What?!?! You have to BUY Facebook Fans? That’s preposterous.

No it’s not. Consumers are lazy and often don’t care about you. You give them service, they give you money. The transaction has ended. They are under no obligation to fan you, friend you, or do anything beyond this.

In some way, you will have to spend money to get a huge fan base on Facebook. What am I talking about spending money on here?

1.) Special promotions or deals. Starbucks offers deals for free or discounted coffee for participating on their fan page. I know that if I fan Starbucks, I will get news on the company, but there is an added benefit which just so happens to bring me back in the store. This is margin taken right off the top of their sales, but it’s a sacrifice they make to get more people in the stores and to continually be the #1 provider of fancy pants coffee.

2.) Content that compels people to view and share. Red Bull has EXTREME content targeted towards their audience. They spent money and hours to find it and make it. News about the company hacky sack competition would not cut it, unless told in a super compelling way (which costs you money, because good story tellers don’t go cheap).

Note: if your business is content, you can suggest people fan you as a means for RSS or connecting with a similar community.

3.) Over the top service. Zappos is known for amazing customer service and over 65,000 people like them on Facebook. Customer service oriented companies often have to make seemingly irrational decisions to make customers happy. They have to have a lot of people manning the phones. They have to offer returns when others won’t. Customer service is not “efficient” in the bean counter sense, but having 65,000 fans on Facebook helps you make up the difference by connecting you with user evangelists who can spread the word.

Many companies promote their fan pages with Facebook ads. That costs money too.

Don’t think Fans are worth it? According to this study on GigaOm, the average Facebook fan is worth $136.38, as fans spend an extra $71.84 more than non-fans, are 28 percent more likely to be repeat customers, and 41 percent more likely to recommend a brand to friends than non-fans.