By Shannon Bilby
Are you one of those people who think Facebook is only for teenagers? Or only for mindless updates of what people are doing? Are you also one of those people who have a business struggling in this economy?

Why not take advantage of a free tool like Facebook which allows you to connect and engage with customers on a level you can’t normally reach when they are shopping in your store? Would you be surprised to know that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is people 55 to 65 years old?

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking tools on the Internet. With over 500 million users in the world—about 116 million in the U.S.—how can you afford not to give it a try?

First things first

You shouldn’t think of social media as a freebie solution that replaces traditional media. Think of it as a supplement or a compliment. People still read the newspaper, still watch TV and still listen to the radio, but why not open your mind and take advantage of tools that can help you reach more customers, the right customers?

Social media sites like Facebook are changing the way consumers choose with whom they want to shop and how they make their buying decisions. In fact, it’s changing the way we do everything—even finding a spouse. Would you believe 1 in 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media?

Because so many businesses are fighting for consumers’ attention and dollars, they are bombarded with desperate advertisements bragging about best service, lowest prices and outstanding value.

How are people supposed to choose? In order to be successful with sites like Facebook, your mindset needs to change about getting your message to your customer. Instead of shouting you have the lowest prices, provide helpful, free advice with no strings attached.

Put selling aside when you are on Facebook. The business will come as a result of your helpfulness.

When your customers are on Facebook, they are in a mindset where they aren’t expecting to be sold. They are on a social site where they expect to learn, be entertained, anything but receive a sales pitch or read a bunch of marketing language.

Why does this work?

If you take the approach of providing free, helpful advice with no strings attached, not only are you going to be seen as the authority in people’s minds, you are going to remain present in their minds. When it comes time to making a buying decision, instead of having to decide which advertisement offends them the least, they can choose the authority who has been educating and entertaining them along the way.

Each time you post, comment or engage in a conversation on Facebook, it puts you or your brand at the front of someone’s mind. If she doesn’t need your product today, maybe her sister or best friend does. When you are at the front of her mind—you are right there ready to be recommended. When someone does need your product, there’s no question where she is going if you are the one who has given her free, helpful and relevant advice. Couldn’t we all use some customer loyalty?

How it works

With Facebook, you may already have a personal profile. It also offers different types of pages that allow you to connect with others— for example, groups, community pages and business pages.

Let’s explore how business pages work.

On these pages, there is a feature called a “Wall” where you can post “What’s on your mind.” These are called status updates. Fans of your page will see your updates on their Wall mixed in with other updates from friends and business pages that they like.

Your status updates can include topics such as design advice, answers to FAQs, inspirational room scenes, links to videos or pages on your website.

When your fans interact with your Facebook page, stories linking to your page are sent to their connections via News Feed. As these users click through and interact with your page, News Feed keeps driving word-of-mouth to a wider circle of friends/customers.

With a Facebook page for business, you can share more than text updates. You can share photos, videos, start discussions and others can interact and leave comments on your posts. These interactions help you stay engaged with your online community.

Do you have installation photos of completed projects? Rather than keep them in a photo album at your store, post them in a Facebook photo album for others to see. Before and after photos are great to use. Users might see an image of something they want or transformations showing them their room can look as great as one of your completed project photos.

If you have a great website, use Facebook to drive traffic back to your site. You can share links to certain features or pages and potentially expose your website to people who may not have otherwise found you.

There is also a review tab on Facebook for others to share their experiences. This is a great tool because users are the only ones allowed to enter reviews making them more trustworthy. Don’t worry if you get a negative review every once in a while. Respond to the issue showing how you addressed the problem and show others that you are not immune to problems, but that your company makes the effort to address and fix issues properly.

Facebook is about sharing, but remember: It’s also about listening. Pay attention to what people on Facebook are saying and constantly evaluate your business to see if you are on track with what your customers want. Don’t assume you know what they need, listen first. You can also learn valuable information by viewing the profiles of your fans—depending on their privacy settings.

Another feature of Facebook is targeted ads; you can run ads that are shown on the wall of Facebook users that are in and not in your network which meet criteria that you set. You can set specifics such as location, age, sex, education, and you can even target ads that appear on the person’s birthday. The best part is you can set it up where you only pay when people click on the ad.

Keep in mind the message earlier about changing the way you think and not using Facebook for direct selling. Be creative and use the ads to gain more fans to your Facebook page. It’s far more valuable to get additional people in your network, receiving your message every time you post, than to advertise that you have the cheapest flooring in town.

After more than 10 years in the construction and retail flooring industries, Shannon Bilby changed her focus from flooring sales and interior design to helping others in the industry promote and grow their business through social media. She is currently an independent contractor serving as director of social media for Creating Your Space where she works daily to strengthen the brand awareness of flooring dealers throughout the country. You can contact her at 415.275.9029, or like her Facebook page at facebook.com/creatingyourspace.