How to make sure Facebook works for your business promotion

Statistics show that many companies and their workforces are turning to social media sites, such as Facebook, at an increasing rapid rate. This in turn requires every business to figure out how to protect their business, brand and even employees, from the potential of social media networking gone wrong. While Facebook can be a powerful tool, for business promotion, business owners would do well to be aware of the potential pitfalls, that using this type of marketing can bring. Businesses need to understand what potential problems can arise. This often happens when the staff that use Facebook, do so without understanding what Face really entails, or understand the very public consequences of what their actions can be when using these type of sites.For example an inappropriate picture that is posted without thinking of the consequences, can be looked out by potential clients and other contacts, who logged into the business' Facebook page.There are several other steps that businesses should be aware of.

While the debate rages on about the long-term use of social networking, for business promotion, experts believe that every small business will eventually find itself in the position of having to place tools, like social media networking into its marketing mix. The bottom line as to whether this turn out to benefit these companies will depend on how well Facebook is managed, and what content a company ultimately allows and prohibits from being used.

Here is what you need to know about how to make sure Facebook works for your business promotion-

• Regularly check your Facebook page-Too often businesses set up Facebook pages and then don't check on them. This can result in some really poor marketing. For example-One business had designed a fan page. They then didn't check on it for long periods of time. A customer has written a negative review and then over the months other clients started writing comments in agreement. When the business took another look at the page, there was considerable damage that had been done to its reputation. The bottom line is that any social media network, including Facebook needs to be checked on a regular basis. The business also needs to make it a priority to act on the comments that customers write on the page.


• Consider any type of Facebook events, as a part of your brand. Just like anything else that can be connected to your brand, you should have control over it. Keep in mind that Facebook can do more damage, because it usually will spread almost instantly. This means that anything (even the smallest details), of any activity on a Facebook page should only reflect positively on your brand. It can be helpful to craft a social media policy that explicitly lays out exactly what employees are allowed and not permitted to do on Facebook. Many businesses have instituted rules that any staff cannot put the company's name or anything connected with the company on any social media networking site. This policy generally includes any social media networking, (including Facebook) that they use privately. Remember that your bottom line is fostering and growing your company's brand.


• Involve your employees in the correct use of Facebook-Some businesses have tried to block these type of sites, and then have quickly realized that they needed to accept it, and put in place guidelines to deal with social media networks. To make sure that Facebook is a productive part of marketing, and is not a problem or distraction, many businesses train all their employees in how to best utilize it.Many employers have put into place the following policies-

1. Anything that employees want to comment on in Facebook, must gain approval from the marketing department beforehand.
2. Never providing any personal information and keep business information separate.
3. Instituting guidelines that employees can only be on Facebook for 30 minutes during the workday.