3 Small Business Must Do’s & Must Don’ts on Facebook

Facebook and social media in general have blown open a whole new dimension of marketing.

Direct marketing has never been so easy for businesses, but making the most of a powerful tool such as Facebook can be hard, especially if you’ve got no marketing experience. Here are three of the biggest do’s and don’ts on Facebook for small businesses.

DO bother with Facebook, it’s free! If you run a small business Facebook is a great way of generating some extra interest in your business – get your friends to talk about it and it’ll soon spread across the Facebook pages of those local to your area. If there’s anything of interest to anyone, they’re sure to get in touch – bingo! Free marketing.

DON’T leave it to your kids or an office junior to coordinate your Facebook campaign because “you can’t use technology”. It’s important to maintain a professional image for you and your business, even on Facebook. Don’t leave someone with little business acumen in charge of your Facebook account otherwise it can lead to disastrous effects.

DO interact – that’s the whole point of social media. Adopt a persona (if you aren’t happy with yours) and stick to it. Make sure it’s a pleasant one. Interact with your customers, tell them about new deals and get them interested. Respect the fine line between marketing and spamming – tell your customers about new deals once or twice a week, not every 10 minutes.

DON’T get into public slanging matches or feuds – it’s just not good for your business image. Public perception is everything in business – a professional persona is essential to the long term success of your enterprise. Respond professionally on Facebook – everyone can see what you’re writing. If you get a comment you don’t like take a deep breath and delete it.

DO have fun – if that’s possible. Facebook is great for talking to people on and socializing so why not get involved in some local events? Maybe sponsor some local schools to do some charity work – or help out a local hospice. Facebook is open for everyone to see, the media will always trawl Facebook on a slow news day – and if you’re on Facebook doing good for the community you may just get some free media exposure!

DON’T be fooled into thinking Facebook is the be all and end all of marketing, it’s not. Social media is just one way to advertise – local businesses can also make use of advertising techniques such as leaflet drops and newspaper advertising. Facebook advertising is a great way of inexpensively advertising your business, but it’s not going to bring in enough business to make your business worthwhile alone (in most cases).

Now there’s some do’s and don’ts – if you’ve not got Facebook for your small business already, why not?!