Created a Facebook Fan Page

Today, I created a Facebook Fan Page for Discuss Life - what should I do now?

 

I've always wondered that, too.

I'm not really up on the social networking aspect of promoting my fora.

 

People claim it's effective, so I thought I'd try it out. Now, I'm asking for advice on getting more fans, without spamming their walls, as well as getting them to actually visit the place, and, post too!

I clicked the link about "Getting more fans" but that is paid. Cheap, and I was quite excited with what the price was, considering what I put in for my budget. I may even decide to try it out - that may be effective.

Tips, people, tips.

 

I user facebook for real life friends, not people who would be interested in forums, I guess it's just whom you befriend eh?

 

I suppose.

I have both a personal and business page. I tried the business page in hope to drive traffic to Discuss Life.

 

Well I suppose you would first get the members you already have to add you on Facebook. Then promote your Facebook fan page in your signature on that forum. As more people become fans of you on Facebook, their other Facebook friends will see that in their newsfeed (Jimmy has just become a fan of YOUR SITE!) and will check it out.

It may take a while, but eventually you should achieve the snowball effect.

I have never used Facebook to promote a site, so I'm just going by how I assume it would work.

 

Thanks for the tips Nick, those sound effective.

 

Link to it from your FB page.
Link to the Fan page from your forum.

Use it to promote your forum. Add content to it at least once or twice per week OR
use the rss app on FB to draw posts from your forum to the fan page. When you get people regularly visiting the fan page, they'll see your forum content there, and hopefully, come to your forum.

 

Thx Miss Peg.

 

Maybe add a Facebook Fanbox to your forum too, they do look good but a shame on how poorly they resize.

 

i dont think buying fans would be very effective, cause you need to find ones who have an interest in what your forum is about......

best thing to do is promote it on your forum, asking members of your forum to join, and also send an invitation to join the page to everyone on your own friends list.

 

I created a facebook-fanpage for our forum several months ago. As Nick mentioned, I invited all of my friends, which are members of our forum too. The snowball-effect wasn´t long in coming and I really wondered about all those new fans, hoping to invoke their interest in joining our forum.

What made me wonder too was the poor activity on the page-wall. It seemed, that most of the fans clicked to join the page and nothing else happened. I tried to increase the interest in rising up a discussion-thread on the page, which was supposed to focus the main interest of all fans. But there was no response at all in many weeks.

I posted forum-news once in a while, but not once or twice a week. It was like a vice-versa-demotivation, only roundabout two "likes"-reactions and two or three questions posted by a fan directly on the wall.

There were just one or two new registrations recognizable as an outcome of the fanpage. Those new registrants from facebook turned out to be zero-posters at the forum. Although 50 new fans signed into the page throughout all of the time.
For me this is an outcome of the sometimes superficial facebook-mentality, caused by the tons of stimulations of interests, gifts, games and likings. You clicked and you are done.

At last I deleted the fanpage. Maybe I wouldn´t have deleted it at all, but it was related to my personal account, which I deleted too a few weeks ago. But that´s another story.

 

Thanks Dietmar, that was about what I expected would happen.

It is tough to compete with facebook which (I believe) is a simple way to spend time, compared to typing a post which will exist for a long time. In addition, facebook has a broad appeal compared to a forum which is more focused.

But I could be wrong, I don't do facebook.

 

what is the link to the page?

 

Facebook people don't usually post in forums. Phact. The experiences in this thread mirror my own with Facebook and many other sites. Promotion on them doesn't work, you may get a rash of signups but they will never posts and never come back.

Waste of time.

 

I'll never consider promoting my site, a waste of time

</sarcasm>

 

Personally I find the idea of a fan page for the site on Facebook distasteful. I loathe FaceBook. However, I understand the need at this time as FaceBook is so massive. All those fans that came in so quick when it first went up, send messages from the page that will display on their wall. It reminds the individual to come back now and again and may even bring then back to your site too. Their friends see the posting and some even check out your sites Fan page and ultimatly become members as well.

However, you need to be consistent, even if it is just once a month, be consistent in getting out new material, be it via FaceBook or some other social media. In time you will see gains, I know I have.