How to Build Fans for Small Businesses on Facebook
by Sophie Southern, Demand MediaFacebook began as a social networking platform for college students. It has evolved into one of the most popular websites on the Internet, with more than 600 million accounts as of early 2011. Facebook went beyond personal profiles with the addition of applications, ads and fan pages that allow companies to benefit from the popularity of Facebook. A Facebook fan page can be a useful tool in promoting your small business and acquiring new customers.
Step 1
Send your friends and other contacts a message on Facebook telling them that you've created a page for your small business. Ask them to become a fan and to recommend your page to any of their friends who might be interested.
Step 2
Add a Facebook fan page widget to your website and blog. You want it to be as easy as possible for people to "like" your page. Facebook provides widgets for websites and blogs under the "Edit Page" feature when you're logged in as the page administrator. Click the "Marketing" link, then click "Add a Like Box to Your Website" and follow the instructions.
Step 3
Develop your fan page profile and include as much information as possible about your small business. Explain your company, talk about what services you offer, what you do in the community and why people should use your business. The more complete your Facebook fan page, the more fans you'll get.
Step 4
Update your Facebook fan page regularly. If you have a business blog, you can set up automatic syncing to post your blog entries directly to your Facebook fan page. Blogging platforms such as Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr have this option built in, but you can use a free service such as Su.pr to automate posts as well. Keeping the content on your fan page fresh will keep your fans checking in on a regular basis.
Step 5
Interact with your fans. If people post questions, concerns or comments to your Facebook fan page wall, always take the time to address them. Your Facebook fan page should give your customers and other small businesses a way to communicate with you. Another benefit of commenting on posts is that Facebook posts with more activity appear more frequently in news feeds, which can attract more fans for your page.
Step 6
Add images to your photo gallery. You may not want to post photos of yourself, and it's not necessary. However, you can post photos of your business, its products, services or interior. If you have company events or participate in community events, create an album on your Facebook fan page and tag your friends.
