As it approaches one billion users, Facebook has evolved from a site where friends and family share photos to an online marketing juggernaut rivaling Google. And while its primary marketing value is on the B2C side, more than a third of B2B marketers also rate it as their most active social network.

So, as Facebook continues its never-ending stream of changes, what are the current and emerging best practices for marketing on Facebook? What common mistakes should marketers avoid? How can Facebook be used to support an SEO strategy?

Find the answers to these questions and many others here in 26 more of the best Facebook marketing guides of the past year.

Facebook Marketing Tips & Techniques

7 Sneaky Ways to Use Facebook to Spy on Your Competition by KISSmetrics
***** 5 STARS

Frequent best-of honoree Kristi Hines reveals techniques for evaluating your competitors’ strategies and success on Facebook, such as using the “link.getStats console that will give you basic statistics about any domain’s popularity on Facebook” and viewing a competitor’s raw Facebook data, information, categories and more through the Facebook Open Graph.

Facebook Custom Landing Tabs + Measurement = Best Practice by Beth’s Blog

Citing research “that shows Facebook pages with custom landing pages have a higher conversion rate than those without landing pages,” Beth Kanter explains how custom landing pages work, why they are important and how to create one. Her focus is on non-profits, most of the information here can apply to almost any organization.

The 7 Biggest Fan Page Marketing Mistakes by All Facebook

Brian Carter identifies seven common mistakes made by businesses on Facebook and how to correct them. For example, “Fan Page Mistake #1: Assuming People Go To Your Fan Page (Versus Seeing Your Posts In Their News Feed).” The solution? Use keywords, interact with fans, and engage with groups.

64 Awesome Facebook Marketing Techniques by All Facebook

Maria Peagler shares an infographic focused on strategies for being successful–not boring–on Facebook, among them: using contests (e.g. best fan photo of something specified), highlighting a “fan of the month,” post product reviews, host a panel chat, and offer fans-only coupons.

iMedia Digital Showcase: The 10 best branded Facebook apps by iMedia Connection

Michael Estrin notes that “For most marketers, Facebook apps probably conjure up images of staff members wasting precious hours tending their “crops” on FarmVille or rubbing out their adversaries in Mafia Wars. But while a handful of apps have skyrocketed into the cultural stratosphere, brands that have deployed their own apps have used Facebook to make powerful emotional connections with users,” then highlights ten such apps from companies like Intel, Toyota and Bacardi.

How to Create a Facebook Business Page in 5 Simple Steps (With Video!) by HubSpot Blog

Anum Hussain walks through the process of setting up and launching a basic Facebook business page, from choosing a classification and completing basic information through adding features and tracking results–in both text format and a concise five-minute video.

10 Best Practice Tips for Facebook Page Content Publishing by jeffbullas.com

Jeff Bullas serves up 10 best-practice tips to “help you increase your engagement and interaction with fans so that they will keep coming back and provide you with valuable feedback that will drive inquiry and sales and keep you on top of your market segment with real time comments,” such as keeping posts short, asking fans for their opinions, and giving fans access to exclusive information or perks.

Why Facebook Should be Part of Your SEO Strategy by gShift Labs

Krista LeRiviere of gShift Labs lists 10 reasons why Facebook activity is now essential for successful SEO, such as that much of Facebook’s content is indexed by the search engines; having a Facebook presence is critical for web presence optimization (WPO) which is the overriding concept into which SEO is now wrapped; and, not incidentally, “Your Facebook presence adds quality backlinks to your website.”

Facebook Checkups and Check Lists

11-Point Facebook Checkup by Social Media Today

David Corr recommends a periodic Facebook checkup “to diagnose and treat the biggest small problems before they become big ones,” starting with reviewing your privacy settings and email notifications, then working your way through managing your Featured Likes and deleting any dead apps.

The Checklist All Facebook Pages Absolutely Must Have by All Facebook

Jasper Krog reviews the five essential areas to consider when formulating and executing a Facebook marketing strategy, starting with analysis (of internal resources, your target market and competitors) and working through setup, management, and advanced techniques (e.g. running Facebook ads).

Using Facebook for B2B Marketing

5 Foolproof Ways to Generate Leads From Facebook by HubSpot Blog

Pamela Seiple explores five ways that B2B companies can generate leads from Facebook, from sharing links to content on your company’s Facebook wall (“This works particularly well if the link directs people to a landing page with a lead generation form for downloadable content such as an ebook or a webinar”) to adding the Facebook Like plugin and share button to your content.

7 Steps For Awesome B2B Facebook Marketing by Social Media B2B

Contending that while “many B2B marketers have dismissed Facebook as a B2C channel with no application to B2B, that is a false assumption—Facebook can be a strong driver of B2B traffic and leads,” Kipp Bodnar provides a seven-step guide to B2B Facebook marketing best practices, from using a “like and lead gate” through analyzing engagement via Facebook Insights.

Facebook for Small Business Marketing

HOW TO: Claim Your Business On Facebook Places by Mashable

Sarah Kessler steps through the process for small businesses to claim their page on Facebook pages in this richly illustrated post. As she notes, “By claiming your Page, you have the opportunity to customize that free advertising. It also makes it easy to purchase pay-per-click advertising for your Places page.”

Facebook launches how-to Page for small businesses by BizReport

Helen Leggatt reports on Facebook for Business, a centralized spot for small business owners and marketers to learn the details of creating business pages, placing Facebook ads, using sponsored stories, and transforming a company’s “website into a social experience with plug-ins and custom apps.”

Dealing with Facebook’s (Never-Ending) Changes

8 Facebook changes marketers need to know by iMedia Connection

Jeff Ragovin offers a helpful guide to changes in Facebook pages (to make them look more like user profiles), iframes (which, despite their drawbacks, do improve flexibility and trackability), sponsored stories, ad targeting, Facebook Places and more.

How to Make a Custom Facebook Page with an Iframe Application: Updated Instructions by (Anti) Social Development

Kim Woodbridge provides detailed, illustrated, step-by-step, and most importantly updated instructions for creating a custom Facebook page tab with iframes, from creating the page at the proper size to filling in the required information to adding the tab to your page and renaming the tab.

Notice Anything Different on Facebook? Big Changes are Happening by iMedia Connection

Angela Brown helpfully summarizes the Facebook changes made in late 2011, including how to obtain a vanity URL, the ability for non-friends to subscribe to your updates, changes to privacy settings, and Facebook’s Smart Lists, which “allow for more robust filtering and targeted posting, among other great features.”

Facebook will Turn Off all FBML on June 01, 2012. Transition to iFrames Now! by Wildfire Social Media Marketing Blog

This post outlines how FBML and iFrame apps work, Facebook’s plans for the transition, alternative scenarios for the changeover, and the next steps that Facebook page administrators need to take (or more likely, need to have taken by now).

How to Take Advantage of The Latest Facebook Updates by jeffbullas.com

Mitt Ray summarizes the impact of and techniques for capitalizing on three areas of Facebook changes that were implemented at the end of last year: subscriptions (“now with the subscribe feature, people can just subscribe to your Facebook profile”), posting Facebook updates and tagging people.

Optimizing for Facebook EdgeRank

News Feed Optimization: 14 Ideas To Get Noticed In Facebook by Get Elastic

Linda Bustos delves into Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm for determining what appears in any user’s newsfeed and how marketers can utilize news feed optimization practices to increase the likelihood that their content will be seen by their fans and likers, from the creative use of tabs to being timely and responsive.

Infographic: How to Improve EdgeRank on Facebook by Marketing Technology Blog

Stating that “Most companies don’t realize that only a fraction of their page status updates are actually being presented to the audience,” Douglas Karr explains a bit about the EdgeRank algorithm and how to make it more likely your content will be seen by your users, illustrated with a clever Genghis Kahn-themed infographic.

Facebook Advertising Tips

An Optimizer’s Guide To Facebook Ads Performance Reports by aimClear
***** 5 STARS

Marty Weintraub serves up red meat for data junkies in this impressively detailed post explaining how Facebook advertising reports work and how to interpret each metric, from reach, response and frequency through bids, social impressions and social clicks.

The Photo Strip: Facebook’s Most Underused Free Ad by BlueGlass

Contending that “Many brands trick out their Facebook pages with flashy apps while ignoring some of the most valuable (and free!) tools available…When done right, the photo strip creates a stunning page design,” Kerry Jones explains how the photo strip works then showcases nine creative examples of how brands can take advantage of it.

How To Use Occupational Targeting In Facebook For B2B Leads & Sales by Search Engine Land

Musing that B2B marketers have tended to embrace LinkedIn advertising over Facebook because it is seen as more of a professional networking site—even though Facebook has seven times as many users as LinkedIn and a significant percentage of those users have jobs—Lauren Litwinka demonstrates, step by step, how b2b marketers can take advantage of occupational targeting to drive results from Facebook ads.

Facebook Skeptics

5 trends that could take down Facebook by iMedia Connection

Based on conversations with “entrepreneurs, digital marketers, and venture capitalists,” Dave Knox concludes that while it’s unlikely any single, giant “Facebook killer” will emerge, the behemoth social network could be at risk from a multitude of smaller sources chipping away at its dominance, from specialized niche interest networks and privacy concerns to entertainment services like Pandora, Hulu and Spotify.

Most Of Your Friends Still Don’t Trust Facebook by All Facebook

Jackie Cohen reports on research showing that 47% of users say they are “explicitly concerned” about their privacy on Facebook (versus just 15% who are explicitly unconcerned), and that “people feel more confident about privacy on YouTube more than Facebook, and thus trust the video sharing site more.”

You know the statistics: Facebook is the most popular method for sharing online content. It’s approaching one billion users worldwide. 85% of B2B journalists are on Facebook. 61 of the world’s 100 largest companies maintain Facebook brand pages, as do 71% of B2B firms. Three-quarters of North American advertising agencies say their clients run PPC campaigns on Facebook.

While having a presence on Facebook is no longer an “if” question for most companies, many “how” questions remain. How can I design my company’s Facebook page for maximum impact? How can I grow my company’s following? How can I increase the probability that my fans will see my content updates?

Find the answers to these questions and many more here in more than 30 of the best articles and blog posts on Facebook marketing of 2011.

Facebook Marketing Tips and Tactics

The Best Facebook Page Strategies and the Pages That Use Them by Inside Facebook

Contending that “there is a great deal of nuance to creating a successful (Facebook) Page,” Josh Constine highlights three strategies with examples.

How To Make a Facebook List (& 6 Ways To Use Them) by Search Engine People

Ruud Hein steps through a quick process for creating Facebook lists, and recommends various uses for them such as sharing information with only a specific subset of your contacts, or using Facebook lists as a CRM tool.

Facebook is FOREVER by iMedia Connection

Lucia Davis uses an infographic titled “Obsessed with Facebook” to argue that Facebook has become so ingrained into our lives that it will never go away. And given that all of the attacks from would-be “Facebook killers” along with Mark Zuckerberg’s own complete disregard for data privacy or user experience still haven’t doomed the platform, she may well be right.

Five Top Facebook Marketing Tips by LiveWorld

Bryan Person shares highlights of a presentation from Ekaterina Walter on five best practices for Facebook marketing, including optimizing wall posts for the News Feed and using Facebook Insights data to better understand your fan base.

A Big Brand’s Social Strategy Really Means ‘Facebook’ by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Justin Archer notes that despite the fact that for much of the Fortune 500, “social media” really means “Facebook,’ many still fall short in this area. Socialcasting the latest company updates is a fail; planning and engagement are key.

Ranking in Facebook Search by Vertical Measures

Kaila Strong notes that Facebook now accounts for close to 3% of all U.S. searches—a still small but rapidly growing and not insignificant figure. She then shares three ranking factors in Facebook organic search and three tactics that can be used to improve ranking for your company Facebook page.

The Basics of Advertising on Facebook by Practical eCommerce

Paul Chaney walks through the process of creating a Facebook ad campaign, from identifying your goals and target audience to designing ads and setting pricing.

15 ways to increase your brand’s impact on Facebook by Socialmedia.biz

JD Lasica starts by pointing out that, “Your brand isn’t reaching as many people as you think through its Facebook Page…88 percent of Facebook members never return to a Page once they’ve clicked the Like button. Your opportunity lies in engaging with fans through their News Feed. But…only 1 out of every 500 updates makes it into your fans’ critical Top News feed, which is how 95 percent of Facebook members get their updates.” Ouch. Fortunately, he also notes that turning “your Facebook presence into a larger conversation strategy for your brand” can dramatically increase a company’s visibility on Facebook, then delves into 15 tactics to support that strategy.

Facebook Pages Just Got Easier for Brands by Dose of Digital

Though it’s no longer news, Jonathan Richman here provides one of the best and most comprehensive summaries of the changes Facebook made to Pages earlier this year, as well as tips and techniques to capitalize on the new features. This rather long post is also conveniently available in PDF format.

10 Tips to Fully Utilize Facebook’s New Page Design by Mashable

For those who prefer a more condensed summary of Facebook’s switch to iFrames earlier this year, the brilliant Jeff Ente explains how iFrames work and why they are potentially very, very important to marketers.

20 Tips to Get Your Content Seen on Facebook by HubSpot

Ellie Mirman explains how Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm works, then offers 20 ideas to make your content more visible, including posting a variety of content to attract interactions, including images on blog posts, and asking questions to solicit feedback from your fans.

Easy ways to attract more fans to your Facebook page by Facebook Toolkit

10 tips to make your page more visible and encourage “likes,” such as using the photo strip call to action, investing in Facebook ads, and featuring influential fans as your favorite users.

20 Facebook Tips/Tricks You Might Not Know by Hongkiat.com

Learn how to place Facebook chat in a sidebar in Firefox, how to update Facebook without using Facebook (e.g., through Ping.fm [http://ping.fm/]), how to specify which of your friends’ photos display on your Facebook profile page, how to create quizzes, block ads and more in this helpful post.

7 Awesome B2B Facebook Fan Pages by HubSpot Blog
***** 5 STARS

While there are lots of posts written about “great Facebook brand pages” that highlight large consumer marketers, few include examples from the B2B world. Eric Vreeland addresses that gap in this excellent post, showcasing companies like Saleforce.com and Forrester Research, and also provides tips and guidance on how B2B marketers can make the most of the world’s largest social network.

15 Ways to Get ‘Liked’ on Facebook by Practical eCommerce

Paul Chaney recommends including a “Like Us on Facebook” link in marketing emails, investing in Facebook ads, providing incentives for fans to spread your message, and posting multimedia content among other tactics for growing your fan base on Facebook.

How to Build the Perfect Facebook Fan Page, 2011 Edition by techipedia

Writing that “With the new layout providing so much screen real estate for visual branding, it has raised the bar for a Page’s visual branding on Facebook. The new layout offers the opportunity to claim visual ownership of your Page,” Tim Ware outlines the six key areas of a Facebook brand page and how to optimize the use of each area.

Make the Most of Your Facebook Marketing by Alison Zarrella

Alison recommends cross-promotion (e.g., through Twitter, marketing emails and your blog) and utilizing the many types of Facebook updates and tools in order to maximize the probability that your fans will actually see your Facebook posts.

Facebook Publishes Guide to Social Marketing Best Practices by ReadWriteWeb

John Paul Titlow outlines and links to Facebook’s 14-page PDF Best Practice Guide: Marketing on Facebook which “serves as an official resource on how to take advantage of Facebook’s advertising products, social plugins, analytics and other tools to grow one’s business.”

Facebook Apps and Tools

5 Facebook Applications to Add Useful Tabs to Your Facebook Fan Page by Search Engine Journal

Frequent best-of contributor Ann Smarty reviews five Facebook apps to help extend the functionality and engagement value of a Facebook fan page (though note that Facebook has moved away from support for Static FBML).

The Definitive List of Facebook Video Apps for Facebook Pages by ReelSEO

Mark R. Robertson lists and briefly describes more than 40 Facebook video apps, organized into categories for YouTube, Vimeo, live video streaming, video chat/calling, Facebook video, and miscellaneous video apps.

10 Killer Facebook Page Creation Tools by All Facebook

Brian Ward (no, not Brian “St. Paul” Ward) reviews 10 tools “that can help your brand build a more enticing page” on Facebook, such as ShortStack and Pagemodo.

3 Tools to Create New Facebook iFrame Pages by Practical eCommerce

Paul Chaney (again) summarizes the problems that Facebook’s switch from FBML to iframes created for Facebook page developers, then reviews three tools that simplify the creation of iframes apps.

4 Free Facebook Landing Page Creation Tools by DreamGrow Social Media

Priit Kallas reviews ShortStack, Pagemodo, Wildfire iFrames and TabSite, then offers his recommendations. A follow-up post, Facebook Cheat Sheet: Sizes and Dimensions, details the real estate (dimensions, text characters, file size etc.) available on each key area of a Facebook brand page.

Facebook Stats, Facts and Research

More Inc. 500 Companies Succeeding With Facebook by MarketingProfs

Among the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., Facebook has become a key marketing platform: 71% of Inc. 500 companies use it, with 85% calling their efforts successful. About 60% of those companies also use Twitter, and roughly half maintain corporate blogs.

Facebook Demographics: A Comprehensive Guide (Amazingly Squeezed Into One Page) by Soshable

JD Rucker highlights an infographic and slide deck with detailed Facebook demographics, showing Facebook’s population broken down by country, age, gender and more. The top-line number (just under 600 million) is a tad out of date though.

Survey: Facebook Strategy Should be About Deals Not Engagement by Social Commerce Today

A UK study found that 19% of users follow brands on Facebook, and more than half of those people have recommended a brand there. However, 70% follow specifically to get special offers, and most will unfollow a brand if they stop getting them. No mention of “engagement.”

Facebook Skeptics, Haters, and Tellers of Uncomfortable Truths

Why Only Idiots Promote Their Brand’s Facebook Page via Traditional Media by iMedia Connection

Think Facebook is the ultimate brand marketing platform? Or even remotely close? Kent Lewis reminds marketers about what’s “not to love” about Facebook from a marketing standpoint, such as the fact that Facebook owns all content on the site, can (and does) change page design and functionality at any time, the analytics are limited, and the UI is distracting.

Designing Email Campaigns for Facebook Messages by Campaign Monitor

Ros Hodgekiss details the capabilities and limitations of Facebook Messages for email, and concludes that “its limitations as an email platform will most likely prevent it from being widely used as an everyday email address. Plus, would you take a job applicant really seriously if they were sending from a @facebook.com address? Really?”

8 Reasons Marketers Can’t Trust Facebook by iMedia Connection

Douglas Karr details eight lessons learned about what can—and at least sometimes does—go wrong with Facebook as a marketing platform, from access control issues to lack of recourse / customer service to the risk of data loss.

Why I Don’t Use Facebook by PC Magazine

Professional curmudgeon John C. Dvorak writes that he doesn’t use Facebook because it’s a closed system, it’s essentially AOL 2.0, and, in his view, “There is no reason for anyone with any chops online to be remotely involved with Facebook.” Hmm, I wonder what he really thinks?

Is Facebook Losing its Marketing Mojo? by Oz2 Blog

The delightful Catherine Lockey details some of the problems induced by Facebook’s design changes earlier this year, and offers partial solutions, but concludes by noting that “Facebook is not your brand. Facebook is Facebook’s brand…If you put all of your marketing eggs in Facebook’s basket then you’re in trouble.”

Social networks are essential for expanding your web presence—not only for creating social signals now a key component in search engine rankings, which makes your website and blog easier to find in search, but also by giving you more places to be found online.

Creating your profile on each of the major social networks is a first step, but just that. A profile alone won’t get you much. As with most things in life, you’ll get out of social networks what you put into them.

Once you’ve filled out your profile (particularly including your core keywords and links), the basic process for using any of the more than 500 social networks now in existence is pretty much the same:

1. Find interesting/relevant/influential people to follow/like/connect with.
2. Grow your influence and attract followers/friends/connections by sharing interesting and relevant content—your own, from third parties, and from people you are following / would like to have following you.
3. Interact (e.g., ask and answer questions).
4. Recommend.
5. Repeat.

The “big 5″ social networks have a definite “order of familiarity” to follow for proper social media etiquette:

• • Twitter, YouTube and Google+: you can follow/add virtually anyone you find interesting/relevant/influential. Don’t be offended if they don’t follow/add you back immediately; they may very well do so once they’ve gotten to “know” you better through your social networking activity.
• • LinkedIn: it’s best to have some familiarity (real world or online) before trying to make a connection. This is a level deeper than the majority of more superficial social networks. This also applies to other professional / social networks (e.g. Plaxo).
• • Facebook: liking a brand page (or asking someone to like yours) is fairly superficial. However, friending someone on Facebook is widely viewed as a deeper level of social networking connection. Put another way, the common pattern is to have more Twitter followers than LinkedIn connections, and more LinkedIn connections than Facebook friends. Only the gauche and boorish would try to friend someone on Facebook that they have no prior connections to.

With those basics established, here are 10 ways for small (or really, almost any size) businesses to use social networks for marketing and PR.

1. Create valuable backlinks for SEO. Links from your profiles and social network posts / updates all help to increase the authority of your website and blog with the search engines, leading to higher rankings. What helps most, however, is having your content shared and passed along by others with high influence in your market space. To encourage sharing, in addition to being active on the leading social networks, place social sharing buttons on your site.

2. Expand your online presence. Google, Yahoo and Bing aren’t the only places people go to look for information. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube all include their own powerful and popular internal search capabilities, and there are numerous social search engines that specifically search social networks and other social media sites. The only way to found on social networks is to be active on them.

3. Develop reputation as a thought leader (or something equally positive). By sharing relevant and helpful information, whether your own of from other sources, you increase your value to those following you, and expand your network. Sharing content developed by others makes you social; sharing content written about you by others enhances your brand image; and sharing your own thought-leadership or other helpful content solidifies your reputation as a smart, valuable resource that can influence decisions.

4. Promote your content / increase web traffic. It’s been written that, “If  content is king, links are queen.” In other words, as essential as it is to develop great content, the search engines won’t give it much weight and few people will ever see that content if it doesn’t get linked. Social networks are a great place to build quality links, again particularly when key influencers within the various social networks share your content with their followers.

5. Expand your network of connections. In almost any major city, on almost any day, there are various types of business networking events: breakfasts, happy hours, seminars, forums and other types of events where local business people can meet each other and form new connections. Social media makes it easy to expand your network globally—or at least well beyond the confines of those who either live nearby or travel to major industry events. Social networks are invaluable for helping you make connections with prospective customers, additional contacts within client companies, industry journalists, bloggers and other influencers that it would be difficult if not impossible to connect with otherwise.

6. Develop and build relationships. Making connections is just the beginning. Social sharing and interactions enable you to develop relationships that can be very meaningful and rewarding, over time, with people you’ve never physically met, perhaps even never spoken with by phone. These relationships can lead to increased online exposure, expanded knowledge, new insights and ideas, partnerships, referrals, and ultimately—increased business.

7. Perform competitive and market research. Social media isn’t all about you, of course. Knowing what kinds of questions your prospective customers are asking, what problems they are trying to solve, and their opinions and observations about competitive firms can help you develop content that better meet market needs and set you apart from competitors.

8. Spot opportunities for innovation. Knowing more about the issues and concerns of your target prospects can also inspire ideas for product enhancements or new products, services or processes that lead to increased sales, greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, and/or new market opportunities.

9. Improve customer service. Traditional customer service channels are great for capturing information about and resolving specific customer issues (e.g., product malfunctions or “how do I…” questions). Social networks, however, open up possibilities for learning about other types of issues that may never lead to a customer service call: your product disappoints in some manner, your online form is too long and/or complicated, your website content is confusing, a particular piece of information or contact phone number is difficult to find, etc.

10. Generate leads and grow your email list (carefully!). There’s a reason this item is last on the list: while the goal of social media marketing is ultimately to produce an ROI, where the “R” is usually generated by increased sales, it’s crucial not to promote your offerings too blatantly or too early in the social networking process. Engaging in self-promotion too early will get you labeled as a spammer, damage your reputation and hobble your ability to grow a productive network. Promoting too blatantly is never advisable. Rather, once you have a network established, use social media to promote “gated” content like white papers or reports, invite followers to register for webinars, and promote your newsletter on your blog and other content pages in order to build a list for lead nurturing.

Establishing a presence on the leading social networks and utilizing an effective social media strategy will enhance your online presence and “findability” on search engines as well as within the social networks themselves.

It’s hard to overstate the impact of Facebook. Having long ago passed MySpace as the most popular social network, Facebook recently replaced Google as the most-visited website in the U.S. It started 2010 with roughly 350 million users and is now on its way to 600  million. Founder Mark Zuckerberg was TIME magazine’s person of the year, was interviewed on 60 Minutes simultaneously with new features being rolled out on the platform, and had a movie made about him and Facebook’s beginnings.

And though a website used primarily by young people to post embarrassing pictures of themselves and by older people to share cute pictures of their progeny would seem an odd venue for selling after-shave or enterprise software, both b2c and b2b marketers have embraced the platform in droves simply due to its incredible scale and reach. So how does a marketer capitalize on this unruly and ever-changing platform to drive business results? How can you stand out from the crowd, grow your fan base, get “likers” to come back to your page, engage your audience, target your prospects, conduct research, and basically prove to the CFO that all of this work isn’t just a colossal waste of time?

Find out here in three dozen of the best Facebook marketing guides of last year—along with some interesting stats and even counterpoints from a few naysayers and holdouts.

Facebook Marketing Tips and Guides

The 12 Best Ways To Customize Your Facebook Pages by TechCrunch

Orli Yakuel reviews a dozen free and fee-based tools for making Facebook page tabs, including Miproapps, TabSite and of course the “pioneer” in this space, Static FBML.

3 reasons your brand doesn’t have more Facebook fans by iMedia Connection

According to Scott Meldrum, “Brands should market their Facebook page in every available channel they can, including their website, landing pages, email communications, and ad creative” among other recommendations for increasing their following and level of engagement on Facebook.

Using Facebook as a Strategic Marketing Channel by Green Buzz Agency

Pointing out that putting up a Facebook page and hoping fans will find you is not a strategy, Erika Jolly Brookes provides a detailed set of tips, considerations and questions to ask yourself when crafting a true Facebook marketing strategy, from developing a creative brief through putting together a “conversational calendar.”

5 Ways for B2B Companies to Engage on Facebook by Social Media B2B

Conceding that Facebook is often viewed as the “red-headed stepchild” of b2b social media marketing and that the world’s largest social network has done a lot of things wrong in from a B2B marketing standpoint, Karlie Justus reminds us that nevertheless, “Facebook has more than 500 million reasons for B2B companies to create and foster an interactive, informative community for employees, partners, customers, retailers and distributors.” She then offers five recommendations for B2B Facebook use including offering a mix of original content and industry news, and asking questions. I’m still not sure that Facebook has more than one effective use for B2B marketing, but Karlie makes an interesting case.

How to target Facebook wall posts to specific fans by Socialbrite

John Haydon provides detailed instructions on how to send Facebook wall posts to specific groups of fans based on location and language. For example, although a significant proportion of the population of Quebec is bilingual, many of those people have a language preference. If you know that and have an upcoming event in that region, you could send separate wall posts in French and English to your Quebec fans based on the language they prefer.

A Blog App for Your Fan Page by Trailblaze Social Media with Josh

Joshua Lyons explains how the Networkedblogs app makes it easy to automatically feed your blog posts through a Facebook fan page tab, and easy for your fans to follow your blog.

How to Design a Kick-Ass Facebook Fanpage by 1stwebdesigner

As more brands jump on the Facebook bandwagon, it’s getting more challenging to stand out from the pack. Piotr Krzyzek recommends using a portrait-size profile picture, creating an opt-in landing page, adding contact information and links everywhere possible, and of course fan interaction and quality content.

Branding & Engagement, pt. 2: My New Favorite Facebook Page by Inkling Media

Ken Mueller uses the example of Dave’s Ace Hardware in Wisconsin to demonstrate how to optimize business engagement on Facebook: be personal, use photos and video, provide great customer service among other things.

Fans are fickle: How to inspire loyalty after the “like” by iMedia Connection

People are busy. They may like your Facebook page, but most won’t come back very often without a reason. Scott Meldrum (again) suggests rewarding loyal fans and customers, targeting your wall posts (see John Haydon’s post above), and responding promptly to questions and comments among other methods to encourage repeat visits.

Facebook SEO by Blind Five Year Old
***** 5 Stars
A.J. Kohn presents a remarkably comprehensive yet understandable guide to taking advantage of the search capabilities within Facebook. As A.J. explains, “This isn’t about optimizing your ‘fan’ page to appear in Google search results, but instead is about optimizing your own site and pages to appear in Facebook search results.”

How To Build Your Facebook Landing Page (If You’re Not A Programmer) by SocialMouths

After explaining why a custom Facebook landing page is important and what can be done with one, Francisco Rosales provides a detailed, richly illustrated 10-step guide for creating a landing page that’s as unique as your business—even if your business isn’t writing code.

7 Simple Tips for Using Facebook to Promote Your Business by Digital Labz

Basic but nevertheless helpful tips for successfully marketing on Facebook, such as adding a Facebook widget to your blog, highlighting your personality, updating your page regularly, and participating on other pages as well.

5 Staggeringly Simple Ways to Create Custom Facebook Landing Tabs by Convince and Convert

“With the exception of baking the ‘like’ button into your website, the best way to generate new fans on Facebook is to create a custom landing tab,” according to Jay Baer, and in this helpful post he reviews five options / apps for creating a custom landing tab on Facebook.

22 Inspiring Examples of Facebook Page Designs by DreamGrow Social Media

Priit Kallas highlights almost two dozen examples of dazzling Facebook design to get your creative juices flowing, like Kit Kat, Victoria’s Secret and Sony, all of which direct new visitors to somewhere other than the brand’s wall page.

26 Tips for Enhancing Your Facebook Page by Social Media Examiner
***** 5 Stars
Need inspiration for new ideas to keep your Facebook page up to date with fresh content? Debbie Hemley offers “26 practical ways to use good content for your Facebook pages, everything from A to Z,” literally–starting with Alltop and business updates and running all the way through YouTube and Zen. Highly creative AND useful!

Facebook Advertising Tricks for B2B Marketers by Buzz Marketing for Technology

Paul Dunay provides three brilliant tips for b2b marketers to optimize their use of Facebook advertising, such as “Put the 20 top companies you want to target into the Workplaces field. Facebook unlike Google works off of the ‘or’ operand not the ‘and’ operand so you can use this to your advantage by placing as many of the companies you want to target into the Workplaces field and thereby target the employees of all of those firms.”

What Happens After the Facebook Like?  20 Tips To Engage Your Audience After the Like by Pam Moore

What happens after someone “likes” your page—will they ever come back? Really? Pam Moore offers 20 tips for making the “like” just the beginning of a Facebook relationship, including developing an editorial calendar for updates (with a mix of different types of content), focusing on value to your audience, and making it fun.

7 Simple Facebook Page Tricks by AboutUs

Kristina Weis supplies helpful instructions for how to do things like target your posts to specific audiences, create a custom URL for your Facebook page and get into your fans’ “top news.”

Top 75 Apps for Enhancing Your Facebook Page by Social Media Examiner

Facebook marketing rock star Mari Smith reviews the top 75 Facebook apps that enable you to “customize your landing tabs, add your blog, add videos and photos, add chat, add polls, contests, geolocation, scheduling, email, ecommerce” and much more.

Facebook Changes and New Features

Facebook Rolls Out New Like Buttons For Publishers by All Facebook

Caitlin Fitzsimmons provides a quick rundown of the features of Facebook’s revised “like” button for publishers and differences from the original version.

8 Recent Updates for Facebook Business Pages by Masterful Marketing

Since Facebook changes it interface the way Lady Gaga changes dresses, Debra Murphy attempts to sort things out here, detailing eight changes made in the latter half of 2010 including the ability to remove the creator admin for business pages(critical in the case of employee turnover), ability to view insights per post, and the end of boxes.

Facebook Overhauls Profile Page by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Speaking of changes, Mark Walsh here details the end-of-year changes Facebook made to the profile page, and the implications for users.

Facebook Groups – a Complete Guide by Jesper Åström

Jesper Astrom explains what the new Facebook Groups is, how to create a Facebook Group, what you can do with it, and the benefits and risks of using Facebook Groups.

Facebook Features, pt. 2: A New Way to Invite Fans to Your Business Page by Inkling Media

Ken Mueller (again) writes about a new tool from Facebook to invite fans to “like” business page: “In addition to using the ‘Suggest to Friends’ and ‘Share’ functions…it is now possible to invite people via email. This is especially helpful if you have any sort of business email database. Facebook now allows you to upload email addresses from a variety of platforms in order to send an email to your contacts to invite them to ‘like’ your page,” and shows how to use this new capability.

Facebook Is Becoming Your Company’s New BFF by MediaPost Search Insider

Derek Gordon reports on Mark Zuckerberg’s 60 Minutes interview and simultaneous release of Facebook’s new profile functionality. He outlines the new functionality and speculates on the motivation behind some of the new features.

Facebook Top 10 Lists

Top 10 Facebook Fixes by lifehacker

Noting that you don’t have to use Facebook exactly the same way everyone else does, Spencer E Holtaway offers “ten tweaks to make Facebook better,” such as accessing it from a different client, backing up your account, getting your privacy settings right, and preventing friends from revealing your location.

10 Top Facebook Pages and Why They’re Successful by Social Media Examiner

Amy Porterfield suggests ways to make your company’s Facebook page more popular, interactive and effective by borrowing ideas from highly successful pages from brands like Red Bull, LiveScribe, Oreo and the Travel Channel.

10 Tips & Tricks For Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page by Hongkiat.com
***** 5 Stars
Ever come across a really cool brand page on Facebook and wonder how they created it? Michael Vreeken provides step-by-step instructions on how to use Static FBML to create a custom landing page, embed videos, create a “fans only” content area, insert Flash content or image rollovers, track your fan page visits with Google Analytics and more.

10 Facebook Tabs to Add by ReadWriteWeb

Richard MacManus explains how to create 10 common types of Facebook tabs, including Flickr, Slideshare, Questions and YouTube tabs.

Facebook Statistics

Facebook Added 5 Million U.S. Users In August by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Mark Walsh reports interesting stats on Facebook’s continued growth in the U.S. and elsewhere. For example, Facebook’s membership  (as of August) reached 44% of the U.S. population, 13.2 million users in India (still only 1% of the population there)—a 179% increase in the past year—and 3.2% of the rapidly growing Brazilian social network market.

5 Fascinating Facebook Infographics by Rhino SEO Blog

A handful of cool infographics loaded with Facebook facts, stats and trivia such as the fact that Facebook is now available in over 70 languages, hosts over 1.6 million active pages (700,000 of which are for local businesses) which collectively have 5.3 billion fans, has 3.5 billion pieces of content shared on it each week, requires more than 10,000 servers to run, and has more than half a million applications written for it. Collectively, users waste, er, spend, 8.3 billion hours on Facebook each month.

Facebook Commentary and Observations

I Really Don’t Like Everything I “Like” on Facebook by Inkling Media

Ken Mueller notes several situations where you have no choice but to “like” a page or company on Facebook even if you really feel no affinity toward it, such as when conducting research or even to express displeasure with a company’s product or service on their fan page.

Breathtaking Facebook Fan Pages by DesignsMag

Need some inspiration for creating or revamping your Facebook presence? Check out 40 stunning examples of pages for movies, artists, food & beverage brands, fashion and more.

Facebook Skeptics

The Death of Facebook by Geoff Livingston

Asking “Who in their right mind would predict the death of Facebook given its ever increasing dominance?,” Geoff Livingston proceeds to do just that, arguing that it’s only a matter of time before Facebook’s increasing cluttered interface, confusing privacy settings and other issues allow an as-yet-unknown new competitor to eat the leading social network’s lunch. Not sure I buy this, but I do agree with Geoff’s larger point that it’s best not “to become too entrenched on a mega social network like Facebook (or Twitter)” but rather maintain the nimbleness to “move with our community” to new networks as social media tools continue to evolve.

The Facebook Reckoning by Anil Dash

Anil Dash takes Facebook to task for its privacy policies; not weaknesses but conscious choices made by  privileged Ivy League founder Mark Zuckerberg, specifically “impos(ing) an extreme set of values on its users without adequately communicating the consequences of those choices.” Anil holds out hope though that Facebook can become more truly inclusive “by engaging more with its users in an honest way about its radical stance on public sharing.” But as Facebook’s popularity continues to expand globally, it’s not clear that Facebook’s ambiguous and confusing privacy policies matter much to users, or to Zuckerberg. And some of the comments following this post are possibly even more thoughtful enlightening than the post itself.

Is Facebook Forever? by iMedia Connection

Andrew Edwards muses about the fates of brands like AOL and MSN, and delves into several reasons why he believes Facebook will follow their path into obscurity, including the fact that it’s a closed system, the observation that the vast majority of the chatter there is inane, and the insight that despite the fact every company on earth thinks it needs a Facebook page, the platform is in the end a poor fit for business (“Most users of Facebook want to look at stuff like baby pictures and make fun of each other”).

Related Posts

35 (of the) Best Guides to Facebook Marketing, Advertising, Search and More of 2010 (So Far)

Best Facebook Marketing Tips and Guides of 2009

Facebook is an extraordinary phenomenon. Depending on the day, it’s either the #1 or #2 most-visited site on the web. It’s inspired a movie. It has half a billion adherents. And it’s become an imperative point of presence for businesses (or has it?).

Whether you’re anxious to get started marketing on Facebook, already there but looking for better results, or not sure if Facebook is right for your company (despite the eye-popping audience numbers), you’ll find guidance here in some of the best posts on Facebook marketing so far in 2010: tips, tactics and best practices for building Facebook pages, growing your fan (or “like”) base, advertising, optimizing for search, using Facebook apps and tools, and more, from experts like Mari Smith, Lisa Barone, Ching Ya, John Haydon, Brian Carter, Marty Weintraub and Shel Holtz. Also included are a few posts from Facebook proponents, and skeptics, to help you determine if you even really need to be concerned with any of this — or if your social media marketing efforts might be best directed elsewhere.

Facebook Marketing Tips and Tactics

How to set up a Facebook fan page that works by Direct Creative Blog

Dean Rieck shares his top 10 tips for creating a managing a successful business Facebook page, from using FBML to create a landing page to promoting your page through email and your company blog.

How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page ‘Fans’ by Social Media Examiner

As Mari Smith explains, “There are two primary components to Facebook fan page engagement: 1) Sharing quality, relevant content and 2) inciting comments. In this article I’ll tell you how to best engage with Facebook fans.”  Tactics include tying your post frequency to number of fans, creating an editorial calendar and varying the types of content posted.

Facebook Marketing Tips: Make the Most of Your Fan Page by TopRank Online Marketing Blog

Michelle Bowles offers five tips for “making the most of your fan page” such as keeping content fresh, encouraging interaction and offering discounts, promotions or information not available anywhere else.

How to Create a Campaign to Get More Facebook Followers by Proimpact7

Jan Petrovic presents a case study on how Lands’ End used a creative incentive campaign to draw 25,000 additional fans to its page.

5 Fantastic Facebook Fan Page Ideas to Learn From by OPEN Forum

Matt Silverman shares five examples of brands stretching the boundaries of Facebook to provide a unique experience including Baby Gap and Adidas.

10 Secrets of a Winning Facebook Fan Page by Palmer Web Marketing

Justin Palmer suggests 10 “must-do’s” for Facebook marketing success, like responding to every comment, strategically timing your updates and leveraging your fans to attract more fans.

10 Secrets To Creating Your Brand’s Facebook Presence by All Facebook

In another “10 secrets” post, Christopher Parr shares his tips for brand success on Facebook, such as talking like a friend (not a company), adding value through content, and doing some housekeeping (e.g. keeping your page free of “clutter, profanity, and MafiaWars spammy links”).

Creating Facebook Pages Customers Will Want To Join by Outspoken Media

Opening up with “most fan pages ARE vomit-inducing…but it doesn’t have to be that way!,” the prolific Lisa Barone details four ways to make your customers and prospects on Facebook feel like they are part of something — not just following a self-promoting brand.

9 Ways to Enhance Your Facebook Fan Page by Social Media Examiner

Noting that “Facebook fan pages number among the few social media channels that allow page customization for users,” Ching Ya shares nine great ideas for creating a unique and vibrant Facebook presence. An excellent “what to do” post though a bit light on the “how.”

10 Ways to Grow Your Facebook Page Following by Social Media Examiner

In the sequel to her post above, Ching Ya provides recommendations such as rewarding loyal supporters, leveraging your other social networks and integrating Facebook social plugins with your website in order to build a Facebook fan base.

10 Ways to Create a More Engaging Facebook Page by TopRank Online Marketing Blog

“The average user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events. This means that aside from all the other Facebook friend activity that goes on, your page is one of 60 trying to grab attention a fan’s attention.” How do you do it? This post offers 10 helpful ideas such as using a custom landing page, tagging fans in photos, using contests, and most importantly – persevering.

Facebook’s new functions (and how to leverage them) by iMedia Connection

Doug Akin previews six new features (as of May 2010) in Facebook that enable brands to expand the functionality and engagement potential of their Facebook pages. “If you only look at Facebook as a place to have a fan page, you are missing the greater offering and will likely be sitting on the sidelines when the future arrives.”

The Changing Face of Facebook Marketing – 5 Things you MUST Know by Social Media Today

Shama Hyder writes that “It seems like every day we wake up, Facebook has implemented a new policy or added a new dimension overnight.” Hell for companies and users, heaven for Facebook consultants. But given this environment, Shama outlines the “top five things you need to know about Facebook marketing” about fan pages, ecommerce, ads, apps and other subjects.

Facebook Tabs: What They Are & How to Use Them by ReadWriteWeb

In yet another post about keeping up with Facebook’s continual interface and function changes, Richard MacManus explains the difference between application tabs and boxes, why Facebook made this change, and how to effectively add and use tabs.

11 ways to promote your Facebook Page outside Facebook by John Haydon

Since, and John Haydon notes here, “Most likely, your current presence is much bigger outside of Facebook – especially if your Page is new,” you may want to take advantage of some of the ideas here to promote your Facebook presence elsewhere, such as adding your Facebook page link to your email template, answering webinar follow-up questions on your Facebook wall, and placing a LikeBox on your website.

13 Facebook Page features that will make your day by Socialbrite

***** 5 stars
It’s John Haydon again, this time in video form, answering 13 common yet vexing questions about Facebook like how to edit your thumbnail, how to set up a custom view for new visitors, and how to easily create a custom URL for your Facebook page.

4 Tips for B2B Marketing on Facebook by Mashable

While acknowledging that Facebook may have limited use in b2b marketing, Leyl Master Black nevertheless offers “tips for creating a powerful presence on Facebook that will engage a business audience” such as becoming an industry resource by sharing blog and webinar content, expanding beyond your wall using ecommerce or lead generation promotions, and “lightening up” through the use of humor, quizzes and polls.

Facebook Marketing: Ultimate Guide by SEOmoz

***** 5 stars
Tim Soulo has compiled a fantastic guide filled with best practices and tips for Facebook marketing success, starting with setting up the profile of your “brand ambassador” and progressing through your creating your avatar and adding applications, and ending with using other social media services to promote your presence on Facebook.

Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide by Social Media Examiner

***** 5 stars
Mari Smith ambitiously provides a “comprehensive guide to using Facebook” from setting up your profile (including Facebook’s mysterious and frequently-changing privacy settings) to making Friend lists to a six-step for building a Facebook business page.

Facebook Advertising

Pay Per Face: 52 Facebook Advertising Tips & Best Practices by Search Engine Journal

Brian Carter uses this post along with a white paper and video to share more than four dozen tips and best practices for Facebook advertising, which he describes as a combination of “AdWords’ copywriting and analytics with image-oriented linkbait.” Among his tips: use CPM bidding, change ads frequently, and “Always test multiple ads. Always. Always.”

10 Tips for Advertising on Facebook by PPC Hero

Christine Laubenstein recommends getting familiar with Facebook’s advertising guidelines, understanding the different ways to target users, and using Facebook’s bid estimator to help you set your bid before diving into advertising on Facebook.

Facebook SEO

How To Rank #1 In Facebook Search In 60 Seconds For Any Term by All Facebook

***** 5 stars
Dennis Yu provides an outstanding tutorial on how Facebook search works, what factors are most important, what to do (and what not to do) to rank highly in Facebook search, and what changes are likely coming to the search algorithm.

Facebook SEO Ranking Factors, 2010 Study Results by aimClear

Marty Weintraub explains, in exhaustive detail, the top ranking factors for “Suggest,” All Results, Pages, Groups, Apps and more. His aside on the Adult Filter in Facebook is NOT safe for work but is quite amusing in a completely inappropriate way.

Facebook Apps and Tools

15 Applications For A Better Facebook Fan Page by Interactive Online

Lucas Cobb lists his favorite tools for boosting the popularity of your brand’s Facebook presence including Static FBML, SlideShare, Reviews and Notes.

12 Applications to Make Your Facebook Page More Engaging by Social Media Today

Sarah Hartshorn recommends Twitter for Pages, Page Maps, Eventbrite and other apps to help “dress up your Page and make it more interesting and fun for your ‘likers’.”

How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML by Social Media Examiner

***** 5 stars
As Nick Shin notes, “Maybe you’ve seen those really attractive Facebook pages and wondered, ‘How’d they do that?’” The answer is frequently Static FBML, a uniquely powerful and popular Twitter app, and in this helpful post, Nick walks through how to use it to achieve a variety of effects and accomplish different tasks.

How To Get Traffic from Facebook Social Plugins by Daily Blog Tips

Chris Webb explains how to use the Like Button (for blogs) and Like Box (for Facebook pages) to generate more Facebook traffic.

15 Simple Ways to Integrate Facebook into Your Website by appstorm

Contending that “There are umpteen number of ways to plug websites of any shape & kind into Facebook thereby nurturing a community, encouraging conversations, improving user engagement and increasing page views,” Justin Stravarius presents 15 such options including the Like Box, Echo, Fotobook and Facebook Connect Wizard.

Facebook Marketing Strategy

Ensuring A Successful Corporate Facebook Presence by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Aaron Strout presents what he terms the “four golden rules of creating a successful Facebook presence,” and supports these using Dunkin’ Donuts as an example of Facebook marketing success.

Six questions to ask before launching a Facebook fan page by a shel of my former self

The legendary Shel Holtz proposes half a dozen questions companies should ask before plunging into Facebook in order to avoid looking “lame and clueless to all but the least sophisticated Facebook users.”

Facebook Fans

Why You Can Say Facebook Is Worth $35 Billion With A Straight Face by Business Insider

Jay Yarow uses the theory of cognitive dissonance to explain why “Facebook pages are the best ads in social media.” Facebook pages are ranked against six other ad types such as banners, enewsletters and widgets based on their effects in driving recommendations and purchases.

Facebook Facts The Numbers Are Insane! by PRUnderground

500 million users, 3rd-largest “country” on earth, yeah we’ve all heard the numbers. But sometimes it helps to see them. Alex Miranda presents an infographic of Facebook facts, figures and myths.

Facebook Skeptics

Why Businesses Should Think Twice Before Investing Money or Time in a Facebook Page by Social Media Today

Given Facebook’s never ending stream of changes (many of which seem to break or eliminate earlier features) and ultimate control over all content on the site (no matter how much a business has invested in developing that content), Maggie McGary questions whether it’s really advisable for companies to rely too heavily on this platform.

Does Facebook Work? by iMedia Connection

Noting that “While 49% of marketers surveyed by MarketingSherpa think Facebook is very effective at brand awareness only 12% think it increases sales revenue,” Daniel Flamberg presents statistics and real-world results from leading brands suggesting that whatever the benefits of Facebook marketing, it generally isn’t producing “the kind of results the reach, usage and loyalty of Facebook would otherwise suggest.”

“Does Anything Other Than Facebook Really Matter?” by iMedia Connection

Taddy Hall does such an awesome job of chilling down Facebook fever with the cold water of reality that I’d like to just republish his entire post here, but will limit duplication of his brilliant content to this: “When it comes to how we (marketers) approach Social Media, I’m reminded of the drunk looking for his car keys beneath the street light because the light is better than in the dark alley where he last saw his keys. Sometimes doing what’s easy trumps common sense…Facebook is not just another broadcast media outlet where marketers can buy inventory and interrupt consumers. As P&G’s General Manager for Interactive Marketing and Innovation, Ted McConnell, remarked with characteristic flair, ‘what in heaven’s name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?’” Yes, Facebook works quite well for some companies (particularly large consumer brands), but it’s not always the ideal venue. Do your research (particularly for b2b marketing) and pursue audience quality over quantity.

Okay, so you’ve seen the jaw-dropping statistics: Facebook now has more than 400 million users, and it’s still growing. If it were a country, it would be the third largest. Half of all users log in on any given day. The average user spend nearly an hour per day on the site. It’s either the first or second-most visited site on the web (swapping places with Google, depending on the day). So despite the site’s questionable value for business, particularly in the b2b realm, marketers can’t afford to ignore it. If your company wants to be where the action is in social media, you need a presence on Facebook.

Here in some of the best blog posts and articles about using Facebook for marketing from the past year, get tips on creating a compelling page for your company, attracting fans (or “likes”), and learning from the experience of successful brands on Facebook.

4 Reasons Why Marketers Should Choose Facebook Pages Over Facebook Groups by Inside Facebook

Jessica Lee explains the advantages of Facebook Pages for businesses, including rich analytics and increased links for SEO benefit.

The Super Simple Guide to Setting Up Your First Company Facebook Page Without Blowing a Gasket – Part One by Search Engine Guide

***** 5 Stars
With a title like that, you know it’s got to be a great post. In her own entertaining and inimitable style, Jennifer Laycock walks through the process of setting up a basic company page on Facebook, plus links to posts covering more advanced next steps.

5 Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Marketing by iMedia Connection

Frequent best-of contributor Daniel Flamberg advises Facebook marketers on strategy, style and tactics for success, such as how to craft effective content: “huge numbers of users come to Facebook to fill time gaps, relieve boredom or catch up on friends and family. Your content has to fit into that mindset to be successful.”

10 Successful Facebook Business Pages by Penn Olson

Willis Wee showcases 10 examples of Facebook brand success, from Ben & Jerry’s and Starbucks to FML and Red Bull.

10 practical tips for Facebook fan pages by iMedia Connection

Carnet Williams provides valuable tips for Facebook marketing success, such as establishing your strategy in advance, providing a stream of fresh content, and giving your audience a reason to become fans.

Learn Facebook Page SEO Mastery In 7 Easy Steps by All Facebook

Nick O’Neill offers SEO tips for increasing the prominence of your company’s Facebook page and website in search.

Tips To Get People To Join Your Facebook Fan Page by Small Business Trends

The brilliant Lisa Barone outlines a strategy to convert your Facebook fans from “passive observers to a full-blown brand evangelists.”

The Big Money Facebook 50 by Slate

Brief summaries of the 50 most popular brands on Facebook, and their approaches for achieving that success.

Alert! Facebook Pages Are Changing: Are You Ready? by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Michael Lazerow walks through the details and implications for marketers of several design changes implemented by Facebook late last year and early this year, such as the increasing importance of applications.

You’ve seen the eye-popping statistics: Facebook now has more than 350 million active users. If it were a country, it would be the third most-populous on earth, behind only China and India. TechCrunch predicts that “by this summer (2010) well over half of all Internet users will likely visit Facebook each month.” It’s now the second most-visited site on the web, behind only Google.

Given that level of popularity and traffic, it’s no wonder that marketers have embraced Facebook in a big way. What’s curious, however, is that of the top 50 brands on Facebook according to Slate magazine, not one is a b2b vendor. Not even close. And as Mark Schaefer has noted, b2b Facebook success stories are notoriously hard to come by (he found one).

With a mammoth audience and the acceptance, even embrace, of brands there, why is Facebook success so elusive for b2b marketers? It isn’t demographics. Granted, the potential pool of customers for most b2b companies is minute compared to that for major consumer brands, but given the sheer size and ubiquity of Facebook, there are still a lot of b2b buyers using it.

The challenge rather lies in the way Facebook fan pages are used. I’ve heard countless people, within the b2b community, express the sentiment that “LinkedIn is for business, Facebook is for friends and family.” As such, it’s not surprisingly that many of the entries on Slate’s top Facebook list are lifestyle brands. If you buy a new Audi, you might use Facebook to show it off to your friends, but if you’re part if a buying team that just acquired a new enterprise software system—eh, not so much so. And as one more bit of anecdotal evidence, I have my Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook badges all displayed in the left column of this blog. I pick up a lot of new Twitter followers here, and a fair number of LinkedIn connection requests, but rarely a Facebook invitation.

Still, this doesn’t mean that Facebook can’t serve any purpose for b2b marketing. It can serve one helpful role: humanizing a company. As a very wise b2b sales executive said to me several years ago, “people don’t buy from companies. They buy from people.” With the emergence of social media as a marketing tool, that sentiment is arguably even more true today.

Because of the intimate, informal nature of Facebook, it is the ideal venue to showcase personal content related to your company that may not be appropriate on a corporate website or even a LinkedIn profile. Many employees within b2b companies have email communication with customers and prospects, but never actually talk to them. Or they have phone conversations but never meet face to face. Facebook provides an excellent means for sharing photos and even (limited) personal information, to help put a human face on an organization, and “put a face with the name” or voice of an employee for customers and prospects.

Just a few examples of content that work better on Facebook than in more formal settings are:

• • Photos of employees in casual office settings;
• • Photos of employees and customers interacting, or casual shots of a customer using a product (with permission, of course);
• • Trade show photos;
• • Pictures of employees working on community service projects;
• • Company executives speaking, accepting awards, meeting with VIPs, etc.;
• • Photos of production facilities (for manufactured products);
• • Photos taken with resellers or channel partners;
• • Informal or even humorous videos, such as HubSpot’s spoof of The Office or Resco’s “border battle” video shot before last season’s first Vikings-Packers game;
• • And of course, interaction! Most customers and prospects probably won’t want to interact with your brand on Facebook, but for those who do, it’s important to engage them through this channel.

In short, Facebook provides a place to show the human side of your company, to cut loose just a bit and have some fun. While it may produce a lead now and then, it isn’t a very effective lead generation vehicle. Instead, by humanizing your company and giving a glimpse inside, it’s business value lies primarily in lead nurturing—helping move leads through the buying process. It’s more about making current sales cycles more productive than about generating new potential business.

Because the ROI is likely to be difficult to measure with precision, it’s best to keep the “I” fairly modest. Still, with realistic expectations, using Facebook as a means to put a human face (or faces) on a B2B brand can be one effective component of an overall social media marketing strategy.