Social Media Branding

The Use of Facebook in Leveraging Your Client’s Brand for CHEAP!

Let’s go back, way back, to my first post on September 29th where I defined some basic Web 2.0 terms. One term I highlighted was the concept of social networking sites, such as Facebook and My Space. This week I want to delve deeper into the Facebook craze.

To give a little background, Facebook is a website that allows users to keep track of friends and send them messages, share photos, etc. It was started by Harvard students in 2004 as a tool for meeting-- or at least discreetly ogling--other Harvard students.

So how does Facebook pertain to PR professionals?

Well, signing up for Facebook and starting a group is a FREE way to aggregate audiences and get them talking about your client’s brand. Of course, you need to check to see whether a community regarding your client’s brand already exists. If not, you are free to begin your own group and promote it through invitations for other “Facebookers” to join. Your friends have an opportunity to see which Facebook groups you join, and this may make them curious enough to investigate, spreading news of the group to their friends.

Invitations and private messages can also drive interest in your client’s group. You can also use “Facebook flyers,” which are priced on a CPC model and can be targeted to specific Facebook profile information.

With fairly minimal effort, you may be able to attract brand enthusiasts to a social networking group over a short period of time.

Here is a link to an interesting post from a PR professional’s point-of-view on Facebook: http://www.prnewsandviews.blogspot.com/