for traditional media. Many SMB’s dropped phone directories and other advertising but still assume that Social Media marketing is “free.” I think agencies like yours are critical but many SMB’s don’t know how to hire or what to pay.
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Bob, Glad you liked the list of apps. Social Media Marketing is not free. It’s just a different kind of expense: It will either take a considerable investment of time, or a bit of money to hire someone that knows what they’re doing. A recent session I sat through with a well-known expert brought up research that it may take a bit longer to see the return on investment (ROI) from social media, but in the end, more money shakes out, as we are able to reach people earlier in the sales funnel. Before they are aware there is a need. So, the time spent getting more acquainted establishes a solid know/like/trust factor that contributes to greater ROI. Mack Collier wrote an article on what social media costs in 2012 — A yearly update on how consultants and agencies are charging for their work, based on long-term research. There are also several infographics to reference current social media expenditures/salaries. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, ~Keri
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Great tips, Kerri! Much appreciated as it’s another reminder that I should pay more attention to my FB page. You’re so right when you say it’s all about the visual and I like the timeline changes for that reason. Looking forward to checking these out. 🙂
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Ray, Great to see your smile! 🙂 Facebook is where everyone seems to hang out. But we must remember that nurturing our owned real estate will reap nicer rewards. Sometimes I’m guilty of forgetting… Thank you for sharing your thoughts, ~Keri
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Always you have great information that is so usable and digestible for us all. We appreciate the tips. That they are all Free,is a bonus. Thank you.
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Joel, Well, they say in content marketing that you should give away your best stuff. hehe Glad you felt the tips were good, and easily understood. That is indeed my goal. Thanks for visiting, and for letting us see your terrific smile, ~Keri
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Great post! I agree with all of the above … my favourite out of them would have to be Pinvolve, just love it! One other one I found recently which is getting people talking to me – and quite literally talking to me – is http://www.speakpipe.com/ take a look when you have a mo!
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Gemma, Thank you for your compliment and feedback on the apps. Pinvolve is amazing, isn’t it? The founder tweeted to me when they found I wrote the post, so I am impressed with their attentiveness as well. 🙂 Speak Pipe, eh? Will have to look… Thanks for the info, and for your comment, ~Keri
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