Utah Business Blog

By John Pilmer, President of PilmerPR

As the popularity of Facebook continues to grow, business owners are trying to figure out how they can capitalize on the more than 300 million Facebook users. With more than 40 million status updates and ten million users becoming fans of business pages each day, there has to be a market for your company.

As a public relations firm, one of the most frequent questions we are asked about Facebook is this: “Okay, I have a Facebook business page. Now what?” Signing up for and creating a Facebook business page is simple. However, making a meaningful, relevant and useable page for your market is a different process.

Here are a few basic practices that can help your Facebook business page grow in popularity.

Pictures
Facebook users love pictures. They upload more than 2 billion photos to Facebook each month. If you are a dentist office, take pictures of your exam rooms and friendly staff. If you are a restaurant, take pictures of the food, happy customers and fun parties. Don’t worry about having perfect pictures. Pictures are a way to get your fans interested in the page’s content.

Video
People upload more than 13 million videos to Facebook each month. If a customer watches a video about your company, product or service, they become engaged and create an unconscious connection with your company. When customers visit your company, or call on the phone, they will already feel they have an increased connection or relationship with your company, product or service.

Events
People schedule more than 3 million events on Facebook each month. Post a special customer appreciation day event and let all your fans know how they can benefit by attending. Also, consider creating an event for a socially responsible activity your company will participate in or sponsor. Encourage your fans to invite others, as well.

Tips
Create value for your Facebook business page with useful information about your products or services. Don’t be afraid to offer tips that empower your customers or clients. As you provide truly valuable information, you will become a trusted source for your clients and customers.

Reviews
Facebook business pages offer a review section for your business. This can be scary to some business owners, but public reviews add credibility and may persuade skeptical audiences to try your products or services. Positive reviews have a much greater impact on readers than your own claims. Even negative comments show people that you are transparent, and allow you to address concerns.

Experiment with a variety of the above tips to see what works. Repeat what works, and adjust what doesn’t. Not all companies can create and upload video or pictures. Some may not have events. However, always remember that no matter what you do, give your customers or clients a reason to frequently return to your Facebook business page.

About the Author
John Pilmer, APR is the founder and president of PilmerPR, LLC. In its 6th year, the award-winning PilmerPR team provides enterprise-level expertise at a small business price. The company is a 2008 recipient of the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce Arthur V Watkins award for excellence. PilmerPR was recognized at the National Press Club in Washington, DC for its work in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Also, see the KSL Channel 5 interview of the author regarding crisis communications.

The content of this blog reflects the views and opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of Utah Business.

Tags: Communications, Facebook, pilmerPR, public relations, Social Media, Web 2.0

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 7:14 am and is filed under Business News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.