5 simple Facebook marketing ideas

What's your best Facebook marketing idea?
With over 500 million users, Facebook can offer the perfect solution to your online marketing needs. Pages and ads posted on Facebook have huge market potential if you know what you’re doing. Avoid common pitfalls and maximize your Facebook success by taking the time to plan out your strategy before you begin.

Lay out the rules. Let your friends know what to expect by clearly laying out the rules and expectations of people using your page. If you’re building a page for reviews only, state clearly on your page that any post that isn’t a review will be deleted. Letting users know what to expect will help to encourage people to post on your page.

Keep it professional. Your business contacts won’t care what you’re having for dinner or what your family is doing for the holidays. Post only updates and information that your customers will appreciate knowing, such as upcoming events or specials. Save your family pics for your personal page.

Help your customers find you. Include all relevant information on your Facebook page. Don’t make your customers do all the hard work, they shouldn’t have to search for your address or phone number. Keep all your contact information and relevant business information in an easy-to-find place on your page.

Update your page regularly. Keeping content on your Facebook page current will let users know they are in the right place. If you haven’t posted anything in over a year, your customers may assume that you don’t often use the page and skip adding you as a friend. Answering questions and emails and updating your page will keep your page current.

Research your demographics before placing an ad. Facebook ads are great tools to reach your target audience. Facebook will allow you to choose your target demographics and will even let you know approximately how many people your ad will reach. Use these tools to your advantage and create the most efficient ad possible.

Brian Farrell is a coach, helping clients achieve their personal and professional goals. He's also the creator of the "QA2 Method". For more about Brian, visit bfarrell.com