Recently, when I was going around Internet cafes to check on our collaterals and games, I noticed that Facebook users are growing. They’re active in the checking their walls and responding to friend status and what-not. It may be that Friendster, once the proud owner of Philippines’ social network scene, is feeling the brunt of this of this market change.

So why the growth? It could be that Facebook has a better interface (hey! They change it everytime… most likely they do FGDs and hire experts to improve upon the interface every so often.)

I’ve also noticed that a lot of the Facebook games are better… way better even than most stand-alone browser-based sites or applications. They even have a great business model, which I pointed out in an old post about how much Farmville makes. Like what I predicted a couple of years back, these “Social Games” will be taking the industry by storm.

In the coming months, businesses will be crowding the Facebook ad real estate (and other similar social networks). You can see it now as the top presidentiables all vie for awareness when you go to your wall, right? Also, celebrities, groups and businesses are slowly noticing how great fan pages are. Those that have a head start here will leave their competition in the dust.

So, if you have a business or product to promote, now is the time to harness the power of social networks. But it’s not as easy as going there and buying an ad. Here are a few tips on how to best tap into this great marketing tool.

1. Know your message – practice solid branding principles to get your message accross as SIMPLE AND DUMBED DOWN as possible. You only have a limited space (and time) to say your message and you have to do it in a manner that your target audience appreciates.
2. Visuals Count – Since you’re working on the 5 seconds that your potential customer will be looking at your ad, you have to make the visuals count. Look at the ads of Villar, Gibo or Noynoy and you’ll know what I mean. Some of them have it, some of them need a few improvements.
3. Get Help – If you’re not familiar with new media placements and marketing, I suggest you get a team to help you. Leverage on their expertise. In the end, you won’t waste money doing the right things the wrong way.
4. Make A Fan Page – A fan page is easy to do. Often, noobs get the wrong notion of making either a PROFILE or a GROUP on Facebook. Why is a fan page better?
   1. You don’t have to approve new fans. It’s automatic.
   2. You can do almost everything that a profile or a group can do using a Fan Page
   3. It’s aggregated into the fans’ network.
   4. It’s easy to setup
   5. Multiple management with multiple admins
   6. Easy to link to an ad (if you’re ready to take it to the next level and pay)
5. Small Things Are Part of a Whole – When you do a marketing campaign, take note of the keyword there – “Campaign”. It’s not a mish-mash of a lot little things. All the things that you do must be connected. You have to think like this or you’ll likely get less results if you just put out random things via new media.
6. Don’t Get Discouraged – Results DO NOT come overnight. Success in new media and web 2.0 marketing isn’t instant. Often, it’s a steady stream… trickling into arteries until they meet in a massive river. Hey! The Grand Canyon also started with just a stream of water right? So, don’t lose hope. Just build it constantly and your efforts will pay off if you do it right (and have the patience).

I’m sure that companies, groups and individuals will be paying more attention to Facebook, Friendster and other social sites in the coming months or even weeks. I also hope that the tips above will help you get started on the right track. In the future, I’ll be posting more tips and tutorials on how to do SNS marketing.

Let me know if you have questions by commenting below.

Don’t forget to become my Facebook Fan. Thanks!