When trying to reach out to your customers online, remember why you’re using social media. Social media builds relationships. It’s not just an advertisement for your business. Here are some tips and tricks for creating and managing your business’s Facebook page.

Social Media gives you several unique opportunities.

• It manages and strengthens ongoing relationships
• Increases brand awareness
• Can improve customer perception and trust

Establishing Guidelines

Since social media allows your customers to give feedback, both negative and positive, having a Facebook page is also free advice on how to improve your business. Although you never want to delete valid posts or hide opinions, you can set guidelines for your followers to abide by.  These rules should be simple community regulations such as “no foul language”. Remember not to start a fight if someone breaks a rule, just remove the post. If you chose to establish guidelines, every person on your page must see them and agree to follow them.

Planning Your Page

Develop a Calendar around big events in your business and promote them on your Facebook page. If you find something isn’t working, it is important to adjust and optimize as you go along. Listen to what your followers are saying about your page and make changes to make their experience better. Complaints are really just free advice.

Creating a Mass Trend

There are several different ways to get a trend going on your Facebook page. The more interactive your posts are, the better. Here are some different post topics in order of the response they receive from customers, from least to most.

• Tips
• Open-Ended Questions
• Product Feature
• Coupons or Deals

If you can’t offer coupons or deals, another great way to create a trend is by motivating people to do something offline. Ask your followers to post a picture of something related to your business, or wear a certain color shirt. The more you motivate one type of offline action, like taking a photo, the more you will motivation other offline action, like buying your products and services.