Mobile Marketing Plus Local Marketing

6 Ways to Promote Your Parade of Homes using Facebook

  

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Facebook can be a very important tool in promoting your Parade of Homes or Showcase events. Many of you might not think so because you think of Facebook as something you use to see what family and friends are up to. But there is a whole other side of Facebook that is used for business called the Page.

A Facebook Page does not show all the postings of those "Liking" you, known as following, your organization.  It shows what you post and the comments of your followers. If someone is following your organization, whatever you post shows up in their personal Facebook page and is seen by all their friends.

The average person that Likes a business page has 300 friends on their Facebook account. 

Beginning to see the importance?

Now you can also create special pages inside your Facebook Page that look just like a website.  This has opened up a lot of possibilities! Here are some things you might use in your Facebook marketing plan for your next Parade of Homes or Showcase event.

1. Create a special Welcome page and include a video from your President or Chair.
2. On the Welcome page tell visitors of a special offer they will receive if they Like you. Once they hit the Like button, they are taken to another page with that offer. 
3. Add a download of the Parade map or other important information.
4. Create a separate mini webpage for each builder. Add bio, images, stats, contact info, and links to your Parade of Homes main website.
5. Have a space for Open House announcements after the event.
6. Offer a Reviews page, which is a Facebook App available to add to your Page.  Visitors to the event can post reviews for each home.

To further promote your Facebook Page, which is now an interactive marketing powerhouse for your builders, you might consider placing a Facebook Ad for a week or so before the event.  Your ad only needs to run for your geographic area.  You will also want to let all your members know about the Page and ask them to Like you so it shows up on all their personal pages so all their friends see it.

For example, if you have 100 members and they all Like your Parade of Homes Facebook Page, and the average person has 300 friends, then there is a potention for 30,000 people seeing your Page. In a perfect world.  But you can still see the potential, right? 

What have you tried on Facebook?

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Sandi Sturm sits on the board of the Mat-Su Home Builders Association in Wasilla, Alaska and is co-owner of Alaskarama Web Marketing and MobilePlusLocal. Her team created the Facebook page for the 2011 Fall Parade of Homes event.