By now you've attended countless seminars and training sessions on the value of having a presence on Facebook. If you haven't joined already, you probably never will and that's ok. It's ok if you don't have the time or energy, but know that your competition does.

If you have cast your reel, perhaps you are floundering? With all of the changes, perhaps you're not sure if you are even doing it right anymore. Well, there's no better time than the present to motor up the boat again, as Facebook is here to stay.

Facebook's user demographics are vast, meaning, there are a lot of people still using the platform. While many of the younger generation have moved away from it because it lost its cool factor once their parents started using it, that's ok for our purposes. Why? Because your target audience is not kids, it's their parents. You want to fish where the fish are, and Facebook is as close to a New England Clam Bake as you're going to get in the marketing world. Your prospects are here and it's inexpensive to get to them, so what are you waiting for?

Facebook has another thing going for it and that is that it's considered a sticky site. No, it's not the leftover residue from that corn on the cob. It means that people are on it multiple times a day for a length of time. Thus, they stick to it. This means you can gain valuable and multiple impressions among your target audience.

The key determination as to whether Facebook will work for you, from a marketing perspective is whether you are willing to spend money and time on it to truly use it as a marketing tool. Facebook, while a free platform to consumers is not free if you want to use it from a business perspective. It just isn't. Once you accept that, you can be successful using it.

First, determine your budget. It doesn't have to be a lot. Many of our clients spend $200 a month or less for ads on Facebook. Just know that your growth and impact is directly related to the amount of money you spend (of course!). So if you are happy to grow more slowly it's ok to be more conservative. If you want to totally dominate your market you will need to be a bit more aggressive in the budgetary department.

The ads you run will allow you to target your audience a number of ways. First, you can place ads to target people in the markets you serve, secondly you can pay to promote the posts you put on your business page. If you don't have the time to manage it all and track the analytics to ensure you are spending your ad dollars wisely, hire a firm. Most aren't expensive and having a well-heeled Facebook presence will pay dividends.

Lastly, learn to understand the changing analytics. Impressions among people who live in the towns you serve are valuable. It's the same impact as having a postcard show up in someone's mailbox multiple times, or from having your face on a supermarket cart, but a heck of a lot less expensive.

Done well, maximizing the changing landscape of Facebook will allow you to be the biggest fish in your pond, and that is great for frying up lots of sales!

For more information, visit: Expose Yourself Public Relations.