A lot of small businesses which are involved in social media and social networking, have already discovered the marketing benefits of having their own Facebook Business Page. It has been a great way to get your friends and family to support you, and also your current and potential customers to keep in touch with your latest wall posts and activities.
Facebook has always encouraged the development of add-on applications to extend the features and layout and interactivity for users. And businesses have a real opportunity to turn their Facebook Business Page into a marketing-machine with correctly represented branding and tailoring.
You many consider some customisation of your Facebook page, with a little help of the following apps:
1. Networked Blogs
NetworkedBlogs brings your blog to Facebook and allows you to promote it to your followers and the Facebook community. I’m a big fan of this app, as I find it a great community to support other bloggers.
2. RSS Graffiti
RSS Graffiti allows you to publish multiple RSS/ATOM feeds on the walls of your Facebook Profile, Facebook Fan Pages & Facebook Groups. I much prefer this to RSS Social.
3. I Endorse
I Endorse is a Facebook application that allows you to collect endorsements for the purpose of building your business relationships and reputation whether you provide a product, service, or just want to have fun. There is also a section for users to browse all the business categories to help them find products and services.
4. Promotions for Fan Pages
Promotions for Fan Pages is a Facebook verified application for companies and agencies to run branded interactive promotions on Facebook Fan Pages. Promotion formats include: sweepstakes, contests, coupon giveaways, special deals and more…
5. FAQ Page
Create your own FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) Tab for your Business Page. Easy interface allowing you to insert which questions you want to ask, and then a space to submit the answers. Very simple for your followers to use.
6. TabFusion Portfolio
Social Media Integration Tabs (minus the creators branding). Apps include Flickr, Blog, Twitter, Portfolio, YouTube, Smugmug, and Music. They are currently free for Personal profiles, or $10 each per year for Business Pages.
7. Viddler
Viddler is a creative web application that lets you upload, enhance, and share digital video quickly and easily inside your web browser. On Facebook, you can share your Viddler videos and you can also upload or record brand new videos to send to all your friends and followers.
8. You Tube Channels
Syncronise your own business You Tube Channel with your Facebook Business Page. There is a US$4.99 monthly subscription fee.
9. Involver
Involver’s platform powers over 30 applications built specifically for engaging audiences through Facebook, the iPhone, Twitter, and other social media channels. They have a range of Free, Pro and Premium Applications. Free Applications include RSS Feed, YouTube Channel, Photo Gallery, Slides, Promotion Gallery, Twitter, Flickr, File Sharing, and PDFs.
10. Clobby Group Chat
Chat rooms for people with similar interests to chat with each other. Add a chat room to your Facebook Business Page or Profile and host chat parties and events.
11. Page List
12. vBroadcast
Vpype Live Broadcaster allows anyone to broadcast live interactive shows to the millions of users on Facebook. The application can be added to your Profile or Business Page so you can share your shows with friends and fans.
13. Slideshare
If you have a SlideShare.net account, you can import your existing presentations into Facebook. If you don’t have one, signup for it from Facebook to share your presentations worldwide and get more views/traffic.
SlideShare is present on both Linkedin & Facebook, and you can easily sync both these accounts with SlideShare. Upload to any one- SlideShare, Facebook or LinkedIn and it will shows up instantly on all three.
14. YouTube Video Box
YouTube Video Box is the best way to share your favourite YouTube videos on Facebook. Quickly find videos with our integrated search, show off your favourite videos on their very own profile tab, import your favourite videos from an existing YouTube.com account and much more! We make it easy to share the videos you love with your followers and friends.
15. The Visa Business Network
The Visa Business Network is a networking site that brings together small business owners to move their businesses forward through today’s challenges and achieve their goals and dreams.
16. Jobs on your Page
LinkUp’s Facebook app allows companies to publish jobs from their company website to their company’s Facebook page or their company Business page. Current versions include a free and premium version.
17. Eventbrite
By publishing your event to your Facebook Business Page, you’ll give your Facebook followers and their friends the opportunity to see, but more importantly, buy tickets to your event! It’s a quick, easy and very effective way to bring more attendees to your event.
18. Payvment E-Commerce Storefront
Launch a professional-grade storefront on your Facebook page with Payvment’s Facebook e-commerce solution. Payvment’s Facebook app gives you everything you need including a full-featured admin area built directly into Facebook to manage your storefront, products and sales. Plus, when you launch your Facebook store, your products can be discovered across every storefront on Facebook.
Currently it’s FREE. Payvment does not charge anything nor take any cut of your sales revenue.
19. MailChimp
The MailChimp application will allow you to link your Facebook Profile and Fan Pages with your MailChimp account. Once installed, you can select lists to be displayed on Profile tabs in either location. Additionally, when you send Campaigns from MailChimp, you can choose to have them auto-posted to your Profile or Business Page wall.
20. HootHut Social Media for Real Estate
Display your real estate listings and solds on your profile and/or Business pages. Automatically create a web page / flyer for each listing, allows you to publish listings to your wall, and makes it easy to share your real estate activity with your fans, friends, buyers, and sellers. Social media made simple for the Realtor or real estate agent that wants a quick and easy way to grow their business via social networking.
21. Easypromos
Easypromos is an application to add promotions to your Facebook page. Main features allow you to manage and customize your own promos, increase your number of fans by offering exclusive promos, and generate excel lists with inscriptions.
Easypromos works for any Facebook page: companies, organizations and corporations – bars, restaurants, clubs and discos, artists, bands, public figures, etc… The first promo is free, and then the cost is $15 per promotion.
Have you tried these apps? Or can you recommend any others?
Thanks very much for this Fiona – great list! My Facebook page certainly needs livening up and some of these suggestions will certainly help.
best wishes
Rob
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 13, 2010 at 8:36 am | Permalink
@Rob, Hi Rob, Happy to provide some fresh options for your Facebook page. Is there any particular app you want to add straight away?
Twitter: melaniekissell
October 10, 2010 at 9:29 pm | Permalink
This post is getting bookmarked FOR SURE!
Thanks for researching and featuring these awesome Facebook apps, Fiona. Looks like the possibilities for enhancing and monetizing pages is … endless!
You’re amazing,
Melanie
Melanie Kissell´s last [type] ..What’s Your Online Persona
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 13, 2010 at 8:39 am | Permalink
@Melanie Kissell, Thanks Melanie
Yes, I thought it would be quick, but it really took HOURS. I found a lot of apps, but people didn’t like them, or said they didn’t work. So to find a selection of apps that worked was quite tricky.
I was impressed though with the range of apps available. Glad you like em
Twitter: AshutoshDube
October 11, 2010 at 9:49 am | Permalink
This post is one of those that need to be bookmarked; great post Fiona. You have a knack of coming up with great things. And that’s the reason why the first thing I do after checking emails is going to http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 13, 2010 at 9:29 am | Permalink
@Ashutosh, Hi Ashutosh, Thank you so much for your feedback and kind words. It really is a great compliment. I’m glad you find our website so helpful.
Twitter: dennisllynn
October 11, 2010 at 1:35 pm | Permalink
Fiona…
Thanks so much for the information – excellent blog.
Dennis Lynn
Social Media Dudes
Dennis Lynn´s last [type] ..Sales vs Marketing vs Advertising vs Public Relations
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 13, 2010 at 9:31 am | Permalink
@Dennis Lynn, Hi Dennis, Thank you for your comment. I am happy you find us to be a helpful blog
Twitter: ResultsLady
October 11, 2010 at 6:34 pm | Permalink
Hey Fiona – Fantastic post! Thank you – I already use several of the applications but found several more that will work well for my fan page. I will definitely be sharing this post with others on the web. Thanks,
Michele Scism, The Results Lady and Founder of http://www.DecisiveMinds.com
Michele Scism´s last [type] ..3 Things I Learned on LinkedIn Today
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 13, 2010 at 9:34 am | Permalink
@Michele Scism, Hi Michele, That’s great that you found some extra apps that will suit your business page. I really appreciate your comment, and taking the time to share this post. Do you have a favourite Facebook App?
Check out our brand new Multi- widget tool. It allows you to have multiple widgets for each page you create which opens up the current limit.
We even have a broken glass widget allowing you to “encourage” fans to click on like before they see any content of that page!
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 11:01 am | Permalink
@John Smith, Hi John, Thanks for sharing the details of your multi-widget tool. It’s a great idea to tempt new visitors to your business page to become fans, with promising them more info and access once they “follow”.
Hi Fiona,
Thank you very much for including Visa Business Network on your list! I just wanted to share with you visabusinessnetwork.com, a free site with a variety of goals that members can work on, including goals that teach them to promote their business on Facebook and how to use Twitter.
Best,
Michael
Visa Business Network Outreach Team
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 11:09 am | Permalink
@Michael Lee, Hi Michael, the website and facebook integration looks pretty good, so I thought I should include it. It’s a great Social Media move by Visa to engage businesses from a different perspective, and try and help them, as well as drive the Visa brand. Thanks for taking the comment to comment on our blog.
Twitter: dLookWeb
October 12, 2010 at 3:33 am | Permalink
Great effort putting this together. Amazing amount of time just creating the list … but to tweak your facebook group – woweee!
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 11:17 am | Permalink
@Corri, Hi Corri, Thanks for your kind words. It was worth the time putting it together, because I learned so much about Facebook Apps – which ones people dislike, and which ones people really love. It was a good experience, and the feedback has been overwhelming.
Great Fiona!
I found a few apps that I actually haven’t heard of.
I’ve been learning a lot from Michele Scism and have greatly
enhanced the effectiveness of my fan page. This will add to my tool box.
Thanks!
Robin
The Authentic Life Empowerment
Mentor/Coach/Trainer
Robin Tramble Twitter: EmpowermentDiva´s last [type] ..Seasons change Are you prepared
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 11:31 am | Permalink
@Robin Tramble Twitter: EmpowermentDiva, Hi Robin, I’m happy you found a few new apps to play with. Yes Michele is awesome, and her blog is such a huge wealth of information. Thank you so much for adding this to your toolbox
Good luck for your business on Facebook.
Twitter: rdx_karan
October 12, 2010 at 8:48 am | Permalink
Thats a great list.
Never heard of 80% of those apps.
Will try them all and report back.
Thanks for sharing
Techfudge´s last [type] ..Facebook- Introduces Download your information feature
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 11:39 am | Permalink
@Techfudge, Hi Techfudge, I’m glad to help with educating businesses about apps. It was tricky to find a selection that actually still worked. I guess this is the problem with FREE apps. If the developer isn’t being paid for them, they sometimes don’t make the effort to maintain them and provide support.
Well at the time of writing, these all looked ok to me
Twitter: locspoc
October 12, 2010 at 1:26 pm | Permalink
A great list, personally I love the Static FBML application because you can do so much with it!
Adelaide Marketing´s last [type] ..Social Media VIP
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 11:44 am | Permalink
@Adelaide Marketing, Hi Loc, Yes I remember we were chatting about this on Linked In. You can do so much with it, and it is a great app, but I still think it needs a little more technical know-how than the others I discovered.
We used it to create our Facebook Welcome page. But I heard the other day that Facebook may be changing the rules again, and phasing out the FBML language. I hope this isn’t true, but I guess this is what you get when something is FREE. The owner can dictate their own terms
Twitter: locspoc
October 14, 2010 at 11:49 am | Permalink
@Fiona Bosticky,
This is certainly true but only affects new applications not existing ones:
“We will, however, continue to support existing implementations of the older authentication mechanism as well as FBML on Page tabs and applications.”
http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-moving-away-from-fbml-2010-08
Adelaide Marketing´s last [type] ..Social Media VIP
Twitter: roominate
October 13, 2010 at 8:35 pm | Permalink
Great article… I have some experience with a few of these, and plan on looking into the others that you suggested… another one that I like very much and recently added to my Fan Page is Pagemodo… it looks very professional and for us it helps our fans connect to our other social media sites
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 11:50 am | Permalink
@C. Scala, Hi C, Happy to hear you’ve found some new apps to try with your Facebook page. Yes, I have used “Pagemodo”, the free version. It was a nice design, but I found it too restrictive.
The text wasn’t searchable, the whole tab could only have 1 link, and I really wanted all our social media links to be accessible from our Welcome page.
Still, as a freebie it was pretty good, til we got our own page off the ground.
Thanks for your comment.
RT @abnormalmarket: 21 Facebook Apps to Boost your Business Page http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/2010/10…
Twitter: StacyStateham
October 14, 2010 at 2:52 pm | Permalink
Thanks Fiona! I’m just getting started with Mail Chimp, so I guess I need to get it integrated to my facebook pages. I just got networked blogs up and running the other day.
Have you looked into Pagemodo for welcome pages? Really easy to use!
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 14, 2010 at 7:14 pm | Permalink
@Stacy Stateham, Hi Stacy, Yes I’ve heard very good things about MailChimp. I think Constant Contact have a Facebook App too. And these are both great sites for managing newsletters. Happy to hear you’re on to Networked Blogs too.
We did previously use a free Pagemodo Welcome Page, but other than looking nice, I didn’t like it. It wasn’t search engine friendly, and you could only have 1 link in the entire tab page. I wanted to include video and links to all our social media networks in the Welcome Page. I think the only way to do this at the moment is with FBML.
So we programmed our own page, and I’m very happy with it, and the search engines picked it up pretty fast.
Thanks for your comment.
Twitter: StacyStateham
October 14, 2010 at 8:07 pm | Permalink
Thanks Fiona! I didn’t think about whether or not it was search engine friendly, I’ve considered building one in FBML, but I don’t know if there’s enough chardonnay in town to get me through it
Stacy Stateham´s last [type] ..Rockford- IL area real estate market update
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 15, 2010 at 10:06 am | Permalink
@Stacy Stateham, Hi Stacy, Yes, FBML is tricky. If you’d like help with it just let me know. We can design Facebook/ Welcome/ Landing pages exactly how you want it, and SEO friendly, in a couple of days.
Happy Facebooking
@Fiona Bosticky,
Hello Fiona – awesome post. One quick question. I see Payvment’s whole store shopping is done inside the TAB. Is that part entirely done using FBML?
Thanks so much.
Raj
Twitter: fionamceachran
January 23, 2011 at 1:28 am | Permalink
@Raj, Hi Raj, Thanks for your feedback.
I have checked with our web developer Erjon, and he believes that the application has been created using the Facebook API, and after they are showing the application on their page using FBML.
I hope this helps.
Wonderful list! I can’t wait to try these out. I recently read that Facebook is doing away with apps for personal and business pages (but not for fan pages). This kind of puts a damper on using some of these apps.
Karen T´s last [type] ..What is Your Workspace Like
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 19, 2010 at 2:40 pm | Permalink
@Karen T, Hi Karen, It seems Facebook keeps changing the rules every month, and we just have to take advantage of all the opportunities we have for the moment. I guess we can just jump in and use these apps while they are still around
Thanks for your comment.
I tried 2 of the apps: FAQ Page & Page List. Neither of them worked.
Just thought you might like to know.
Great list otherwise!
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 19, 2010 at 2:42 pm | Permalink
@Lisa, Hi Lisa, Thanks for your feedback. That is very strange. I have FAQ on my Facebook Page. I checked it today, and it’s working fine for me… I haven’t tried Page List yet, but I think I might, just to see if it works too…
RT @abnormalmarket: 21 Facebook Apps to Boost your Business Page http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/2010/10…
Twitter: acnservicescouk
October 19, 2010 at 3:35 pm | Permalink
Thanks, have been looking for new ways to expand our facebook pages other than using the twitter app.
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 19, 2010 at 5:25 pm | Permalink
@Adam, Hi Adam, Happy to hear you find the post helpful. Good luck with your Facebook page. Thanks for your comment.
Twitter: kathygriffiths
October 19, 2010 at 4:17 pm | Permalink
This list of apps simplifies Facebook for me. I believe that using too many apps can be confusing and time consuming. However, having this nice list to choose from gives me an opportunity to make a nice selection that will work for me. Thanks you for your effort.
Kathryn Griffiths´s last [type] ..Online Branding Using Social Media Can Be Risky For Your Kids
Twitter: fionamceachran
October 19, 2010 at 5:28 pm | Permalink
@Kathryn Griffiths, Hi Kathy, Great to hear this list helps you will ideas for your Facebook Page. I know there are tonnes of apps out there, so I thought some businesses with Facebook Pages might appreciate a list of the most helpful ones I could find. Thanks for stopping by
RT @abnormalmarket: 21 Facebook Apps to Boost your Business Page http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/2010/10…
RT @abnormalmarket: 21 Facebook Apps to Boost your Business Page http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/2010/10…
RT @abnormalmarket: 21 Facebook Apps to Boost your Business Page http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/2010/10…
RT @abnormalmarket: 21 Facebook Apps to Boost your Business Page http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/2010/10…
RT @abnormalmarket: 21 Facebook Apps to Boost your Business Page http://www.abnormalmarketing.com/2010/10…
Fiona,
Just wanted to say Thank You for this page. I am new to social media/websites and it’s been a bit overwhelming for me. I have saved this page to review apps again, I did use the FAQ app and love it!
Again thank you for the time and effort you put into this page!
Cathy