How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Business

Facebook is a rapidly growing and boasts 175 million users with about five million new users a week. This makes it a ripe opportunity to boost your business. And when it comes to Facebook, while you cannot create a customized profile page like Twitter, you can create fan pages, send mass messages to your fans and join groups.

The first step to promote your business with Facebook is to create a business profile. Facebook offers you the ability to separate your personal and professional social networking activities and offers a number of settings, which you can adjust to meet your needs. To set your privacy settings, visit http://www.facebook.com/privacy/

Next, just like Twitter, you’ll be connecting with people and also like Twitter, you can import your email list and connect with those people first. You can also search for friends using the Friend Finder feature and Facebook also suggests friends based on people you’ve connected with, items in your profile and groups you’ve joined.

And make the necessary changes. For example, you may only want friends to view photos and videos tagged with you in them.

The next step, which again will feel similar to Twitter, and most other social networking tools is to begin interacting and promoting your business with the tips and strategies we’ve already mentioned. Upload videos, announce promotions, share links to interesting and relevant sites, share your experiences and get involved.

What is unique to Facebook are the applications, fan pages and groups.

Promoting with Facebook Applications

Facebook offers a number of applications including creating and joining groups. Adding and joining groups is another way to connect with a very specific target audience. If, for example, you are a dog trainer and your market are new dog owners, you could create a group for puppy owners and share helpful tips, links and information with them. The group function allows you to also see the groups your friends and associates are participating in so you can make the decision about whether or not it’s a group you too want to participate in.

There are a large number of applications and with Facebook continually growing new applications will be added every day. A few great applications to consider include:

• Twitter – Allows you to publish your Twitter posts on Facebook.

• BlogNetwork – This application is a great way to publicize your blog and gain new followers.

• Advertising – Facebook allows you to advertise on their site and to also sell ad space on your profile/fan pages.

• Facebook Pages – A Facebook Page is a public profile that makes it possible for you to essentially create a business profile page right on the site. You can share products, sell ad space and market to your audience. You can also invite people to become a “Fan” (through PPC ads). Each fan is now someone you can market to directly by sending them messages, promotions, information, downloads and so on – much like you would an opt-in list.

• Mobile Facebook – allows you to use Facebook from your mobile phone. Great for sending on the fly messages but also good to remember that many people use this feature on their mobile phone and you can market to them specifically.

Facebook is an active, thriving and growing community and it’s not just for teenagers anymore. In fact, middle-aged men and women are one of the largest growing communities online and they’re a lucrative audience.