Pretend your Facebook fan page is your house. Now how inviting a home would it be if you didn’t have furniture, appliances, heat, plumbing, etc.? The answer is not very. It may look nice enough from the outside but you certainly wouldn’t have many guests if, for example, they were expected to bring their own seating, water, and heat source. The same principle applies to your Facebook fan page. In order to attract visitors and keep them long enough to get them to like your page, become a fan, or contact you, you’ll need to take advantage of any available apps and tools that add function, make it easier for you to maintain your page, and – most importantly – attracts visitors and potential business.
Here are some applications to help your business take full advantage of its Facebook fan page …
RSS Graffiti: Visitors to your Facebook page will need something to look at beyond your address and phone number. That means content. RSS Graffiti greatly reduces the stress of coming up with content to share on each of your social-media accounts by automatically sending your posts and tweets to your Facebook fan page. Easy to set up and free, RSS Graffiti can be used with any website or social application that has an RSS/Atom feed.
Schedulicity: Unfortunately this app will cost you a monthly fee but for less than $1 a day it adds a tab to your fan page that allows visitors to schedule an appointment with you directly from Facebook. And, while it can be a benefit to you and your existing clients, it’ll also help you find new clients. After all, making it easier for people to find and book your services can only help boost your business and your fan page’s functionality.
Contact Tab: Much like Schedulicity, this Facebook app makes turning visitors to your fan page into new contacts easier. With Contact Tab, you can collect all of your contact info in one place – from your address to your social-media accounts – and also add a map to your location and a form to send you a message directly from your fan page.
Pagemodo: Pagemodo makes it easier than ever to customize your Facebook fan page. Though the app comes with a price, it also comes with a variety of customizable templates that will take your fan page from dull to dynamic. You won’t need any coding or design skills, either. Features are easily added and include slideshows, video, contact forms, maps, and the ability to hide content behind a “gate” that requires interested visitors to first like your page before they can access the info.
Poll: Just what its name suggests, the Poll application on Facebook allows you to add a poll question to your page or profile. The poll shows up as its own tab and is great for gathering information from your fans and visitors.
More suggestions here, here, and here. Previous article on LinkedIn apps here.
