Yesterday I took part in the Facebook Small Business Boost event in Charlotte, along with scores of other small business owners and social media types. The event was hosted by Extravaganza Depot, where we gathered to hear the presentation, “How to use Facebook to promote your small business.” This unique opportunity to learn “from the horse’s mouth” was put on in partnership with the DNC Host Committee and the Charlotte Chamber.
Mayor Anthony Foxx introduced presenter Brooke Oberwetter, who led the discussion and fielded audience questions at the end with help from Adam Conner, both out of Facebook’s Washington, DC office.
Here’s an overview of the information provided.
Step 1 – Create your Facebook business page
- Start at http://www.facebook.com/pages
- Click “Create Page” in the upper right corner
- Select your page type, e.g. “Local Business”
- Complete the short form of basic info
- Get your page ready for visitors with images, posts, and other content such as milestones
Step 2 – Connect to your fans
- Get people to “like” your business page using your “Build Audience” options such as inviting email contacts, Facebook friends, and ads
- Ads require a headline, text, and image and can be targeted by location, age, gender, and interests. For example, I created a mobile e-commerce ad for my web development business targeting people within 50 miles of Charlotte, age 25 and over, who are small business owners and college graduates
- There are also additional targeting options available such as people who are connected to certain pages, apps, events, colleges, or employers
Step 3 – Engage your fans with content
- Once you’ve succeeded in getting people to “like” your page, engage them with quality content
- Depending on your business, you may want to post at least weekly, perhaps using the new ability to schedule your posts in advance
- Post Facebook-exclusive content, such as discount codes, to track your results
- Emphasize visual content such as photos and videos
- Be succinct, ask questions, be human!
Step 4 – Influence the friends of your fans
- Once your fans start interacting with your business page, their friends are more likely to check you out
- According to Facebook, people are 4 times more likely to make a purchase when an ad is associated with a friend’s name
Once you have a good grasp of the basics, use these links to learn more:
http://developers.facebook.com/
Jennie Wong, Ph.D., is a syndicated business writer, executive coach, and the author of “Ask the Mompreneur: Small Business Advice on Starting and Growing Your Own Company,” available at www.JennieWong.com. Email your entrepreneurship questions to TheJennieWong@gmail.com.
