Social Marketing for Business Tips – Ways to Get More Facebook Friends

Facebook is an excellent social marketing tool for businesses. As one of the most visited sites on the web, it has the power to propel your success forward. By getting people to Like you on Facebook, you could benefit in many ways.

With Facebook, you’ll have access to market to people continually.  Most people visit several times a day. They visit Facebook regularly, from their computers and from their smartphones. You’ll have regular access to people this way, versus a once a month newsletter, for example. Facebook can also help you extend your marketing reach with trusted word of mouth referrals. When the vast majority of Facebook friends network with you, their friends list will see those activities and people are often curious when they see something in a friend’s timeline and they’ll click on it, too. Facebook has huge and powerful viral marketing potential and offers social proof / trust. It’s a great way to drive traffic to your website, too.

So, how can businesses go about acquiring Facebook friends? Here are a few tips:

• Create a good-looking and thorough fan page so that people can find you and so that they will want to hit the Like button.
• Add your Facebook URL to your marketing collateral. Adding it to your business card, your email signature, website, and printed material will help you draw attention to it and could get you a regular stream of new friends.
• Link to your Facebook page all over the web. Link to it in articles, press releases, blog posts, newsletters, other social media profiles, etc. The more places you use to draw attention to Facebook, the better.
• Run a Facebook contest or tell people to befriend your company page on Facebook. People will tune in to participate and / or see the results. Giveaways don’t have to be expensive but should be something useful to get people engaged.
• Add your Facebook widget or Like box to your website for quick one-touch linking.
• Link to your page URL from other social marketing sites. People who are willing to follow you on Twitter might also befriend you on Facebook.
• Be interesting on Facebook. Don’t just use it as a podium to market. Use it as a place to share information and to inform readers. If you annoy friends, they will unsubscribe from you. Conversely, if you entertain, inspire, and inform, your message will have a better chance of going viral and your list of friends will continually grow.
• Use paid advertising to direct people to your Facebook page. This will be something that costs money but could, depending on your business model, provide a great return on investment.
• Add a social bookmarklet on your blog posts and that suggest that people Like your post. This could lead to more friends and more eyes reading your blog posts.

As Facebook continues to grow in popularity, businesses will continue to use it to their advantage. If you’re not using it yet, consider starting as soon as you can.

Looking for marketing advice or assistance? Freelance blogger Sharon Hurley Hall suggests you check out Chris Jenkinson’s Internet marketing firm.