Social Media Examiner is running an excellent contest for small businesses on Facebook this month. The “Top 10 Small Business Facebook Page” contest is well underway, with businesses and fans nominating their favorite Facebook pages that fall under the small business category. The question is – should you nominate yours?
Courtesy of socialmediaexaminer.com
A Closer Look at The Award
Social Media Examiner is one of the leading social media sites on the internet. They know their stuff, so it’s going to be tough getting awarded this prestigious prize. First of all the winners will get to put an awesome badge on their Facebook page, and have it promoted on SME’s large and highly interactive subscriber list. This is enough to make any small business weak at the knees.
Judges include Michael Stelzner, Mari Smith and Dave Kerpen – some of the cream of the social media crop online. What does this mean? Well, it means that your Facebook page isn’t going to win unless it’s a fully functioning social engine. Numbers aren’t as important as getting the basics right, which we predict the three judges will take into account before looking at fan size.
What The Judges Will Look For
The judges will no doubt look at the overall design, app integration and content strategy that has gone into making your Facebook page buzz. They’ll take a long look at your content and the kind of responses it gets from your fan base. We also think they’ll consider your app choices – do they add to your page? Do they encourage additional interaction, or serve a definite purpose?
Finally, they’ll look at your business message and how you communicate on Facebook. Do you have friendships on other pages? Do you contribute to other small business pages? Even a small Facebook page with 150 fans can be super-interactive. It’s all down to strategy and the content you use to engage your fans.
Should You Nominate Your Business?
Begin by letting your fans know about the contest. See if any of them will nominate your Facebook page. It’s always better if a genuine fan nominates you because they think you deserve to win. If no-one does – then nominate yourself! Just make sure that you have a good thing going on your Facebook page.
There’s no point entering if you own a dead page, or if you page looks fantastic, but doesn’t actually function as a community hub. This award, as the judges will tell you, is for small business Facebook page owners that have worked hard to engage their communities the right way. Those that win will deserve to be in the top 10.
If your Facebook page doesn’t make the cut, then don’t worry. There’s always next year! SME will surely run the same contest in 2012, so you have a year to perfect your Facebook content strategy before you enter again. If you’re not sure where to begin, then read up about Facebook edgerank here.
Oh – and one last thing, the winner of this new SME award will also get free tickets to the Facebook Success Summit 2011.
Did you enter the “Top 10 Small Business Facebook Page” contest? Tell us why your Facebook page has a great shot at winning!
This facebook page ROCKS.They make everything they talk about seem like something fun to see or do.
@Denise – If you haven’t yet, don’t forget to post your vote on the socialmediaexaminer page! Check out the link at the bottom of the post!
My Facebook page is in Danish. I should make one in English as well. I found this website because I was searching for the possibility to add a point called “Awards” on their info tab, which I saw a competitor had, but I can’t find it.
Sounds like great idea with small business page awards. Interesting to see some inspiration for improvements.
@Gita – Or you could use the new Facebook translation tool, we’ve written a post about it today, check it out!
great way to get people motivated and get the cream of the crop. is it too late to submit a fan page?
@Oliver – they’ve already chosen the finalists, but you can vote for them on the Mashable page.