Using Facebook to Generate Buzz for Your Small Business

The popularity of Facebook has literally skyrocketed in recent years. As of this writing there are over 600 million active user accounts. As you can see, Facebook should not be ignored when you're trying to attract local customers. Facebook makes it easy to network with people and you likely already have a Facebook account that you can begin to start using to grow your business.

1. Create a Facebook Page for Your Business. You should set up a Facebook page that is just for your business. You can assign yourself as the admin of the page which will enable you to make posts, upload photos and create status updates. Be sure to fill out the "Info" section to help others learn more about your business and what you have to offer them.
2. Create Ads. Just creating a Facebook page isn't enough. You'll need to get people to your page which can be done by creating Facebook ads. These ads will appear on the sidebar which will then be seen by users that you want to target. You can add text and upload a photo to use with your Facebook ad.
3. Use Ad Space Wisely. You don't get much space to work with so make your words count. You need to attract and engage users to click on your ad or "Like" it. When they "Like" your page they'll begin to see your updates in their Facebook feed.
4. Set Targets for Your Ads. Who is your target market? Who do you think is most interested in the product or service that your business offers? The easiest way to convert Facebook users to actual customers is to make sure you're marketing to the right folks. You can create ads that target a certain gender or age group and you can even base your target audience on certain criteria like interests and their geographic location. This is perfect if you're trying to grow a local business!
5. CPC or CPM? Facebook lets you choose whether you want to use a CPC or CPM model for your ads. With CPC (or cost-per-click), you are charged a small fee each time a user clicks on your ad. With CPM (or a cost-per-thousand) model, you are charged based on how many people view your ad. Most suggest that the biggest ROI you will receive is if you use the CPC model.
6. Test Various Ads. The trick to using Facebook ads to your advantage to grow your business is to test a variety of ads to see what works best. Play around with the wording and photos a bit until you come up with something that seems to catch on with Facebook users interested in what you have to offer them.
Growing a small business is no easy task. It takes constant marketing efforts to gain more customers. Marketing doesn't have to be hard though and many social media sites like Facebook actually make marketing fun and easy.