Using Facebook to Find New Customers for Your Business

Facebook has taken over as the most popular social networking tool on the Internet. But did you know that you can also use it to promote your business, expose your products or services to new markets, and bring new customers in the door?

Businesses of all sizes use Facebook as a promotional tool and there are several different ways to do it. One of the most effective is to set up a fan page for your business. A business fan page on Facebook allows you to set up a profile for your business that is separate from your personal profile. Fans can "like" your page and thereby get your postings in their news feed.

Fans can also interact with your business fan page depending on the settings you choose. They can post comments, links or even photos. Your fans can ask you questions about the business on the fan page and can converse with other customers and fans.

Setting Up Your Business Fan Page on Facebook

Setting up the business fan page takes only a few moments, but should reflect the professionalism of your business. Starting at this page, you can walk through the few easy steps to getting started. Make sure that you have your basic business information with you, including contact information and your business logo.

You can add photos, links, a discussion board, and notes to your fan page. You do not need to set everything up all at once, but can add later on as you go.

Providing Content to Your Business Fan Page on Facebook

Decide what you want out of your business fan page. Do you want to attract new customers? Position yourself as an expert in your field? Or are you looking to gather new subscribers to a newsletter or mailing list? Once you know what your goals are, you can populate your fan page with content that helps you meet those goals.

The most important task in maintaining a business fan page is to update it regularly. This pushes your company's name and updates into the newsfeeds of your fans and keeps your business top of mind. If one of your fans shares one of your page's posts with their friends, you get even further exposure so make sure that you are not simply spamming your fans with advertising.

You can write some short articles on how to use or maintain your product or service, write up a frequently asked questions list, or you can even have a weekly Q&A session with fans using the discussion board feature.
Promoting Your Business Fan Page on Facebook

Facebook has several ways that you can promote your page to garner new fans. The first step is for your personal profile to "like" the new page. This sends a notification to all of your friends' news feeds with a link to your page's profile.

You can also choose to "suggest to friends". This sends a message to each friend that you choose that they should become fans. You can tailor the message and even ask your friends to also suggest the page to their friends that would be interested in your product or service.

If your product or service is high value and of general interest, Facebook has a paid ad mechanism. You design a small ad promoting your page, then pay per click based on demographic parameters that you set up. That will determine how many times the ad is displayed on Facebook and to whom.

If you provide quality content on your business fan page on Facebook and keep it fresh and interesting, your fans will grow over time and your business will too.