Need Help Marketing?

Many businesses have started creating their own Facebook Fan pages to communicate with their customers and fans. However not everyone knows that you can also use your Fan page to collect valuable email addresses to contact your fans directly in their inbox. Adding a newsletter sign up form to your Facebook fan page only takes a few minutes but can be very effective in growing your email list.

If you are looking for more information on why your business needs a Facebook Page you can read our earlier post: Do you need a Facebook Fan Page for your business?

What you will need:

1) Facebook Fan Page
2) Email sign up form (Many online email marketing tools offer a built-in tool to create an HTML sign up form for your website)

How to add a Newsletter Signup form to your Facebook fan page

Step 1: Login to Facebook and go to your Fan Page
Step 2: Click on the “Ads and Pages” link in the footer toolbar of your Fan page
Step 3: Click on the “Pages” link, and then on “View Page”

Step 4: Add the “Static FBML” application to your page by click on the “Application” icon in the footer toolbar.
Then select “Browse More Applications”

Step 5: Search for “Static FBML“, and click on the icon for the application.
Looks like this:

Step 6: Click on the “Add to my Page”

Step 6: Configure your newly added application, by clicking on “Edit Page” on the left menu.

Step 7: Put your mouse cursor over the blue pencil icon, and click on “edit” under the Admin Options.

Step 8: Paste the HTML code for your sign up form. This was the second item from our what you will need checklist above.
On the Edit FBML screen paste your sign up for source code and then click “Save Changes“.

Step 9: Your Facebook Fan page should not contain a new Newsletter tab which when clicked will display your email sign up form.
If you do not see the Newsletter Signup form option click on the ‘+’ sign to see more tabs. Your page probably looks something like this:

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By now you have heard of Facebook and it’s massive membership growth over the last couple of years. Even more interesting is the trend for users older than the college generation signing up everyday too. Maybe you need to see the numbers to convince you. Building a fan page is a great way to get started in social media and in building a community of loyal followers.

Facebook Statistics (Source Facebook)

• 200 million active users
• More than two thirds of Facebook users are out of college
• The fastest growing demographic are those 35 years old and older
• Average reach of 120 friends on the site
• More than 8 million users become fans of Pages each day.

What is a Facebook Page?

According to Facebook, a Page is optimized to share information and create a presence to engage with your fans. Only official representatives of an organization can create a Page, but that is in fact how you gain validity and credibility to your presence on Facebook. This way users will know they are communicating with the real company directly and this will empower them to get involved and engage. Facebook users can add themselves as a fan to your Facebook page which is created for your company, product or brand name.

Learn more about Facebook Pages in the Facebook Help Center

Why should a business want to get involved on Facebook and create their own Page?

1. Low cost (Free to setup)
   Basic setup of a Page can be done free of charge. And now with vanity urls you can even create links such as facebook.com/yourcompany which make them easier to find.
2. Interactivity
   Encourages fans (other Facebook users) to interact and build a community of other people who share the same interests. Providing constant feedback to your business on what customers like and don’t like about your company. Free feedback is very valuable and saves having to survey or conduct focus groups.
3. Promotion
   When you launch a new product or service and give your promotion a little boost by first telling your fans and posting on your Page. Write updates on your “wall”, offer discounts to your loyal fans (followers), and update what you are working on. A lot of small business websites do not have this type of functionality and community building features.
4. Search Engine Marketing
   Facebook is seen as an authority online. Meaning that when search engines find your Facebook Page and notice that Facebook is linking to your business website it will likely rank higher in the search results.

Should a Facebook Page replace my website?

Probably not, since not everyone is using Facebook and some employers are also also blocking access to this site. But if you do not yet have a website a Page is a great place to start building up some community around your new business.

What does a Facebook Page look like?

Example Page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Renttropolis/5870033562

Get Started

Facebook has a 5 Step Guide to building your Presence which can you help get you on your way.

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• KnowEm – Designed to help you get started in Social Media
• The Power of Social Sharing from Email
• How to collect email addresses on your Facebook Page