Facebook custom tabs are what separate your Fan Page from competition. These are the 3 pictures displayed below your cover photo. Using an iFrame editor, you can create custom tabs that serve a variety of purposes, from generating more fans to running sweepstakes and contests. Here we examine the top 6 trending Facebook custom tabs and how your Fan Page can benefit from implementing them.
1. Fan Gates Are Free Fan Generators
Technically, fan gates can be made out of all of the following apps. The sole purpose of a fan gate is simple – create a page where visitors have to click the Like button to gain access to hidden content. The basic structure of a fan gate is a primary page or photo that tells the visitor what they will have access to for becoming a fan, and a “reveal” tab that grants the visitor access when they have become a fan.
Promised content usually falls in these categories:
- Free access to a download or website.
- Entry into a sweepstake or contest.
- Access to an exclusive YouTube video, coupon, or deal.
These are just some of the more popular uses of fan gates. Fans help build some rapport with new visitors to your site, and increase the chance someone provides engagement on your posts through likes, comments, or shares. Do fans mean more money for your Fan Page? Not initially! In order to get some revenue from our fans, we need to turn them into paying customers.
The majority of the following custom tab apps will recruit free fans for you, and some will even start the process of converting the fans into customers. Let’s take a look at some of the more trendy Facebook Fan Page apps to get your Fan Page up to speed.
2. Sweepstakes and Contests
The contest is a popular use of a fan gate. Visitors are introduced to the contest and what they have the chance to win at the cost of becoming a fan. The more enticing the contest is, the more fans the contest is likely to generate. Be sure to stay inside of Facebook’s regulations for contests, and make certain you clarify that the contest is not sponsored by Facebook. This should clear up any legality issues that Facebook’s lawyers are eager to investigate.
Some developers, like Sam Bakker from socialbakers.com, have made contest creation and management simple for Facebook Fan Pages. Their contest app system allows Fan Page owners to easily set up contests with integration for capturing email opt-ins, Facebook sharing, and video promotions.
3. Promote Products With Deals and Coupons
Custom tabs that feature product promotions can actually generate sales directly from your Facebook Fan Page. Giving fans coupons or deals on your promoted products will boost sales as well as generate more fans for your page! As before, the use of a fan gate here is essential.
The typical set up displays the current coupon or deal for the promoted product to the visitor. When referencing the deal you can be specific or as vague as you’d like. For instance, “Exclusive offer just for our fans!” or “Fans get 50% off our product (product name)!” are both ways to entice users to become fans on your page. The sweeter the deal is, the more you should favor the specific approach to lure fans into your fan gate.
Since the iFrames are built with HTML, you can insert order forms directly into the custom tab. This is huge! Every click a user has to make to buy a product means that a percentage of users lose interest. By embedding sales forms you can cut the number of clicks down and make it easier for visitors to take advantage of your promotions.
4. Embedding Videos
Videos are another tool that can be used in combination with the other custom tab apps. Using the embed code from YouTube, Fan Page owners can embed videos to incentivize people to become fans, enter contests, or purchase products. If you are a content marketer, you can use videos in your fan gate and reveal tab to generate more fans.
Similar to promoting deals and coupons, you can promote access to a fan-exclusive training video on your fan gate. This video can be a sample video of the course that you are currently promoting, or just a helpful tactic or tip that gives visitors a positive impression about your knowledge in your niche. This tactic gives users an exclusive inside look at your business, and gives them an idea of what your business is about and what they can expect from you and your products – all for the price of becoming a fan.
5. Collect Donations Through a Fan Page
This app can be used to donate money to non-profit organizations, political campaigns, and things of that nature via a Facebook custom tab. The apps that I have seen, like the one from North Social, create a cool way to link to your donation website from Facebook. The North Social app allows you to create a clickable link embedded in an image that forwards people to a donation site. This is a great way to draw attention to your cause and raise funds at the same time.
6. Build Email Lists From Your Fan Page
Inserting various forms into custom tabs gives you a lot of variability. One of the most sought after uses of these forms is the capability to capture visitor’s emails and build an email list that you can market to. People can be rather reluctant to provide you with their email adress because they have been the victim of spam in the past, or they simply lack the trust required for you to acquire it. Custom tabs can be used to help gain enough trust from your visitors for them to sign up on your mailing list.
Put an email capture form in the same reveal tab as a promotion, or make it required to supply their email in order to enter a contest or sweepstake. The reveal tab is on the other side of the fan gate, so you have already made a fan out of them, and putting the email capture form on the reveal side of the fan gate allows it to be where you are giving something to the visitor. Since you’ve given something to the visitor, odds are they’ll feel obligated to give something back – their email!
We hope these tips help supercharge your Facebook Fan Page, and taught you some ways to use the custom tabs for marketing purposes. Thanks for reading!
