K2 Skis

This famous ski retailer did something quite drastic last week and directed their entire website to their Facebook page. They are using their Facebook page to launch their 2010 product line and is doing so only to their Facebook friends. They  have created a customized FBML tab that displays the new 2010-2011 product to fans and won’t display to those that have not liked the page.

This is quite a bold move, but K2 is banking on gaining a large amount of valuable fans that can be re-marketed to down the road using Facebook. What value did they provide fans? They gave users an ‘exclusive’ look at the newest product line.

Not every company needs to redirect their entire site to Facebook like K2 did (that is actually not recommended), but this is a great example of using Facebook to break company news and attract interested fans in the process.

Boca Java

This fine coffee retailer sent out an email about a special daily promotion that they were having this week that featured different discounts, freebies and premium packages.   The interesting aspect is that this well-planned promotion will only be taking place on Facebook.

They did a stellar job of matching up the right colors to Facebook, adding the element of mystery to have users like their page early and having an interesting sale that is valuable to their customers. An email and promotion of this scale is much more appealing to visitors than an email asking customers to be a fan of a page. This promotion is really something that is quite favorable for Facebookers and creating your own Facebook deals and specials will give users a reason to be your friend on Facebook.

Gamestop

In an attempt to attract more fans, Gamestop tried to offer a “Power Hour” sale that eventually melted their servers causing serious outbursts from fans. While this sale had good intentions, it totally backfired and left a lot of angry folks steaming on their page due to more interested fans than they had expected.

This is a great example of showing that if you mess up on social media, your fans will call you out no matter how much they actually do like you. So test as many variables as possible before launching a large promotion live and also have a backup plan (auxiliary deals, special codes, etc.) just in case things do blow up. The insane Amazon deals a few years back was a great example that it can happen to anyone  no matter how large they are (just read through the comments.) It is pretty easy to promise something to Facebook fans, but it is a different thing to actually follow through, so if you are planning on giving everyone a deal, follow through on it or feel the social media wrath.

So when trying to lure your current customers to your Facebook fan page, make sure that you are providing them value and that you have a backup plan for any botched deals/sales as unfortunately this does happen. These recent examples simply provide information and exclusive discounts, something that all retailers should be able to provide. So get going, and use specials on your Facebook page, as it is one of the best ways to attract new fans.