Facebook makes its money through marketing and ad revenue. In order to maintain its position at the top of the social media world, it needs to work with the very best marketers and advertisers. So they established their Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) program. Elite and talented marketing companies who join this program are able to work with Facebook to find new and innovative ways of reaching its users, from app building to ad creation to Facebook Pages.
Marketers who excel in these categories can be awarded the PMD Badge and become part of Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developer Directory. This shows that they have a deep understanding of Facebook and how to use it for brand promotion. So what do they know about marketing on Facebook? And how can you learn it for yourself? Here are just a few examples…
- How to Use Facebook’s New Features. Facebook is constantly rolling out new features, either for its users or its advertisers. Some of them are popular, while others take some time to get used to. But regardless of what they are or how they’re received, each update has the potential to be used for brand promotion. PMDs keep track of these updates and use them to create and implement new marketing strategies.
- How to Promote and Distribute Page Posts. Not all of the people who Like your Facebook page can see every post you create. But it’s important for you, as a marketer, to know how to reach as many people as possible with your message. Things like encouraging interaction with your content can help in this regard, as the more people Like, comment on and share your posts, the more they’ll demonstrate that they’re interested in your content, and the more of it they’ll be able to see. There are also Page Post Ads, which allow you to put your content front and center in your fans’ news feeds, for a small fee. PMDs know how to use Page Post Ads and other important tools to gain maximum Facebook exposure.
- How to Design Apps. One of the best ways to promote your brand on Facebook is with an app. Apps have the potential to go viral and become hugely prevalent across Facebook. Popular Facebook apps include everything from games like Candy Crush Saga, to functional apps like Skype or TripAdvisor, to creative apps like BitStrips. Designing an app for your brand can have a tremendous impact. So it’s important to know how to design one that will be useful and effective. PMDs know how to design apps that are simple to use, work across multiple platforms, and can encourage promotion of and interaction with your brand.
- How to Create Effective Facebook Ads. Apps and page posts can be very effective, but sometimes a well-placed ad can still be helpful. But only if it’s designed right and placed properly. PMDs understand how to use ads un-intrusively, to target users with features like Sponsored Stories, and reach them in a way that they’re more likely to respond to.
Unless you’re an elite and innovative marketing firm, you’re probably not all that interested in becoming a Facebook PMD. But you should still be interested in promoting your brand on Facebook, using all the different tools available to you. And the lessons learned from Facebook’s PMDs can help you do that more effectively.
