Facebook should be one of the tools you employ in gaining and keeping business.

“Facebook has over 2.7 billion users.”

Due to the nature of its content, Facebook might not seem like the right place to do business, but the sheer number of users–active, engaged, daily users–are a reality that cannot easily be ignored.

You might ask yourself why your high school friends or Aunt Martha would care about your company’s offerings. Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn’t. But what about their friends, or the friends of their friends? That is the power inherent to platforms like Facebook; it’s what puts the “social” in social network. The 500 friends in your “friend-verse” quickly grows into hundreds of thousands after just two or three degrees of separation.

“There are over 200 million small businesses already on the platform.”

Facebook is a versatile tool for businesses of any size because it offers both free advertising opportunities as well as paid options that have been optimized with better targeting capabilities than competing social media sites. For example, Twitter only allows you access to hashtags in targeting audiences based on popular topics within tweets (not who they follow).

This versatility means Facebook can be used by big companies looking simply for exposure by using boosted posts, and at the same time by small business owners who are primarily interested in local, targeted ads.

So, Facebook is not just for socializing. It clearly has value that can be used to promote your business interests. As with any other customer interaction a little preparation can go a long way. Facebook is an effective and inexpensive way to gain new customers, interact with existing customers, and manage your company’s reputation, but it can also lead to trouble if you breach its common standards of etiquette.

Most of these standards are common sense, but we’ve put together a list to help you get the most out of your Facebook interactions (and keep yourself out of trouble).

Top 10 dos and don’ts for using Facebook with your business:

• Be professional and courteous. Treat every interaction like you would offline. Ask yourself, “how would I speak to this person if we were meeting face to face?”

• Use the appropriate language for your audience. Stick to your brand identity and avoid slang or inappropriate word choices that you wouldn’t normally use (e.g., profanity).

• Use a professional profile picture. For many people this will be your first visual impression. It’s worth the effort to try to make a good one.

• Include a link to your website. A good place to do this is in the blog in the "About" section of your profile. Make yourself easy to find and easier to contact.

• Don't post too often. Once per day is enough. Too many posts can dilute your core message and create unnecessary noise.

• Don't overshare personal information. This is especially true on your dedicated business page but remember if it’s online anyone can find it.

• Keep posts relevant to your business. Stick to your products, services, or industry news.  Don’t post about politics or other unrelated topics. People can have strong opinions, and there’s no point in giving people a reason not to do business with you.

• Respond promptly to comments.  Reply to messages from customers as soon as you get them. This is just common courtesy, and it goes a long way. Engaging with your customers in a positive way will ultimately lead to good customer relations.

• Avoid spamming. Don’t make promotional posts or links to your business page on other people's timelines. Nobody likes to get spammed. And once you are known to be a spammer, it becomes almost impossible to change this perception.

• Don't use Facebook as a one-stop shop for customer service. Use it to promote your business and interact with customers on social media channels. Facebook is a good way to start a conversation. It should not BE the conversation.

Facebook Isn’t Just for Socializing. There are over 200 million small businesses already on the platform, you should be too.