Facebook is one of the best ways to get your name, brand, and products in front of your community and your target audience. In fact, depending upon how you craft your content and posts, your business can even go viral in popularity.

However, the majority of business owners often feel the opposite of popular in their experience on the social platform. Organic reach is always just out of reach, engagement never seems high, and it sometimes just feels like nobody “likes” you…or your posts.

We get it! Generating action on Facebook is tough, especially for a small business owner. But with the right strategy in place and these inside tips, you really can begin to feel like the popular one on the block. The best part? You can have fun along the way, too.

Here are some the tips:

1. Complete your profile, seriously

Once you set up your business Facebook page, go through and make sure that everything is complete. It can be tempting, at first, to fill in the most important fields but save the rest for later. Take the proper time at the beginning and include as much of your company information as possible within your profile: name, logo, contact information, your website URL, etc.

Select every given category and subcategory that relates to your business. But don’t stress too much about whether the categories are a perfect match. Just make sure you choose something! Then, be sure to add details about who you are, what you do, and anything that is interesting or unique about you and your business.

2. Engaging content is key

Publishing engaging content that not only relates to your business but is also helpful to your customers is key. Take advantage of any fun,  ‘good news’ information, add a touch of humor, and include ideas or inspiration that keeps people coming back. Having a blog is ideal as it creates an opportunity to share and post content that is uniquely yours — and nothing creates credibility like quality, expert, homegrown content.

But if you don’t yet have a blog, that’s okay, too. In the meantime, keep an eye out for content you can repurpose or reshare on your own page. Find relevant articles to your target audience and share them with your own spin in the comment section. This will tell your customers and followers that your page is the place to check for industry news and information.

3. Give people a reason to follow you, then add a touch of humor

If you’re active on Facebook, be sure to include a link to your Facebook page in all of your other marketing campaigns so that everyone is aware of your social presence. Whether via phone call or email, invite everyone in your community to follow your page, and offer them Facebook-specific discounts or incentives in order to get them there.

The more reasons you give your customers to ‘like’ your page, the higher your chances are of them sharing your information from their page — expanding your marketing reach. And even if it feels unnatural, try to add a touch of humor to your posts with the goal of lightening everyone’s day. These are often the posts that are shared and liked the most — particularly at the beginning of your Facebook journey.

4. Use Facebook social plugins

This tip often goes unnoticed by many, but it’s one of the most important ones. Did you know you can embed your Facebook link on your website as well as make use of the that link when sharing any articles, blogs or articles of interest? And did you know that all of this can be done through the use of Facebook Plugins?

There are many plugins worth checking out, but start with a few to keep it simple. For example, the Comments Plugin is a fantastic way to allow people to leave comments on your site content through their Facebook account, initiating a conversation around the information that you’re sharing.

If people wish, they can also share this activity with their friends and friends of friends in their Facebook newsfeed as well. It also contains built-in moderation tools and special social relevance ranking. All of these things can lead to a better performance for your business on Facebook.

5. Host a contest or giveaway

This tip goes beyond the standard Facebook incentives or discount offerings and elevates your community into a healthy competition that generates buzz about your business. When done right, a great contest or giveaway will lead to people ‘liking’ your page … and from there, they might share that information on their page with their friends and family. If the contest is engaging and fun enough, you’ll be looking at a great opportunity for more brand awareness and potential new customers.

6. Pay-to-play

We understand that depleting your bank account isn’t exactly the ideal strategy when it comes to your Facebook presence. However, Facebook offers a powerful “pay-to-play” opportunity where you can run business ads that are bound to bring in more viewers for your business.

Through the use of Facebook analytics and insights, you really can increase your post exposure percentage as well as locate people within your industry that may be interested in your services. Should you choose to run paid ads, be sure to test them to see what ads bring the highest volume, and then narrow them down to a more refined target audience.

While it can seem mysterious and frustrating at times, Facebook really is one of the most efficient ways to grow your brand. So don’t let initial unpopularity get you down. When you learn to take advantage of this social network, it can be one of the best avenues to get your business out there to those who might not normally know…and those who are interested in becoming customers!

Good luck getting social!