With the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook, word-of-mouth-advertising has received a whole new set of legs! The latest plug-in from Facebook allows site owners to place a “Like It” button on their webpage to allow users to attach the specific web page or blog entry, for example, to their Facebook Wall to share with their network of friends and colleagues. Although a potential benefit to a variety of businesses, I think this little plug-in may be of significant value to local brick-and-mortar and other types of small businesses.
We all understand the power and value of a referral. Think of the “Like It” button as a type of referral. It provides you with an opportunity to reach the people within an established trust network. Facebook “Friends” (it’s kind of safe to say) are those who know, like and trust each other. So if one tells the others they should “check this out” they most probably will, particularly if it is convenient or nearby.
The numbers of people you could potentially reach are staggering considering that each person within a single network is in fact attached to others across multiple networks. Attach the Facebook “Like It” button to your blog, newsletter, home page of your website, or anywhere else online you think it may reach your local audience.
If you have a brick-and-mortar business, don’t forget to promote it in-store by encouraging visitors to your establishment to visit you online for ‘weekly specials,’ for example, and to click the “Like It” button so their friends can have the experience too.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the number of sites using the Facebook “like it” plug has rapidly grow to over 100,000 sites already since its launch a couple of weeks ago.
If you aren’t logged into facebook, it just shows a nice login box. Pretty slick.