Having come from the world of direct marketing, the importance of a strategy is well ingrained in me. Yet I recognize that the world of social media is very different. Our goal as social media marketers is to create relationships that are mutually beneficial, not convert individuals to buyers in one single action.

It seems we are evolving as a species. We’ve got sales marketing down to a science, and now we are just beginning to understand the art of reaching out to individuals for the pure sake of building a relationship.

Consider these 5 Steps for building an effective marketing strategy for your Facebook Business Page:

1.  Create awareness. How?

• Provide links to guide traffic to and from your web/blog site
• Create content that people will share. This is where the viral power of Facebook kicks in.
  

2.  Educate your audience about who you are

• Connect with individuals on a personal level to give them an understanding of the human factor behind the business
• Let your audience know what service you have to offer them
• Deliver content that motivates viewers to become fans
• Work on building your fan base to enhance the credibility of your page

3.  Create opportunities for engagement to strengthen your relationships.

• The deeper that your fans engage with you, the stronger the relationship becomes.
• Deliver a high volume of content that will inspire comments and participation.

4.  Produce ongoing efforts to inspire a call to action. New fans are not likely to make a huge commitment out the gate. Make a habit of offering low-risk steps they can take to get more involved with you such as discount coupons, a newsletter subscription, free downloads of value

5.  Repeat engagement and call-to-action efforts. Think of your Facebook page as an opportunity to build relationships, not generating one-time sales or actions. You will be successful in generating valuable long-term customer relationships through repeated engagement.