90 out of 100 of the world’s biggest brands have ‘Fan’ pages on Facebook as the social network proves to be an effective advertising platform after all. Despite the spectacular failure of Facebook’s Beacon advertising platform, brand Fan pages were one of the biggest social media success stories for brands in 2008.

Fan Pages were launched in November 2007 to give brands an official presence on the social network. One of the fastest growing Fan pages not surprisingly belonged to Barack Obama fan page in the lead up to the historical US presidential election, attracting more than 4.5 million fans. The Obama fan page grew virally but was supported additionally by social ads on Facebook to extend its fan base. The President has been dubbed a ‘man of the digital age’ for his internet savvy strategies to recruit younger voters.

Fan pages are a brand’s official presence on Facebook and therefore to the World. It is therefore critical that these fan pages are professionally set up, designed and promoted to reflect brands values in order to represent a credible and authentic point of contact between the brand and consumer.

Facebook fan pages can be a highly cost effective way of creating and empowering positive brand ambassadors in a fun and easy way, especially in the current economic climate. The best fan pages need investment to ensure that the page has interesting, relevant content which is updated on a regular basis. Fan pages should also offer added value to fans through sneak previews, downloads or interesting news.

Here is the latest top 25 Facebook Fan Pages:



