8 Powerful Ways to Use Facebook Landing Tabs

Are you looking to turn more Facebook lurkers into fans of your page? There's no better way to do this than with a custom Facebook landing tab.

As interest in Facebook marketing increases, marketers are looking for new ways to improve their technique.

If you're a regular reader of Social Media Examiner and also visit our Facebook Page then you've already heard about creating custom tabs using Facebook's Static FBML for engaging first-time Facebook visitors.

Here are eight different ways businesses are using landing tabs on Facebook.

#1: Ask Your Visitors to Like Your Page

Your landing tab is a great place to ask first-time visitors to “Like” your page and grow your Facebook community, just as Apryl Parcher does here.

#2: Give Multiple Invitations for Engagement

Have a look at all of the different ways Starwood Preferred Guest incites visitors to interact with them on their Facebook page.  This is an example of some great landing page marketing techniques. Three things stand out:

• Long tab. A long tab where new visitors have to scroll down several screens to see everything is not always a good choice, but it can work for some businesses.

• Multiple opportunities to engage visitors. There's a poll, a game, an invitation to share photos and three other ways to engage with Starwood.

• Geo-targeting.  It's interesting to note that Starwood Preferred Guest uses Buddy Media's new Platform +GLOBAL application where visitors “are served a customized page based on the language and country settings within their Facebook profile.”  The customization obviously also uses the IP address, because I'm based in France and as you can see below, the “Like” button is in French even though my Facebook preferences specify English.

#3: Provide Multiple Doors to Begin Interaction

Here's another interesting way to maximize your landing tab.  The Facebook application TabSite allows you to make a separate navigation bar within a Facebook tab you create using Static FBML.

See below how Digital Hill Multimedia uses their new tab setting.

It's interesting to note the choices Digital Hill Multimedia made when selecting what to put on their main Facebook navigation bar compared to what's in this secondary navigation bar created with TabSite.

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#4: Use Current Events

The Volkswagen Facebook page used promotional videos related to the recent World Cup. Combining promotional materials with current events is a marketing tactic that can work well on your landing tab too.

#5: Link to Custom Applications

Starbucks has a link on their landing tab that launches an application to manage your Starbucks account.

#6: Get Straight to the Point

Best Buy sends new visitors to a “Shop & Share” tab where they make it easy to access different categories of their shopping application.

#7: Make Interaction Easy and Fun

Cintas Corporation invites all new visitors to tell them about their tough job and send in photos to win prizes.

#8: Use the “Boxes” Tab

UPDATE SINCE PUBLICATION: Facebook is likely to phase out the boxes tab down the road, so we advise you transition over to creating a custom tab using Static FBML.

Prior to creating their landing tab above, Cintas Corporation directed all of their new visitors to their “Boxes” tab.  If you find it challenging to set up a specific Facebook tab using the Static FBML application, this may be the solution for you.  Facebook pages come with a “Boxes” tab and they are easy to use.

It's interesting to compare this long Cintas Corporation tab created in a “Boxes” tab with the long Starwood Preferred Guest “Explore SPG” tab created in FBML above.

Want To See More?

Here are a few more Facebook pages with interesting landing tabs.

• Threadless is a great example of how to use the “Like” button on a tab.
• Revision Eyewear has a presentation of their products made in Flash.
• Harley Davidson has a variety of links on their landing tab pointing back to their own website.
• Social Media Examiner uses a “landing” video.
• 1-800-Flowers has a clear call to action.

What do you think about custom landing tabs? Please share the links above and tell us what you like most about them.  Leave your comments in the box below.

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