You may have noticed that Facebook Pages have a different layout – they look more like personal profiles and you can do some new things while acting administratively as a Page.
For an excellent summary of the changes, see Aliza Sherman’s How Brands Can Make the Most of Facebook’s New Pages (on Mashable,) plus John Haydon’s Everything You Need To Know About Facebook’s Epic Upgrade to Pages.
Here is what intrigues me about the ability to act as a Page or a brand (representing a CVB, DMO or Tourist Board) and not as a person: the opportunity for better cross-promotion of your region’s offerings.
Here are a few examples….
** Heritage trails, wine trails, quilting/craft trails and scenic byways can highlight each of their stops and sights.
** Chambers of Commerce can interact more effectively as a Chamber with their member businesses.
** Regional DMOs can interact with the Pages for their towns, agritourism places, trails, attractions, hotels, restaurants, shops, parks and nature reserves.
** Economic development and downtown development entities can cross-promote their offerings.
Drawbacks?
The usual: we’ll see ham-handed, intrusive marketing and spammy info broadcasting by people who act like a thing instead of a person.
“Hi, I’m Fred’s Donuts! Buy me!”
Sherman warned about this on Mashable:
“Posting behind the banner of your brand is fine on your Page, but moving into other spaces as a brand can be invasive and unwelcome.”
What are you thinking about doing with your new powers on Facebook?
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