Facebook is huge and just about everyone seems to be using it. A Facebook presence is important for visibility and building relationships. Facebook is a free marketing medium to build real relationships with existing and future clients. You can participate through individual conversation such as a comment, like or message. Facebook Pages allows you to showcase your brand, your work and interact with fans. Now you may not want random people from all over the web becoming a fan of your salon, after all it’s not like they are going to fly out for a haircut. But numbers do count. Yes, I know it’s not a popularity contest but it doesn’t look good if your salon has 5 fans. So welcome any fans you can get, as people will think you must have a wonderful salon if you have hundreds of fans on Facebook.

Facebook changed things recently switching the "Become a Fan" page option to now encouraging people to "Like" a page. People are still technically “fans” of a Facebook page, however -- the terminology is just different.

With Facebook you can connect to people and build your brand free of charge. Facebook also offers business ads that connect small businesses with potential clients. Your salon can advertise and pay only for the ads that consumers click on, this is called cost per click (CPC). You decide how much you want to spend and you decide on your targeted keywords. Did you know that people are more likely to look at ads on their profile page than they are to read the newsfeed? Paid promotions are the Facebook Ads created specifically to promote traffic to your Facebook Page. To learn more about Facebook Ads start creating your ads to promote your Page, go here. The Facebook ad campaign can be targeted to: Location; Age group; Sex; Keywords; Work place etc.

Facebook social plugin without having to build an entire ecommerce site into their Facebook page. Some businesses are building ecommerce applications on Facebook, but most use Facebook to drive traffic to their sites. Facebook applications are replacing microsites and being used for launches and promotions.

The News Feed is the first thing users see on their home page when they log in to their accounts. Harnessing the power of News Feed is crucial to getting many supporters and spreading your message to your fans on Facebook.

Use the marketing potential of Facebook by adding basic information to the group or fan page such as links to your site, articles, promotions, events, photos, video and newsletter subscription page.

How can you get more Facebook Friends, Likes and Fans?

• *Add your Facebook URL to your email signature and any marketing material (business cards, newsletter, printed ads etc.) so that prospective clients can join your Facebook page.
• *Maintain your Facebook Page so that potential fans have reason to join. Post Regularly. Not just promotional info, but give useful information they can use.
• *Promote your page for more Facebook fans. With Facebook you can use targeted keywords. It doesn’t look good if your salon only has a handful of followers.
• *Finding people with similar interests and following them may lead to them reciprocating and following you.
• *Very importantly join groups within your local area. These contacts are ideal as they are most likely to visit your salon.
• *Facebook allows you to send group invitations to all of the contacts in your Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo accounts, so don’t forget to invite everyone who’s not already a Facebook friend.
• *It’s easiest to invite your current Facebook to your fan page. Just click on the “suggest to friend” toward the top left hand side of your fan page.
• *You can ask your friends and employees to promote your Facebook fan page.
• *Interact with your fans by commenting, asking questions, answering questions and updating your status.
• *Ask your fans to suggest your Facebook Page to their friends Facebook users (not only your fans) can send content on Facebook Page to a friend via Facebook Message or publish it on their own profiles.
• *Get a widget on your website, so that people can click to instantly join (“like”).  The "Find Us on Facebook" badge provides your business with a way to promote your Page off your website, and helps direct your clients to your presence on Facebook. You can learn how to create a badge for your Page from the "Promotion Guidelines" link, in the "Promote your page" section when you are editing your Page, or by clicking here.
• *Promote your fan page on twitter or other social media sites.

Remember building relationships is key... that's why it's called "Social" networking! 

Do you have any other suggestion or strategies to promote your salon with Facebook? How do you bring fans to your FB page? Leave your comments below…

© Belinda Meyer publishes information for the Salon and Spa industry. She offers helpful information relating to health, beauty therapy, spa treatments, skin care, hair and more. Want to know more? Visit http://www.salonprofit.net