From smallest number of fans to largest:

Zappos

Zappos Facebook fan page

16,000 fans

Zappos has an impressive social media campaign spearheaded by their CEO (who is on Twitter @zappos) and their Facebook page is no exception. The page has amateur video shot around the Zappos office and interactive photo galleries where fans are encouraged to submit captions. From blog posts to musical videos sung by staff, the page has everything – except shoes. You see, Zappos is in the shoe-selling business. They also sell clothes. And that information is conspicuously absent from their page.

So why is this page a success? Zappos can’t compete on shoes alone. They sell the same brands as every other online shoeseller. They compete on service – and their videos and other quirks are a testament to their interaction with their customer base. Fans at Zappos already know what they can buy at the main Web site – their fan page is a broadcast of customer loyalty. And in that way, a huge success.

Us Weekly Magazine

Us Weekly magazine Facebook fan page cover gallery

32,000 fans

Us Weekly magazine’s fan page highlights the same content that made them famous – celebrity gossip. The page has many of the same features seen in other Facebook fan pages, from videos to polls to the magazine’s Twitter feed – all powered by Involver. What sets this page apart from others? Two main points.

First, the magazine has done an excellent job of cornering their target market – online. That’s no small feat for a print product. If you don’t believe me, take a peek at the number of newspapers closing in the U.S. because they failed to conquer the Web. The print magazine’s major drawback is just that – it’s a print magazine. Pretty tough to stay ahead on the gossip front when you publish once a week. Their Facebook page is the venue for new gossip and it allows users to share in the rumor mill with wall posts.

Second, they know their product, know their target market and know what works. What sells the magazine? The cover. What features prominently on their page? A gallery of magazine covers. Playing on the same idea, fans are invited to “guess the cover” each week.

Sometimes the simplest strategies are the ones that work best for a Facebook campaign.

Red Bull

Red Bull Facebook fan page

1.1 million fans

If your approach to social media (and marketing in general) is to spread the message far and wide with whatever tools you’ve got at hand, you want your Facebook page to reflect it.

For this reason alone, Red Bull is a success story. The beverage manufacturer that “gives you wings” might be best known for the Flugtag (German for flight day or air show) where fans compete in homemade, human-powered flying machines – with a variety of success. Red Bull also sponsors a litany of professional athletes in many sports. And hosts a wealth of sports-related Web sites. Recently, they added a magazine to the marketing effort.

The Facebook page serves a clearinghouse online for all of the company’s other marketing efforts – sponsorships, print publications, events, partnerships, and the Red Bull blog. You can find it all in one place – indeed, it’s the only place on the Web (aside from Google’s search results) where you can find all of Red Bull in one place (even other Red Bull fan pages).

Victoria’s Secret PINK

Victoria's Secret PINK Facebook fan page

1.2 million fans

A funny thing happens when a company posts its commercials on the Web. Those commercials, abominable things that we skipped over when watching television, become videos. Instead of skipping them, we’re transfixed, spending more time on the site than usual and clicking the button to share them with our friends afterward. In short, it’s a marketing dream come true.

Victoria’s Secret does an excellent job of balancing upfront advertising with content. Using Facebook Markup Language (FBML – Facebook does not allow HTML in fan pages), the company has populated the page with traditional ads – you’re hit with “5 panties for $25″ as soon as you open the page. In this case, the videos are also advertising, but it seems more palatable on the Web. Finally, the page allows users to upload their own videos – and users have answered the call. It’s social media marketing at it’s finest – allow your fans to do the marketing (even the content generation) for you.

Starbucks

Starbucks' Facebook fan page

1.7 million fans

In case you haven’t heard, Starbucks is having a bit of an identity crisis.

After expanding at a ridiculously rapid pace, the coffee giant lost touch with what made it great. Corners were cut to save time making drinks. Pair that with a worldwide economic recession the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades and those $5 Frappucinos just aren’t selling as well. At it’s heart, Starbucks isn’t a coffee company – Starbucks is an image company that also peddles caffeine. When that image gets tarnished, you have a major problem brewing.

Starbucks attacked the problem head on. Massive changes were made in store structure, with a renewed emphasis on what made the coffee chain great. Instead of dismissing the populace while growth exploded, the company has opened its collective ears – begging for feedback from customers, critics and fans alike. A social media campaign – complete with crowdsourcing – is at the heart of this and their Facebook page is no exception.

A robust discussion board elicits fan feedback on everything from how to deal with recycling their paper cups to discontinued syrup flavors – in short, Starbucks is listening.

A final touch: Instead of just uploading blog RSS feeds (a timesaver, but not always a good fit for every company), Starbucks uploads each link individually (tracking the results via bit.ly – very smart) referencing the blog writer on a first-name basis. Those of us who enjoyed the coffee back in the hey day probably had a similar relationship with our barista. It’s a small touch that goes a long way toward recalling the nostalgia that made the company great – and that’s what marketing is all about.

Those are my five – did your favorites make it in? Other amazing ideas I’ve missed online? Please post in the comments so that we can all get a glimpse of what successful companies are doing with their Facebook fan pages.

Next week: Come back for five tips to help you get the most out of Twitter.

Fan pages are Facebook’s response to marketing. Unlike groups, fan pages are (in theory) created and administered by an official representative of the business, celebrity, etc. Fan pages allow you to share and leverage content created inside and outside Facebook with dedicated followers. And when you’ve got news, it’s easy to send a message to all your followers using Facebook’s interface.

There’s a fine art to making a fan page that works for you. Instead of creating yet another web entity that you must update and moderate regularly, carefully tool your page so that content is distributed automatically and updates regularly.

Here are five tips for making the most of your Facebook fan page:

• Provide usable content: For many of us, the heart of a Facebook fan page is the content we’re producing elsewhere. If you’ve got a blog, you’ve got content: make sure your blog’s RSS feed is loading into your FB fan page automatically. Add to that regular content with occassional Facebook-exclusive updates – otherwise blog readers who have already viewed your writing have no other reason to visit your page.
  

  Involver.com's amazing free tools for Facebook fan page functionality

• Automate: Unless you’ve got a lot of free time to continually cross-post all content in multiple social media outlets, you should take a few steps to automate the process. My favorite tools for sharing content on a FB fan page are created by Involver. Aside from the premium services they offer, there are a wealth of free tools to greatly increase the functionality of your FB fan page.
• Be human: One aspect of social media that is continually forgotten is the importance of presenting a human side to your company. When you get new fans, welcome them – on a regular basis. When people post discussion questions, answer them. You’ve opened a forum for your clients and customers. Most of us know better than to ignore a waiting room full of prospective clients, yet I frequently see pages and companies who fail to respond to clients online. If you can’t (or won’t) respond to your followers, don’t build the page. It will hurt you more than it will help you if you appear to ignore consumers.
• Raid your archives: Content is king – so what to do if you don’t have any content to share? Don’t underestimate yourself. If you’ve got PowerPoint presentations, use slideshare.net and an RSS feed to leverage them on your FB page. If you’ve got screen captures of your interface in action, use them as photos in your fan page. And don’t forget to encourage your fans to submit their own content – blog posts about your company, images of your product in use, case studies, success stories, testimonials – online or not, we’re still taking the marketing basics and putting them to work for us.
• Make a splash: If you’ve played around in Facebook long enough, you’re familiar with the alerts you receive whenever anyone does anything anywhere. The second your publish your fan page and become a fan of yourself, all your friends will know. Your message will spread virally. And that’s a good thing. But consider saving this one-time boost when you’ve got a big event on the horizon – a conference or trade show, a new product release, etc. Even if you don’t have something big coming up in the near future, take advantage of Facebook’s ability to delay publication while you get your ducks in a row. Post content so that your first viewers have something to read – you want to reward them for being first to the fan page and give them a reason to join and share your link.

If you haven’t already, consider getting to work on building your fan page. Once you’ve got one up and running, please post the link in the comments so we can take a look at your work and give you a little traffic – and possibly new fans. And check back next week when I take a look at five fan pages that are generating a buzz – I’ll present case studies so we can all learn some new tips and tricks.