Most local business owners don't know how to capitalize on their Facebook pages. Here are some tips to help.

1. 5 Tips to Use Facebook for
Local Business Promotion
ANITA HALES – BLOGGINGSUCCESSSTORIES.COM

2.  Facebook is a brilliant but massively underutilized tool for local businesses.
 Most business owners know little about how to maximize the potential of
Facebook to get buying customers in their business.
 It’s particularly good for small businesses. The national chains have the power of
money and influence to promote their business and most don’t bother
developing a Facebook presence. It’s easier just to buy some ads on TV, Radio or
Newspaper and go with it.

3.  The downside to using Facebook to its potential is that it requires time and
attention, something too many business owners are not willing to relinquish to
use it.
 But the upside can be tremendous and far outweigh the time required to make
Facebook work for them.
 If time is the main issue, it can be outsourced but that’s a subject for another day.

4.  Most Facebook business pages are just static. The business owner will start the
Facebook page, invite their friends to like it and maybe post a few ads on it.
 Maybe they’ll even post an event or two when they happen to think about it.
 Their audience is pathetically small and due to Facebook’s algorithm, only about
2% of those people actually see the posts on the page.
 Business owners just don’t know how to use Facebook.
 Here are some tips to get more out of your Facebook business page:

5. 1. Post Daily Content
 Facebook shows your page more if you are active on it and if the posts get activity such
as likes and comments.
 Once a day is the bare minimum. Studies have shown that the more posts there are on
a page, the more interaction the posts get. And if there is more interaction, Facebook
shows the page to more people. Professional internet marketers suggest posting 3 to 5
times a day.
 Your posts can be set to post at certain times of the day so you can post all your
content at one time to be shown when you want. This is a time saver.
 Content should be something that asks for interaction. It can be as simple as saying,
“comment below”.

6. 2. Promote your page to get more followers
 There is a button labeled “Promote” on your Facebook business page. Just click it to
promote your business. If your customers are from a certain geographic area, you can
tell Facebook to promote it to that area. You can also define whatever demographic
your products serve. You can get very specific and get followers very cheaply, as little as
1 cent or less per follower.
 You can also use the pull-down menu to create a promotion ad. Learning to master
Facebook advertising is a must.
 Be sure to read Facebook’s advertising policies before launching into ad campaigns so
you don’t end up in Facebook jail.

7. 3. Use the “Event” feature to promote
sales and other promotions.
 Create an event on Facebook to get people’s attention to your latest promotion.
 Creating an event also gets interaction from your followers as they respond to the
event query.
 Customers get reminded of the event by Facebook.
 This can go hand in hand with emailing your list. (What? You don’t have a list?
Tsk. Tsk. Another subject for another day.)

8. 4. Link Facebook to your web site or blog.
 Most local businesses don’t think about collecting contact information so they can
directly communicate with their customers.
 Having an email list gives you an advantage over your competition.
 You can create an email list from your web site through a subscriber link.
 Having an email autoresponder will help you connect with your subscribers to directly
target people who are HOT to buy from you since they are probably already customers.
 Having a Facebook presence connected to a blog gives you absolute control over your
content and who it goes out to reducing the costs of advertising. You don’t own
Facebook, but you DO own your blog.
 Your blog should also have daily content. You can repurpose one blog post to appear
on social media as well, not just on Facebook either.

9. 5. Use the Facebook tools like Facebook live video
to showcase your featured products.
 Back in the day, people would hire the local radio or TV station to come down and do a live
broadcast from your store to bring people in. Now you can do it with your cell phone using
Facebook live.
 Do a Facebook Live broadcast to show how much fun people are having at your promotion
and show the prizes you offer. You can talk directly to people as they show up on your
Facebook Live feed.
 Recognize people as they comment on your Live broadcast giving them a shout out.
 Ask people to tap their screens on their phones to send hearts to your live broadcast to keep
the interaction going.
 This is entirely FREE.
 More people are probably on Facebook than are listening to radio anyway. Facebook feeds
are usually on people’s cell phones and they’ll get the notifications right away.
 Just make sure that your customers know to set their Facebook notifications so they get
notified of your live broadcasts.

10. 6. Have a continual FB “LIKE” ad campaign
running all the time.
 Have a continual “like” ads campaign running on Facebook to capture any new
customers. People these days are very transient. They move in and out of
communities. Your local Facebook ads can tap into these people as they arrive
telling them who you are and what you have to offer.
 With competition from the internet, local businesses more than ever need to be
in the minds of consumers. Almost everybody is on Facebook. It’s a valuable tool.
 Yes, I know that was 6 tips because I’m a heavy tipper.

11. Give me some “likes”
 If you got some value from this, please share it with others.
 Visit my Facebook page http://facebook.com/bloggingsuccessstories and give me
some likes and comments.
 Also, subscribe to my blog for more great content and tips to help you grow your
business.
 http://bloggingsuccessstories.com
 Thanks for watching, Anita Hales