Three Ways to Use Facebook to Market Your Small Business

In my previous post last week, I talked about using Facebook as a research tool for small businesses. Now I’m going to shift the discussion to implementation.

Facebook is a great way to find a wealth of information, but you want to take action on it. Fortunately, Facebook provides the means and tools needed to build a profile for your organization. Below I offer three ways you can start.

Create pages for your products or organization

Facebook enables anyone with an account to setup a "page." A page is basically like a profile for an organization, product, service, group and so forth. In fact, Facebook changed pages to act more like an individual’s profile this very week. With this change, pages offer an even stronger ability to connect with your audience.

What can you do?

• Invite friends to become "fans" of your page (build a following)
• Post status updates to your fan base to keep them informed about your organization
• Post links, articles, videos or notes to share resources with your audience
• Enable interaction with your fans using the page wall
• Share photos to give your organization a "face"
• Advertise your page using the Facebook advertising network to gain new exposure (I’ve heard so-so things about this)

Check out Cavendo’s page on Facebook.

Post events

If you’re an events-driven organization, Facebook offers a great platform for getting the word out. You can create events and share them with your network, allowing them to see the details and indicate whether or not they want to attend.

When Cavendo held its Business After Hours event in January, we pushed the event hard on Facebook. We invited people who otherwise would not have known about the event and built up a nice list of RSVPs. More importantly, we had a group that we could track and communicate with as it related to the event.

What can you do?

• Create and manage important events on Facebook (if you hold a lot of events, don’t put them all up, just the essential ones)
• Invite your network to attend events
• Post follow-up photos and news after the event to stay connected with those who RSVPed
• Send personal messages to those who RSVPed to thank or remind them about the event
• Share important details about the event including cost, location and start time

Use your status to communicate important developments

If you create a page for your organization, then you have the ability to post status updates that your fans can see. However, it’s also important to post status updates in your own personal profile. Everyone in your personal network might not be a "fan" of your organization. If you have something significant to announce, tell it to your whole network. Let them know how your organization is doing (in a genuine way, of course).

What can you do?

• Post interesting links or blog posts that relate to your organization
• Announce a significant "win" that you want to share (don’t brag, though)
• Solicit feedback in the form of questions
• Announce new products, web sites, services or people that you’ve hired or launched
• Invite people in your network to become a "fan" of your organization
• Remind your network about an event you’re hosting or participating in

These are three very easy and very powerful ways that you can launch a presence for your organization or small business on Facebook. Much of this is introductory level material, so as you get in and explore Facebook, you’ll find your own uses for it when it comes to building your business.

Stay tuned for a follow-up post on this: Measure.