Creating a Facebook fan page is easy, but just creating a fan page is not enough. If you’re looking for the Facebook Page to work for you or your business you need to create a page that not only provide users with information but also gives them an opportunity connect directly with the brand or business.

Social media can be related to storytelling which is one of the oldest forms of word of mouth communication and we can say Facebook marketing works on a similar principle. So let get started with some smart tips that will help you build your Facebook page.

1. Fill in Complete Profile Details

Yea, the first step begins with this, as many fan page admins often ignore filling in the basic details. The information tab is where users will find all your basic information about the different services you provide and easily get in touch with you. So fill in all details like your website url, email, services you provide, description about your company and also upload a good profile image.

Looking for creative way designing profile image check the links below

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/facebook-fan-page-profile-images/

2. Create Custom Landing Page

Almost everyone with a Fan Page uses a custom landing page. It helps your brand make a better impression by making you look more professional and also conveying an effective message to the user about how they will benefit from this page which in turn converts more users into fans. Make sure your message conveys how they can benefit from liking your page or brand.

Creating a custom landing page is simple, I have already written a tutorial on how you can make a custom landing page on 1stWebDesigner you can find it here.

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/customize-facebook-fan-page/

3. Suggesting Your Fan Page

Facebook removed the feature "Suggest To Friends" for page members after their new layout went live. It’s now only available to the administrator making it difficult to get more fans. Even if you use the "Suggest To Friend" feature as an administrator your friends are not going to get a direct notification, making things more difficult for you, but there are still smart ways to overcome this. Check out some ways that can you can still use to grow your fans.

Status Updates

Using the status update feature is a smart way of suggesting your Facebook page, as they will see this update directly on their wall which will make it more effective than the conventional suggest feature. Moreover you can get help from your friends to promote your fan page by getting them to make a quick update about your fan page. Also you can use the tagging feature to tag your fan page in your status updates it also works well.

Get Help From Static FBML

As I was searching through the web on making "Suggest To Friend" feature work on the fan page I came across a good tutorial which uses Static FBML to create a tab on your page from where all the members of the page can use the "Suggest To Friend" Feature.

It's a simple nine Step tutorial which you can find by clicking the link below.

http://illuminea.com/social-media/how-to-add-a-suggest-to-friends-tab-on-a-facebook-page/

Note: You will only able to use this feature if you already have installed static FBML on your page.

Using Email

Email is another way to promote your fan page. If you have a large RSS subscriber base you can send them an email telling them to join you on your Facebook page. The other thing you can do is use your fan page link in the Email signature, as it will also have a positive impact in the growth of fan base for sure.

4. User Engagement

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Just having fans on your Facebook Page is not enough, there must be constant interaction with the fans to make your fan page a success. Users aren’t always interested in the information you provide on your page alone, an update on your fan page should be crafted in such a way that it not only provides information, but also engages your users to connect with that update.

Basic Tips For User Engagement

1. Post more interactive updates rather than just informative updates.
2. Communicate with active users of the page.
3. Include current happenings in your updates like seasonal, holiday theme, news and more.
4. Ask for suggestions from users.
5. Introduce some fun elements in your update
6. Include some personal updates from you like what you’re reading and watching
7. Post some updates/tips just for Facebook Fans Only
8. Sometime include videos in your updates.
9. Use images to convey your message
10. Answer fan questions.

5. Facebook Fan Page Guidelines

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As an administrator of a page there is some responsibility that you need to fulfill in order to manage your fan page effectively and stay out of  trouble with Facebook. As each fan page contains a link to "Report Page" which allows users to report any Facebook for their ill behavior.

So follow these simple steps to stay out of trouble.

1. Never post abusive content.
2. Don't post illegal content updates.
3. Don't unnecessarily tag people in images and updates.
4. Don't completely automate your updates.
5. Manage your frequency of update, don't update too frequently.

Facebook Guidelines

http://www.facebook.com/terms_pages.php

http://developers.facebook.com/policy/

http://www.facebook.com/ad_guidelines.php

6. Ideas for Growing your fans base

When I say growing your fan base, I don’t just mean increasing fans, but also improving the user interaction with the brands and getting help from them improving your brand presence online.

Below are useful things to consider for growing your fan page.

Time Management

Timing is really important, even online. To find out what timestamps give you maximum engagement with users try experimenting with different posting times and find out what works best for you.

Facebook Contest

Organizing a contest on Facebook just for fans is a good idea to grow your fan base. Also there are chances of getting your contest viral and your fan page getting some extra fans.

Reward User For Participation

Rewarding users for active participation is another way of getting constant interaction on your fan page. A simple reward like tagging or uploading their image  in your update with their contribution to the community can go a long way.

Analyze Your Engagement

With Facebook Insight you can get the necessary details about how your page is growing. You’ll get some good details about the impression and feedback your status updates have generated.

7. Useful Application to build your page

1. Fan Gate

Recently, Facebook discounted its famous Static FBML application and switched it with iFrames. There are many available applications, WildFire Fan Gate is the simplest to use if you want to create a default landing page. Just install Fan Gate Application on your fan page which will allow users to enter custom image and HTML code for both fan and non fan views making it easier for you to create a default landing page for Facebook.

2. Twitter

If you are more of a Twitter bird then the Twitter application is just right for you to increase your interaction level on your Facebook Page as it will connect your twitter account with your fan page, so any updates you make on your Twitter account will be available on your fan page.

3. PicBadges

Using badges of your brand on images is recently getting popular, with this application you can easily create a badge from your brand image and allow your fan to add a badge of your brand on their profile picture.

4. HootSuite

Many of you must have already been using Hootsuite for scheduling tweets for Twitter as it is a great tool for that. With Hootsuite you can not only update your Twitter status but also you can automate your Facebook Fan page status update. This will help you to maintain the flow of your updates.

Hope you find this post useful, if you have your own tips you want to share with us, please do so in the comment section, we would love to hear about them. Thanks