It’s hard to imagine that just a few short years ago Facebook was still an idea in a dorm room.

Now with hundreds of millions of people using Facebook everyday to connect, share and learn, it’s also become a staple in the marketing mix.

— Annette Iafrate, Vice President & Managing Director, ConstantContact UK

Whether you’ve already created a Facebook business page and it’s quickly becoming the online destination of choice for your customers, or you’re looking to get started with Facebook marketing to connect with your customers and prospects, keep in mind that there are some recommended best practices for more effective social media engagement. For those of you just getting started with Facebook, here’s a simple three-step process to consider:

1. Plan: Consider the interests of your existing customers based on what you know, what they share and what they tend to buy. From this information, map out the campaigns and messages that reflect those interests.

2. Publish: Balance how often you post messages and check in throughout the campaign if you need to stoke the dialogue fires or respond to questions, for example. With this in mind, you may also want to consider setting aside one day each week when visitors know they’ll be getting special information or deals. For example, a “Cooking Tips Tuesday,” or a “Freebie Friday” could have them coming to your Facebook page on a regular basis and once they see your other engaging content, they’re likely to spend more time on your page more often.

3. Promote: Don’t just limit your marketing actions to Facebook – integrate your Facebook campaigns with your email and wider social media marketing mix for maximum awareness and sharing by your fans, followers and subscribers.

As your community grows, here are ten tips to consider that will help raise awareness and fans on your business’ Facebook page.

1. Initiate two-way conversations by asking for opinions and feedback.

2. Conduct polls and surveys to get a better sense of your fans’ interests.

3. Encourage fans to get to know each other by starting a conversation and only responding if necessary.

4. Provide special offers only available to your fans.

5. Thank your fans for visiting and Liking your page.

6. When possible, send personalised notes to your fans acknowledging and thanking them for their support of your business, providing insight, and sharing their views.

7. Integrate your Facebook marketing with your other social media, event, and email marketing efforts.

8. Direct your fans to your other marketing vehicles including your website, blog, Twitter feed and email newsletters for greater awareness across the web.

9. Identify your most active fans and reward them with special offers.

10. Encourage a ‘Like-gated’ campaign where users must join the community to gain access to an offer or great content.