Facebook, one of the most powerful social networking platforms in the world, has provided a number of tools that make it a powerful weapon not just for individuals, but for businesses and brands as well. 

We have reviewed Facebook in detail, and the following are some ways that it could make your business experience better sales and profits.

1. Facebook Pages
Facebook Pages give businesses their own profiles on the social networking site, giving your business or brand an identity on Facebook. With such a Page, interested fans or customers can become “fans” of your business or brand Page, and when they do, all their friends will see this and perhaps become interested too. You are able to store photos, videos, company information, and also custom applications on your Page. All the activities which you post on your Page will be posted to your mini feed for all your friends to see.

2. Groups
Groups on Facebook are similar to Pages, but these are meant to be built around a group of people rather than an individual business or brand. There are no “Become a Fan” feature here, and groups do not share as much information with the users’ friends as users interact.

Many groups on Facebook can provide useful information and professional connections for your business. Each group features a Wall (like a guestbook with messages) and threaded discussion lists. Rather than trying to search for groups, watch the groups that your friends are joining, and if you find them interesting for your business, join them!

3. Advertising
Facebook has an advertising platform that enables businesses to specify a particular demographic group to target for their products and services, and then broadcast their advertisements to this particular group. You can also choose to narrow your target audience by age, sex, gender, the groups or fan Pages they join, or even specific keywords.

4. Applications
You can ask your developers to write software for the Applications in Facebook. This can help promote your business on Facebook. Applications give you full power to say or promote anything you want about your business, and use the social tie-ins provided by Facebook to do this. For example, Visa created the “Visa Business Network” application which extracts information about users and allows them to better network with other small business owners. They even integrated with Facebook advertising by offering those that install the application a credit towards advertising on Facebook.

On a personal level, if you blog, twitter, or read feeds, there are Facebook apps available for all these services. If you have already used these tools professionally, you can integrate them into your Facebook page.

After you add the respective app, you simply do what you were already doing and let the app do the work. You can see the Twitter updates from your Facebook contacts without necessarily following their updates in Twitter itself. If your business’ blog is on WordPress, you can add the WordPress app and your posts will automatically be pushed to your Facebook profile, along with recent comments. If you don’t host your blog with WordPress.com, you can easily use the built-in Notes application to post your blog feed as you publish. It will let your contacts know through your mini-feed when you have posted a new entry.

5. Polls
Facebook Polls are excellent for marketers looking to get a quick answer about a particular feature they would like to implement, or just to find out information and opinions from a specific demographic group. 

6. Facebook Connect
This feature enables a business website to easily integrate with Facebook. Businesses can integrate Facebook into users’ login process, retrieve users’ friend information, and even post data back to users’ mini feed so all their friends can see their activities. Learn more about this feature here.

7. Others
Here are several other ways to reinforce your Facebook business experience:

1. Post professional or business photos to reinforce your brand.
2. Post your newsletter subscription information and archives somewhere in your profile.
3. Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, leaflets, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.
4. Post business updates on your wall. Focus on business activities, such as “Working with ABC Company on project K.”
5. Share useful articles and links to presentation and valuable resources that interest customers and prospects on your wall, to establish credibility.
6. Before traveling, check contacts locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.
7. Research prospects before meeting or contacting them.
8. Upload your contacts from your email client to find more connections.
9. Use “Find Friends” for suggestions of other people you may know to expand your network even further.
10. Look for mutual contacts on your contacts’ friend lists.
11. Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.
12. Market your products by posting discounts and package deals.
13. Share survey or research data to gain credibility.
14. “Suggest Friends” to clients and colleagues — by helping them, you establish trust.

15. Post upcoming events including webinars, conferences and other programs where you or someone from your company will be present.
16. Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.
17. Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your business.
18. Use search to find groups and fan pages related to your business by industry, location and career.

With so many possibilities, if you haven’t already use Facebook for your business, consider giving it a try using some of the tools mentioned above. Although this networking tool still has a long way to go, they will continue to grow too alongside your business. Have fun!