Facebook has taken over as the biggest presence on the internet for finding information, surpassing Google and the other familiar search engines.
There are now 1.
11 billion users on Facebook and 665 million of them log on every day.
In fact most of these log on and check their page before they even get out of bed in the morning!!! So there is a huge audience out there waiting to see what you have to offer them.
As more and more businesses advertise on Facebook, people are using it now as an information tool and search engine and it is now perfectly suited to local businesses with its new search properties and use of hash tags and other ways to bring your customers to your page.
Google crawls Facebook pages and loves active ones.
Searches on Google are often bringing business's Facebook pages up with a higher ranking than their websites.

• A Facebook fan page will show off your business to potential customers with an optimized cover graphic.
  
• A custom pinnable graphic will feature sales and services.
  
• Optimizing your page with keywords will show the page up on Google
• Posting every day ups your pages ranking on Google
• Page is optimized with a map for local businesses
• On the page you tell people about your products and services
• You can use an opt-in form to grow your email list and grow your customer base
• You can sell directly from your custom page in Facebook
• Check in deals can be set up so customers recommend your business to their friends virally
• Multiple events can be created every month to promote special sales, events, products or promotions at your business.
  
• Your business Facebook page can be linked directly to your website, driving traffic to it.
  
• With the use of hashtags and other search options your page can now reach customers world wide
• Facebook has advertising options that can be targeted to your specific market niche.
  avoiding wasting revenue on uninterested visitors

And other Social Media is close behind Facebook: YouTube: 1 billion users, 4 billion views per day and Twitter: 500 million total users.
Social Media is no longer just the domain of teenagers' random posts and grandparents sharing photos.
It has become a powerful marketing tool and a way of targeting your advertising dollar and making contact with a wider customer base either locally or worldwide and if you're not using it your business is missing out! Author Katie Johnston K atie@katieEjohnston.
com