Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites with a global user population of 845 million and still growing. While it may have started out to be just a means to connect with friends and family, it has now grown to be a huge networking tool for small businesses. You can use Facebook for your small business to build brand loyalty, establish yourself as a subject matter expert in your field, to engage with your customers and to drive qualified leads back to your small business web site.
Before you even sign up for Facebook with your small business, take a few minutes to sit down and think about your main business reason for using this social media site.. Are you trying to grow your customer base? Are you out to build brand awareness? Are you trying to create an avenue to connect with existing customers? You can achieve any and all of these objectives eventually but concentrating on one main objective allows you to measure your initial success more easily. So decide on that main objective, then sign up for a Facebook account.
Building a Facebook business page is really simple. It is free and lets you connect with existing and new customers. You can include your business location, hours and other details about your business. You can claim your Place which connects your physical location to your Facebook page. Then you can promote your page and invite your prospects and customers to visit it.
Maintaining regular postings about your business to your Page is crucial to keeping loyal readers and getting them engaged. You need to actively participate in the customer discussions on your page so you fully understand not only your customers’ business problems and the pain they endure but more importantly the words and phrases they use to describe their issues and the to relate to your products and services. This understanding lets you communicate back to them in their language. Provide reasons why they would return regularly and often and give them expert advice so that they hold your expertise in high regard.
Here are some simple tricks for when you’re first starting out, since you won’t have any followers on your Page. Make sure you get the word out there – start with your family and friends and have them “like” your Page. Have them tell their friends. If you own a business that has a store front, put the fact that you’re now on Facebook on some flyers and hand them out. Somehow let your current customers know that they can now find you on Facebook. Then ensure that you’re on Facebook at least once a day, if not more, to write on your Page about things going on in the business and to respond to any customers posting on your Page.
Facebook is one of the easiest and best tools to connect with customers. First, it’s free, so it’s not going to cost your business anymore money. Second, most people are already on Facebook, so it’s just a matter of getting them over to your Facebook Page. Once you are able to get people to follow you, ensure that you interact with them and advertise specials or deals. Change the way you think about Facebook and use it to promote your small business.
