Chambers will soon be able to create Facebook Interest Lists.
They should do so as fast as they can. The feature is being rolled out now.
The first list they create should be a Facebook Interest List of Members.
The chamber, and others, can then share the chamber’s Facebook Interest Lists.
And people can then subscribe. Once they subscribe, the lists member’s posts will show up in newsfeeds.
This could be a big deal. My instincts tell me chambers need to jump on this.
Here are a few Facebook Interest Lists to give you an idea of what they look like and how they work:
Here is a series of Chamber Specific Facebook Interest lists:
- Chamber Associations – such as ACCE, WCCE, W.A.C.E., NEACCE
- Chambers of Commerce – Your chamber should be on this list
- Chamber of Commerce Professionals – Your colleagues if your work in a chamber
- Chamber of Commerce Vendors – The companies and individuals that serve the chamber of commerce industry
- Knowledge of what other chambers post and if those post generate engagement – Call this research
- Information on what they are working on – You might get new event ideas
- Insights on who is joining chambers – Many chambers announce new members – they could be in your area too (think chains)
- You can see what not to post – things that are boring or self-serving
- You will come across chamber of commerce industry vendors that could solve a problem for you, such as the travel companies. These are companies that help you bring in non-dues revenue, increase retention, grow your membership, and much more
Facebook Interest Lists for Chambers
If Facebook has made available to them, chamber execs should immediatly create a Facebook Interest List of their members by going here: https://www.facebook.com/addlist
This will do several things for Chambers.
- There is a first mover advantage here. How many “official local business” Facebook Interest Lists does one community need?
- The chamber can stay in much better contact with their members and what they are up to through their Facebook Interest List of members. Each day, open the list and touch base with your members. They will love the attention.
- Use the list to help you decide what posts from your members to share. You should share a members post at least once a day. Multiple times a day is OK if you are smart about how you do. By this I mean put some thought into each share and post. Don’t spam your friends and followers.
- The list will be sharable. The chambers should, from time to time, share their Facebook Interest List on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ so members and the public can become acquainted with them.
- Create another list that is non-members. That will do two important things. One, you can now more easily follow and engage your prospects. That is golden. The second part of this? No small business is going to want to be in the non-member lists. I can’t wait to see the clever ways people label these lists. “Not yet members”?
As said above, the lists, when subscribed to, will then populate the newsfeed of subsribers. That is so powerful. That is where you want your members to be, in the newsfeeds of customers. You can put them there!
Other ideas for lists:
- Local politicians list
- A Facebook Interest List for those that help small business like the SBA
- Lists with members who often run deals
Keep in mind that the owner of the list is the profile, the user, not the chamber’s page.
Here are the details straight from Facebook http://newsroom.fb.com/Announcements/Introducing-Interest-Lists-109.aspx
