Readers Respond: Small Business Facebook Page Tips

Small businesses are using social media to promote their brands, sell their products and services, and communicate with their target audiences, and having a Facebook business page is one critical element for businesses using online marketing techniques.

There are so many reasons to create a Facebook page for your business, and a number of ways to customize your Facebook page. Then, once you're up and running, there are even more ways to use it.

What do you do on your Facebook page to engage your fans, keep them coming back and encourage them support your brand?

Engagement is huge!

For your Facebook page to be a success, you need to engage and interact with your audience. If you just use it as a distribution channel for your content, then you can expect minimal participation and interest from your fans.

—Guest Jason

Sharing on Facebook

I let fans share comments and other information on my page.

—Guest Lubanga

Add Value

I try to encourage people to return to my page by giving them something extra that they don't get on any of my other pages or communication tools such as Twitter. Normally it's links to articles by others that I've read and found particularly good or useful but it could be photos, contest announcements or a poll.

—sbinfocanada

Personalize

I have two Facebook pages for my two businesses, and for me, the key is personalization. I don't post the same things on each page nor do I just post what I have on my own homepage. Readers ought to find something new and different on the website and on the two FB pages. I also respond to every comment that is posted on the walls.

—SusanHumanResources

Allow Fan Posting to the Wall

I have found that my clients' Facebook pages that allow people to post on the wall tend to grow the community-feel much faster than no-posting-allowed pages. Of course, you have to stay on top of spam and overly promotional posts, but giving your fans a chance to contribute is a great way to grow your page.

—Sue

Personalized Posts & Interaction

While we auto-post some blog content with Networked Blogs (to save time), we always interact personally as well. Posting pictures unique to Facebook, responding to questions and comments and posting select status updates. It's almost like we have two blogs, two communities. Our niche fan page has solid growth every week -- in large part because of the personalized interaction: http://www.facebook.com/GringosAbroad New photo albums seem to create the greatest engagement of all.

—GringosAbroad