Facebook Pages--With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

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I’ve seen a disturbing trend on some Halifax Facebook pages recently. As small business owners become more adept at “Acting as Their Business” some of them are using this new found power to SPAM their friends’ pages in an effort to gain new fans. It looks something like this “Hi Everyone, hope you’re having a fantastic day. If you’re looking for great pizza, come like our page. We love new fans.” The only problem with this is that it’s posted on the business page of the local laundromat.

What is SPAM?

My personal definition of SPAM is “any communication that is irrelevant, uninvited and unwanted.” I know that’s really, really broad, but I think it works. If you send me a business pitch that is relevant to me, that may be uninvited, but it’s not likely unwanted. SPAM first appeared in e-mail communications, but is now found in blog comments, online forums, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and pretty much anywhere people can type their own comments.

Use Your Power Wisely, Spiderman

Acting as your page in Facebook is the best way to build awareness of your business on Facebook. It’s easy to engage in conversations with other businesses this way and I always recommend businesses do this. If you don’t want to be viewed as a SPAMMER here are some tips:

Do engage in conversation with businesses on their pages, i.e. comment on their questions and updates;
Do congratulate other businesses on their achievements;
Do thank other businesses when appropriate;
Do tag other businesses when writing a status update on your own page;
Do “like” comments that tag your business;
Do share content from other businesses on your page;
Do “like” other businesses;
Do tag your business in photos when appropriate.

All of these are subtle and appropriate methods of getting your business name to appear to someone else’s fans. Do not simply post a promotion on another business’s wall, or tag a business unnecessarily. That could get you banned from a page all together, or reported to Facebook, who might shut you down for spamming.

Have you found any other ways to promote your business page on Facebook (without paying for advertising)? Share your own tips in the comments.