Online Marketing Statistics and Trends for Small Businesses You Can’t Ignore [Infographic]

Do you feel like your small business is being bombarded with marketing distractions, such as changing the design of your website or signing up for a hot new social network that reaches millennials? Do you feel like you are lost in your bid to market your small business? As a small business with limited budget, all you need is a proof that your online marketing channel and strategy is worth your time and effort. The latest online marketing statistics and trends by Invesp shades light on what works when it comes to online marketing for small business. You can use these statistics to make decisions about elements of your online marketing strategy.

Is internet marketing important?

According to Marketing Tech Blog, 75% of small business owners think that internet marketing is very effective or effective when it comes to attracting new customers. As a result 37% plan to increase their marketing budget over the next 12 months. However, 50% of SMBs spend less than $300 on internet marketing every month.

29% of small business owners say they understand internet marketing and do it alone. 28% say they are learning and would like to do it alone. Only 6% say they either don’t understand it or don’t want to do it. The rest, 37%, say they would like to do it if only they would have time and money to do it.

Clearly, there is a lot of room for improvement because 55% of small businesses spend only 20% of their marketing on online marketing while only 10% of small businesses spend 80-100% of the marketing budget on online marketing.

A responsive website is important

Most small businesses (74%) have a website but only 56% say their website is mobile responsive. According to LocalVox, 35% of website traffic is likely to come from mobile devices. This means that non-responsive websites lose on, average, 35% of traffic.

As a matter of fact, the number of mobile traffic is expected to grow in the coming days. So ensure that your website is mobile friendly.

What is the most effective channels of attracting new customers?

28% of small business owners think the Word of mouth is the most effective when it comes to attracting new leads/customers. 20% believe SEO is the most effective channel while 15% believe in online directories. Others are email marketing (10%), mobile marketing (4%) and PPC marketing (4%).

Having said that, the internet marketing industry moves quickly and it’s often demanding to keep up with the swings in technology, consumer behavior, spending and effectiveness. As a small business owner, you should stay vigilant and updated on the latest trends.

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Social Media: 15 Minute Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners

Has this ever happened to you?

Have you ever had those brief moments in your day where you have like 10-20 minutes and you’re not sure what to do?

You know those moments where you have just enough time to do one more small task before you leave to pick up your kids or get on that call with your client. You sit there thinking about what to do and then your hand clicks the mouse into your favorite social site.

And then you say to yourself, “Hey, it’s just 15 minutes. I can take a few minutes to enjoy a little social break.”

Or maybe you spend your day moving from one project to the next and just feeling stressed. And you’re thinking, “Did you just say take a social break? I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to get that Facebook fan page to grow or how I’m going to increase my followers on Twitter.”

So whether you need ideas to grow your social presence or need a list of suggestions to use in those brief moments of time, I pulled together a list of things that you can do during those quick moments of the day to help you to keep growing your business.

My Top 10 Time Management Ideas

Here’s my suggested list of action items you can do in 15 minutes to grow your social presence:

1. Make a list of what social sites are bringing you the most traffic:

To make this list, log into your Google Analytics and click on the links to follow this sequence: Acquisitions – All Traffic – Referrals

You’ll see a list showing which social site is generating the most referral traffic to your website. Each site is linked to a breakdown of the actual posts people clicked on to reach your site.

My top referral source is Pinterest. When I’m in this section, I click on the Pinterest link and it takes me to a breakout of the top pins/images that brought people to my site. To help me better understand what people are interested in, I add my top 10 pins and the number of traffic clicks from those images to my list of my top social sites.

I can also track my traffic from Twitter, my newsletter and all the places where I do guest blog posts but not Facebook. Right now, Facebook is the only program that won’t give me more information other than the number of people who came to my site.

2. Check your top posts in your Facebook fan page:

To access this information, go to the admin panel of your fan page. Look for the tab on the top of your fan page that says Insights and click on that button.

Then start tracking the activity from your Facebook posts. I used a word document but you can set up a spread sheet or just write it out on a piece of paper.

After you’ve logged into your Facebook fan page Insights, review your posts and answer the following questions:

• What were your top 5 posts for the week?
• What time of day were they posted?
• What day of the week were they posted?
• What was the topic or message of these posts?
• Did you add a video, photo or ask a question?

The more you check your Insights, the more you’ll start to see patterns emerge. You’ll start to see what type of content speaks more to your fans and what posts create more engagement with your potential customers.

3. Check what’s going on with your Twitter account:

To see what’s happening with your Twitter account, click into Twitter and click the link to take you to your Notifications section. This is the place where you’ll be able to view your recent activity.

When I log into my Notifications, I usually do these steps:

• Did someone new follow you? Click over to their profile and decided if you want to follow them back. Look through their tweets and retweet a post of theirs or comment on one of their tweets.
• Did someone share your blog post or promote your products? Hit the reply button under their post and thank them for sharing your stuff. I usually add in a personal note to show that I’m not automating these thank you messages.

4.  Find new people to follow in Pinterest:

One of the best ways to hep you grow your Pinterest account is to find new people who are posting new content for you to repin on Pinterest. I usually run a search for new people and boards at least once a week.

• Pinterest’s search feature is so easy to use and it’ll help you look for new people, boards and pins. Just type in your company’s key words or use the words you’d use to run a search on Google.
• This search is a huge help to look for more content to add to a board that you just started or want to grow. You’ll be able to find people who have already done the search work and just re-pin several of their pins. And depending on their content, go ahead and follow them or just their board.

5. Update your LinkedIn profile:

Sometimes we get so busy that we forget to add what we’re working on to our LinkedIn profile. I know this one well – it happens to me all the time!

Your LinkedIn profile is super important because if someone runs a Google search of your name, your LinkedIn profile will come up as an option. This may be one of the first places where a potential customer or partner will first learn about you so you want to make sure that your information is up to date.

To update your information, log into your LinkedIn profile, go to the Edit Profile section (you’ll see the edit pencil next to all the sections) and ask yourself these questions:

• Did you recently add in a new product or service? You can add that to your profile under the Project section.
• Did you write a guest post on another blog? Add in the link in the Publications section.
• Have your services changed? Make sure you update that in your Summary section as well as in the Experience section.

6. Find new people in Instagram to follow:

Doing a search for people who do the same work as you as you do is a great way to see how others in your industry are using Instagram. Run a search for your company’s key words in the search feature (that looks like a magnifying glass) and see who comes up.

When I first started using Instagram for my business, I ran a search and found a ton of people to follow when I searched for social media and small business. I also found that when I followed people who were like me, several of them followed me back.

Also make some notes about what hashtags they’re using! I found several of my strongest hashtags from checking out what others who were doing the same type of work as me were using.

7. Check your numbers in your social sites and set goals for each one for the month:

I usually do this at the end of every month so I can track what’s growing and what site needs a little help. And then I add in a goal number for the next month.

If you don’t know where to start or how to set this up, take a look at my Quarterly Check-in post. You’ll get all the steps to set up a quick social site check-in AND I’ve got a few FREE printable worksheets to give you a place to write it all down.

8. Do a mini-brainstorm social session:

Is there one social site that you’ve been meaning to give a little attention to help you grow your followers? Try doing a little brainstorm session.

Start by looking at the top content on that site and make notes about what’s connecting with your fans. Now list 5 ideas that you could do to help you create or find more of the type of content your fans want to see more of.

And since you’re keeping this to 15 minutes, there’s no time to judge your ideas, just keep writing down everything that comes to your mind.

9. Read and comment on one of your favorite blogs:

Take the whole 15 minutes to really read the article (not just scan it) and think about your comment. What could you say in your comment to really add to the conversation?

If you can’t add to the conversation, move on to the next blog post or another blogger’s site. It’s OK if it was something that was posted a couple of weeks or a month ago. The point is to spend some time crafting your comment so that you can contribute the conversation and maybe even start a connection with your favorite blogger.

10. Remember how much you ROCK

Take a moment to think about how far you’ve come, all the cool things you’ve done and make a quick to-do list of what you want to work on next.

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Is Social Media Marketing Worth It for Small Businesses?

A survey released by Manta shows that nearly 50% of businesses have increased their time on social media channels in the last year, according to Michael Fertik at Forbes. Another 55% of businesses surveyed are actively using social media marketing for lead generation and customer engagement. 

Yet, 60% of small businesses reported no return on investment for their social media marketing.

That may seem dire, but it does mean that 40% of small businesses are seeing some ROI. What are they doing differently?

“I do think a defined digital presence—coupled with realistic expectations—can be a source of significant support for most, assuming a thoughtful approach is taken,” writes Fertik. “Too often, however, it’s easy to make some rookie mistakes.”

The mistakes? The first big one is joining every social media network without considering where your customers are. Spending your resources on Pinterest when you are an auto mechanic may not serve your best interest. There are no barriers to entry to social media networks, so a lot of business join all of them without considering the significant time and effort, and yes, even money, that will be necessary to mounting an effective social media campaign. Go where your customers are and spend your resources there.

“It’s much better to slow down and look at the data before you invest too much in one channel or spread yourself across too many,” writes Fertik. “What type of customer is purchasing your products?  What social channels do they frequent?  What kind of content gets shared, liked or retweeted?  If the data say that your average customer is a city-dwelling mother in her early 40s who likes Facebook, then there is no reason to spend your time and energy on Twitter, at least initially.”

Another rookie mistake is not publishing enough. Or rather, more common, publishing a lot at first and then losing steam. Come up with a schedule that it actually something you can fit into your work time. If that’s just one post a week, then go with that.

Social media is not dissimilar to a hungry baby—it requires feeding on a very regular basis,” writes Fertik. “Don’t set a rhythm you can’t maintain.  It’s a one-way ratchet; you can always turn it up but it’s hard to back off without appearing ungraceful.”

As for what kind of content you should create, first ask yourself: What kind of content catches your attention? What content has value to you? Then ask yourself what kind of content will have value to your customers. What can you teach? What can you do to entertain? Are you funny? (If you are funny, go with that. People respond very well to humor.)

Spend a little time experimenting on social media. Put up a post that tells a story. Then put up a post that asks a question. See which does better with your audience. Offer a prize. Post a picture. Which post gets more engagement? This is how you refine your social media strategy: Trial and error.

It’s also really important to have specific goals for your social media marketing. “The first step in making social media work is to define your goals, and determine your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs),” writes Troy Frink for Tentacle Inboud. “Do you want to get hundreds of page likes, or do you want to drive traffic to your website and generate leads? Deciding on your goals should center around the actions that actually help your business grow. You want to generate revenue, so how do you measure that definitively on your website?”

Once you’ve established your goals and your putting out regular content, work to connect with your online community. “Small businesses should identify strong social influencers—bloggers that your customers read, individuals with robust followers—and start engaging with them,” writes Fertik. “Follow them on their social channels to spark a return follow. Share their content. Comment thoughtfully, respectfully and without self-promotion on posts multiple times a week.” 

Carefully and thoughtfully engaging with other people who share your concerns online will grow your community, which will in turn give your content greater reach.

Frink points out a cool example of using real-time social conversations to connect with customers on Twitter. Heather Physioc was running a social media campaign on Twitter for a cosmetology education website.

“To achieve real-time social media success, she created the following Boolean query in TweetDeck: cosmetology OR ‘beauty school’ AND think OR thinking OR want OR wanting OR consider OR considering. Instantly, the firehose of tweets was narrowed down to individuals who were expressing real intent and desire to attend beauty school,” writes Frink. “This allowed her to focus her limited time only on the people most likely to convert to student leads. She then reached out directly to each of these individuals to offer personal help finding schools near them, and answer all their questions about cosmetology education and careers. Also, when she sent links to content on the brand’s website, she included tracking parameters to be able to measure the success of these campaigns and continually hone them.”

Expect a little bit of negative response to your social media. Every business will get some. It is actually a sign that your social media messaging has some legs if it reaches someone who wants to air a grievance. Use a complaint to improve your messaging. (Or even your product or service.) Respond to criticism with what Fertik calls “prompt courteousness and pleasant professionalism.”

At it’s best, social media marketing can increase your small businesses visibility, give you a bigger reach and engage your current and future customers. Get in the game. 

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Facebook Mistakes Small Businesses Make (and How to Fix Them)

Facebook mistakes. Your small business has made them. Whether it’s an unintentional post or an inappropriate comment, mistakes will happen.

Especially in an environment where content is being shared at lightning speed.

However, some of the worst Facebook mistakes are the ones that often go unnoticed. They’re the missed opportunities. The chance for increased engagement, interaction and shares.

While Facebook continues to change the rules, you must make the most of every opportunity. No matter if it’s missing content, a lack of strategy or an obsolete bio, mistakes are made and prospects lost.

So, what mistakes are you making and how can you fix them?

Here are some of the top Facebook mistakes small businesses make and what you should do instead.

Facebook Mistakes Small Businesses Make

  1.  Not Completing “About” Info

Don’t underestimate the power of the “About” section within your Facebook page.

Just like the “About” page on your blog, this area within your Facebook page is one of the top places fans will visit.

As they land on your page – eager to discover what you’re all about and what they can expect – ensure those details are front and center.

Tips to Help You Craft Your “About”

• Add your mission, vision and values along with any founding details that would matter to potential clients.
• You have a short amount of time to gain the attention of potential fans. Put the most relevant details at the top of your “About.”
• Answer questions any customer or fan would have. (e.g. how long have you been serving the community)
• Provide success stories and examples of how you’ve helped others. Was there a difficult situation you were able to work through? Highlight that story!
• Strike industry jargon from your your messaging and talk to consumers in a conversational way.
• Add keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business and would be used by any consumer looking for your small business.

  2. Posting Only One Type of Content

Would you be able to tell your story through a simple status update? Probably not.

Graphics, video and links all play a huge role in describing what you do and how you help, so don’t forget to change things up.

And keep in mind, not everyone consumes content the same way. Using multiple media types allows you to reach a new audience and keep your fans excited to come back for more.

Marie Forleo actively uses video to engage her audience. Marie’s short videos are personable, funny, and always loaded with tips to improve your business.

Ever struggle with staying present while still planning for the future? Hit play now for my advice on how to find the balance. http://bit.ly/HoK5qk

Posted by Marie Forleo on Wednesday, April 22, 2015

  3. Not Using Facebook Insights

If you have a Facebook Page and don’t check your stats, then you’re missing out on a lot of useful information.

Initially, what you’re looking for are audience statistics, such as age, gender and country of residence.

Now, take it a step further and look at total interactions and interactions per post.

Check what time is best to post and what type of content receives the most engagement.

  4. Cover Photo

The Facebook cover photo works as an online billboard. You have the chance to immediately convey the details about your company to anyone landing on your page.

Let your Facebook cover photo make a strong visual impact.  Use this space to tell your story, sharing details that allow potential clients to understand the what and why behind your business, not just the how.

Too often, the cover photo is mistaken as a spammy marketing tool. While Facebook has significantly relaxed their cover guidelines, you still want to steer clear of anything that reeks of over-promotional.

Look to Peg Fitzpatrick’s Facebook cover as an excellent example. She changes it out frequently, keeping it fresh, interesting and always on brand.

What to Do to Increase Facebook Engagement

1. Create a Memorable Brand

What sets you apart from your competition? Are you clear on who you help and how you help them? Do you know what problems your company solves?

In order to create a memorable brand and outshine your competition online, you must clearly articulate your value.

Your company has an amazing opportunity to translate what you do offline to online. Don’t fall flat by misunderstanding the medium.

Share your history, unique abilities and commitment to your community. Tell your story in a real and authentic way that resonates with anyone looking to connect and hire or purchase from you.

2. Share Consistent Content

Creating, curating and sharing consistent content within Facebook updates can be a challenge.  In fact, one of the top questions I receive from companies across the country is content related.

Have you often wondered:

• Where to find top content?
• What you should be talking about?
• How long you should spend writing Facebook content?

If so, you’re not alone. But, there’s good news. I’m going to demystify how social media managers find content on a daily basis.

I’m also going to give you a few ideas on where you might have content hiding.

Where to Find Content

1. Use an RSS reader such as Feedly to consolidate all of your favorite bloggers.
2. Set up Google Alerts with queries such as “social media news” or “blogging tips.”
3. Create a folder or use bookmarks to collect your favorite Facebook pages. Keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening within your industry.
4. Pay attention to what your competition is talking about. Is it a hot topic? Share that story and put your own unique spin on it.
5. Share celebration, behind-the-scenes, convention or speaking photos.
6. Post your “customer of the week” photo and offer a mini bio and background congratulating the team member on their excellent work.
7. Share your latest blog post with a link back to your blog.
8. Already shared your latest blog post? Pull a quote from that post and turn it into a graphic with a tool like Canva.
9. Talk about an upcoming event you are promoting or a local charity that you support.

As you can see, you are only limited by your creativity.

Look at your past marketing collateral and determine what you can share that transfers your mission, values and vision to your Facebook fans.

3. Build a Strong Community Culture

Use your Facebook page to clearly express your company culture.

Share what makes you stand out and what matters most to you both internally as well as externally.

Post pictures and videos from local events, office parties and your charity work. People love to see behind-the-scenes.

Take Southwest Airlines for example.

Their company culture extends well beyond the typical airplane flight. You see it in everything they do and reflected in each of their employees.

From an empty gray concrete slab to an active, colorful community hub. This #EarthDay is about the Heart of the Community: http://social.southwest.com/qLI

Posted by Southwest Airlines on Wednesday, April 22, 2015

4. Have a Clear Call to Action

A call to action isn’t just for your marketing material. You need to use it within your Facebook posts as well. For example, you’re sharing your latest blog post titled, “5 Mistakes Every Blogger Makes and How to Avoid Them.”

Share your article on Facebook with copy such as, “Are you a new blogger?” or “Just getting your new blog started” and then tell them how you will solve their problem.

It might look something like this,

“Starting a new blog? How You Can Avoid Mistakes Every Blogger Makes!” Click here to see which ones we see more often than not and find out what you can do to avoid them.”

Other clear calls to action are: “find out more,” “click here for more details,” “don’t miss this tip,” or“watch this video for more details.”

The bottom line is this; you never want your fans to guess what the next step is. Be crystal clear in what you want them to do. Whether it’s click, share or comment; spell it out.

Final Thoughts

Take a moment to think about why your prospects or past clients use Facebook?

Do they want to connect and engage or are they looking to be heard? Do they need support or is it the answers to their most frequently asked questions they crave?

My guess is that it’s a mixture of all of the above.

Give your community a virtual water cooler where they can gather, interact and share stories on a daily basis.

Make your Facebook page the go-to location for your industry or niche!

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How social media can make your small business go gangbusters

Social media is constantly being touted for its brand-building power, and rightly so. But many small businesses fail to reap the expected benefits from their investments of time and money in social media, largely because they haven't fully grasped the unwritten rule of social media marketing: It's not which tools you use, it's how you use them that spells the difference between profitable performance and lackluster results.

Like professional marketers, successful small business owners target their social media activities for maximum impact. While their competitors are adrift in a sea of tweets and blog posts, savvy strategists focus and fine tune their social-media plays. Consider three social media campaigns that generated big results through careful targeting:

1. When Denver-based Sword & Plough launched its business to recycle military surplus material into tote bags and related products, it had a bold idea and grassroots support, including a $6,500 award from Harvard's Pitch for Change competition. The firm's start-up financing strategy focused on building its network of contacts via social media as the springboard for a Kickstarter campaign.
(More on the future of Main Street: The booming future of collaborative work environments)
After an intensive 12-month period of sharing its story via Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and media contacts, Sword & Plough launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign. Within 24 hours, it had raised triple its goal of $20,000; within a month, it generated $312,161 in pledges from more than 1,500 backers. One of the keys to its success: targeted social-media outreach to build support before the Kickstarter launch. Today, Sword & Plough has recycled more than 35,000 pounds of military surplus material, employs a network of veterans through its U.S. manufacturing operations, and has sold more than 5,000 products. 
(More on the future of Main Street: The amazing promise of electronic payments)

2. Little Passports has built a $5 million+ business by providing products designed to create a global travel experience for kids. In order to expand and attract venture capital to push its growth to the next level, the San Francisco-based firm decided to focus its social media investment on Facebook. They started small and conducted extensive testing to fine tune the message and design concepts. Only when the message and packaging had been perfected did Little Passports launch a major Facebook ad campaign. In six months, its monthly revenues rose from $130,000 to $700,000 and the firm tripled its customer base. Its targeted Facebook campaign, coupled with its impressive customer expansion, helped lay the groundwork for a successful $2 million venture capital infusion.

3. Sharpie, a company well known in the business community for its pens and markers, wanted to tap an underdeveloped market for its products: teenagers. To engage this target audience, the firm ran a Twitter campaign focusing on self-expression through creativity targeted at users with interests in music and writing. The campaign increased Sharpie's follower base by 600 percent and loads of people began using the hashtag "#Sharpie," making a positive, brand-building association with the firm's products and creativity.
(More on the future of Main Street: How mom-and-pop businesses can thrive in the 21st century)
The impressive results generated by Sword & Plough, Little Passports, and Sharpie underscore the importance of narrowing your social media objectives and outreach. Be thoughtful about your approach, think it through, and test and refine before you dive in. Once you've done that, and as you continue to plan or fine tune your strategy, keep in mind the "Four T's" social-media targeting:

Target your tools: Most media experts agree that for both B2B and B2C firms, the three social media sources that generate the most business leads, positive brand exposure, and customer contact are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. By focusing your activities on these three tools you can build a strong outreach foundation and master their usage: Tweets that include links and photos, for example, are 86 percent more likely to be retweeted. With a solid base, you can explore other outlets like YouTube, Tumblr, and Pinterest.

Target your time: Establish a regular schedule for posting new content to your social media accounts. Successful marketers leverage their time by setting aside two or three blocks of time daily and bundling their social media tasks. This minimizes the distracting, time-frittering aspects of social-media usage and ensures that product development and other high-priority tasks aren't short-circuited.

Target your timing: Studies show that posts are more likely to provide you with valuable exposure at specific times of the day: Just before and after the hour, and around lunch or dinner time, are prime posting slots. Most marketers also agree that Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days where your posts are most likely to receive attention, so high-impact messages should be delivered then.

Target your topics: With 750 million+ Twitter users and a billion Facebook users, finding a way to ensure that your tweets rise above all the cyberspace chatter isn't easy. When you post online, 85 percent of your content should focus on passing along valuable, fun, and timely content to your audience — and only 15 percent should directly focus on news about your business and its activities. A major exception: pop-up retailers and food businesses that depend on Twitter, Facebook, and other social-media tools to alert customers to their schedules. But otherwise, ask yourself before you post: Why would someone share this with their friends and family? And if you don't have a ready answer, think twice about posting it.

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11 Foolproof Ways to Grow Your Small-Business Facebook Following

Your business may have a solid marketing strategy, but are you an effective Facebook marketer?

Facebook estimates that it is home to more than 30 million active small-business pages. How will yours get noticed? How do you turn one fan into 1,000? Here are 11 creative (and perfectly legal!) methods to generate a Facebook following that convert likes to sales fluidly:

1. Make your Facebook page home.

Once you have set up a comprehensive business page, request a personalized web address, such as www.facebook.com/ENTMagazine. Promote your new hub of business across your other social media profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter etc.) and on printed marketing collateral including business cards, highlighting: We're on Facebook!

2. Analyze your advertising efforts.

Through the admin panel of your page, or the Adverts Create Tool, you can orchestrate simultaneous marketing campaigns on your budget. The benefit of Facebook advertising initiatives is that it tracks your customers' responses in real figures. Examine what works and engineer your efforts according to that response.

3. Use Facebook Graph search (it’s your secret weapon).

Imagine one of your fans at the center of a spider web. Graph Search enables you to learn more about them through the other pages they have liked. This information leads you to pools of like-minded individuals to target. It’s a cheeky, albeit ingenious, way to extend your web -- your online reach.

4. Add a Facebook "Like" button -- wherever possible.

You don’t need to be a coding wiz to embed a button on your website. Chances are, the person visiting your website is one of the 864 million who are already logged into Facebook that day, and may be inclined to click a like button, earning you a fuss-free fan.

5. Unite your channels.

Keep all of your social-media accounts on the same digital page by enabling integration, allowing you to post an image on Instagram that will automatically publish through your Twitter account. Save effort and promote your Facebook page concurrently.

6. Give the VIP treatment.

Pave the way for "Likes" with real incentives. A Mexican eatery chain revealed the locations of their free burrito giveaways only through Facebook status updates, driving traffic to their business page. Who can pass up a free lunch?

7. Partner up.

Find businesses with complimentary offerings to yours -- for example, a dog walker could form an alliance with a grooming service. Find businesses with the same amount of likes and approach them with an offer to cross promote your businesses, whether it be a joint offer, a competition or a mention. It’s the easiest way to double your following.

8. Create an app.

More than 19 million people routinely access Facebook through mobile devices and apps are growing in popularity. Small businesses are now able to customize their own app online for a small fee, or outsource it.

9. Talk the talk.

Facebook enables you to connect with your customers above and beyond an Instagram shot or a 140-character tweet. Pages are designed for businesses to engage in detailed discussions with their target audience, which generates word-of-mouth advertising.

10. Be a source.

Content marketing is experiencing a boom, with 86 percent of business-to-business marketers adopting it to promote businesses. Publishing factual and engaging articles via your Facebook Page will position your brand as a source of information, securing a following. Experts suggest posting content five times a day, so you’re “top of mind” of your fans.

11. Link to your personal profile.

We all know the feeling of dread when a friend requests a "Like" for their new business venture (which seldom yields a good response). Instead, every employee should link your business page to their personal profile under the "Work and Education" section. Repost content from your page on your wall to attract likes.

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