Facebook Company Pages: Top Picks Resource Center 

Unlike many company pages we have seen on FB, Buddy Media's page reflects how investments of time and money can create a rich B2B Facebook presence for this Social Media marketing company.

The page has two key elements:

• An interactive custom tab called "Power Your Connections," where first-time visitors land. It's more like a mini-website within the Facebook interface.
  
  The most striking feature is a demo request form that shows up already populated with info from your personal profile: name, company, email address and job title. If you want a demo, just click on a date from their drop-down menu.
• An active Wall that mixes company posts with user content. Some companies just toss a softball question to their fans and walk away, but this page's admins toss out provocative but relevant topics that get the conversation going.

This page makes the grade for two reasons:

First, its layout takes full advantage of Facebook's tools for promotion and engagement while optimizing its features to minimize Facebook's technical quirks.

One example: Jamba Juice adds several custom tabs to promote new products and community projects. These appear in the default view on the page, while lesser-priority tabs are invisible until the viewer clicks the "More" button under the list.

Second, the brand ethos and company voice comes through loud and clear in page copy, whether in Wall posts by official Jamba Juice admins, responses to fans' comments and questions, or in copy and images on its custom tabs.

The Jamba Juice page shows that the company understands what the platform is all about and what it's doing there. That's a rarity.

This Social Media marketing firm's Facebook Page features one of the best Welcome tabs for first-time visitors we've seen.

Many companies are turning their Welcome or "Like-gating" pages into infographic-style content warehouses with videos, whitepaper downloads, etc. Likeable Media, on the other hand, uses a custom app slideshow, which presents a new page every time the user clicks a forward or back arrow.

The first page promotes a selection of case studies. The next: clients. After that: a page with links to company videos and one that collects opt-ins to its Foursquare, blog RSS and email newsletter.

We also like their custom tabs that recruit college interns ("Join Our Buzz Builders") and allow visitors to listen in and ask questions during live appearances ("Likeable Live").

"Like-gating" helps you build a fan base quickly on Facebook. The Salesforce page illustrates how to do it right, first by showing fans just enough content to whet their appetites and then giving them something in exchange for their "Like" click.

Salesforce (58,000-plus "Likes" at writing) promotes updates to its subscription-based business software on its New Features tab but requires new visitors to click the "Like" button in order to access the videos, Twitter stream and other content on the page.

Instead of just issuing the blunt command found on other Facebook brand pages ("Like us!"), Salesforce highlights the benefits: "Like this page for an Exclusive Look at the new features for Winter '12."

Once visitors click the "Like" button, the page pops up a "Recommendation" invitation. These recommendations increase visibility and reach through your users' newsfeeds because they show up in a designated section along with Sponsored Stories and other targeted info.

Your Facebook brand page can be an excellent source of subscriptions for your email newsletter, Twitter feed or any other networks outside of Facebook as this newsletter sign-up page for Silverpop shows.

Silverpop collects its data using a custom app on its Newsletter tab, which is optimized to reflect best practices for email sign-ups.

It explains the benefits (the "what's in it for me?" approach), offers a preview image of the newsletter, posts a check box for each of its newsletter streams and requires minimal data fields (name, email address, company and phone number).

The Washington Post's custom application, not its company Facebook page, is such a cool app we thought it worth your attention because it could represent publishing's future on the Web.

Once you install this app on your Facebook profile, you can read what's hot on The Washington Post's website as well as its partners, including Mashable, Reuters and the Associated Press, see what your friends are reading/commenting on and getting some discussions going, all without leaving Facebook.

Now you can read over somebody's shoulder and make comments about what they're reading without being as annoying as you would be in real life.