How to Market on Facebook, Lady Gaga Style

In May 2011, Lady Gaga went to farm on Farmville.  Wait, that is not exactly right.  What the Mother Monster actually did was to debut some songs from her Born This Way album on the popular social gaming platform.

Farmville, allowed its players to listen to Gaga’s new songs, while also putting up a Gaga-inspired farm, along with other Gaga-inspired items.

Buyers of a $25 Zynga game card would also get a download of the album free.

You may feel differently about Lady Gaga, but she is first and foremost a very successful marketer.  She is her own brand and she knows how to market.

Granted that it will be difficult for a small business to get into Farmville and promote their products there, there is another way to do this on Facebook.

Build your own app, of course.

Take a look at your products and services and determine which kind of app would be appropriate for you.  For example, an accounting firm may come up with an app that helps people file their own taxes, or a restaurant may come up with an app that helps people plan their weekly meals.  Or perhaps find an interesting game that you could port into a Facebook app.

And because you are going to host the app on Facebook, make sure that your app has a social component to it.  Allow your users to share the results they get from your app, or have them invite their friends so that they too could use your app.

As a small business, you may not have the same number of users as Zynga’s Farmville, but these users are customers or potential buyers of your products and service.  

What’s more, app sharing presents a deeper engagement level than just sharing status updates or liking your page.

Done right, your app will be valuable to your customers and this will help you engage them.  It will also help you spread the word about your business when they recommend your app to their friends.