Facebook is the biggest social network on the Internet today. Many people use it for personal reasons. But with the site’s popularity, entrepreneurs should see the importance of using Facebook to promote their businesses. Companies such as Labov and Beyond encourage SMEs to take advantage of Facebook as a platform for promotion.

Engaging Customers
What drives Facebook is the billions of people using it every day. Without that, the site would be dead. Therefore, an entrepreneur who uses Facebook to promote his business can use the power of interaction to engage his current and future customers. He can do that by posting content that elicits a response from his target market. He can post an article, a poster, or a video, and then add a question in the end. Even something as simple as “What do you think?” can go a long way in getting people to participate in a discussion. Take, for example, Labov and Beyond’s post that simply said “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Questions don’t have to be difficult!

Sharing Interesting Content
Aside from engaging customers, entrepreneurs can attract Facebook users by sharing interesting content. The social network has a “Share” feature which makes it easy for content to be passed on from one person to another. Many photos, videos, and articles have gone viral from this alone. If an entrepreneur is smart enough, she can use this feature to promote his or her business. If she’s a café owner, she can post an article about the benefits of coffee. That would be far more interesting than a promotional poster about her shop. On Facebook, and on most social networking sites for that matter, people share content that evokes emotional response in them. Entrepreneurs should tap into that and learn to appeal to their customers’ feeling to get their attention. A good example of this is Labov and Beyond’s page. A quick visit shows funny pictures of its company mascot, Antonio, in different scenarios. These are the kind of photos that surely grab people’s attention!

Keeping the Page Updated
Facebook pages get more “Likes” if they’re kept updated. On the other hand, people are quick to “Unlike” pages that have been inactive for a while. Entrepreneurs who have pages for their businesses should set aside time to post on a regular basis. It doesn’t take a lot of time to do so, especially when they don’t have to post original content all the time. An entrepreneur can pay it forward by sharing a fellow entrepreneur’s content, for example. Together, they can help each other grow.

Small businesses can make their presence known on Facebook. All it takes is a little effort, time, and of course, creativity!

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Nick Walz is an active blogger and writer who likes to share his advice and tips to the online community. You can contact him on Twitter @Nick_Walz.