Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world with over 350m users and counting. With every person (and some animals) in my family having an account it seems the social media revolution is as mainstream as it could be. With that in mind you would be silly not to have a Facebook presence right?

Before you dash off and put some pack shots and a link to your micro-site on your Facebook take a step back and consider some of the following:

1. Who is your Facebook page aimed at?

Notice I asked who your Facebook page is aimed at, not who is your product aimed at. A product can have many target audiences so making a one size fits all page may end up not appealing strongly enough to anyone but making it too specific may alienate too many. Make sure you know who you want to target so you can tailor the page to best meet their needs.

2. What interests that audience?

Knowing who you are targeting is just the first step, different audiences require different communication strategies. Some audiences will want facts about the product (how much is it, when is it out etc) others may be interested in a behind the scenes look at how it was created and others will be more interested in engaging conversations around the product and its subject matter. For example Wii Fit users may want to talk about their progress and other fitness tips and Lost fans may want to talk about their show theories and ideas.

3. Do you need to create content?

Creating content, such as videos, is a great way to get people talking about your Facebook presence and while it may not cost the earth you may find that time spent creating content could be better spent engaging. As just discussed different audiences have different needs and you may find that putting all your time and effort into responding to every question that needs answering and stimulating conversations is a much better use of your resources. If you do decide to create content make sure you still keep involved with the community or at the very least continue to make great content.

4. Is this community for your product or your brand?

It seems a fundamental question to the creation of your Facebook page but one that frequently isn’t answered. Successful products these days are often turned into a franchise, iterated on or spun out into other products. If this is the plan for your product why try to create a community from scratch with every release? Creating a brand community can spread the news of more than just one product and build a fan base over many years not months. That said creating a umbrella community for your brand can lead to the page being too broad and you may want each product to have its own bespoke page.

5. How will people find out about your page?

We all want to believe the things we do are so good that everyone will just turn up to get involved, but that isn’t how the world works. You may want to create great content that people will share with their friends, word of mouth may be free but the cost is in the content. You may decide that driving people through targeted advertising is your best bet. Leading people to your Facebook page instead of your micro-site may be a better method for your traditional advertising also. You could also use traditional outlets and influencers to spread the word but as before make sure people have a good reason to do this.

Simply put, know your audience, know what they want and then give it to them. It seems so obvious yet so many people overlook it. Facebook is just another platform and not the be all and end all, you may decide you are better off creating your own community, or using another social network. Do what is best for your product or brand and not just what everyone else is doing.