Starting up and growing a business is never easy. There are many uncertainties, costs and of course lots of hard work to overcome. These will all take a while to turn into success, but the potential is always there.

One of the biggest and most important tasks is getting word out about your business and being noticed by your target market. Thankfully, technology has made it easier to do this. Reaching your social surroundings is only clicks away with Facebook.

With over 700 million users, Facebook has surpassed Google as the most visited site. This means that more and more marketing efforts will evolve to Facebook-friendly methods.

Whereas marketing methods with Google are focused on keyword targeting, marketing with Facebook will be geared towards interest targeting. Facebook’s Advertising Interface allows you to target consumers based on age, gender, location, language, relationship status, sexual gender preference, education, interests and even pages they like.

All this is pretty incredible, considering the valuable effects demographic targeting can have. The more relevant your marketing is, the more customers, or Facebook fans, you attract; but you don’t want just anybody to become a fan. Remember it’s about targeting the right people. Quality is key in gaining exposure.

Simply suggesting your page to everyone on your friends list wont do the trick; in fact, it may even backfire when they keep getting suggestions to something they’ve already turned down.

Begin with widgets on your website and blog and encourage visitors to click the “Like” button. This will make them a fan of your page. For companies that have a list of emails or newsletter subscribers, advertising your fan page with an incentive to join will help.

If you want to get creative, you can create contests for potential customers to participate in by “Like”-ing your page first. If you host live events, take lots of photos and encourage fans to tag themselves. This is a great way to make your way into as many News Feeds as possible along with exposure on your fans’ walls.

When posting news, changes, or incentives on Facebook, remember to use the @ Tag to link to your fan page within the message. This gives viewers an opportunity to click over to your page and potential become a fan. You can even use this method to sign your posts on other walls or fan pages with your fan page name.

Facebook ads are growing more and more prevalent and they are a valuable source of exposure if you can budget the cost properly. It shouldn’t be too costly as long as you test your ads, target specifically, and use proper pictures with short and effective messages – which should mainly focus on getting a “Like” or a click.

Keep these thoughts in mind when marketing on Facebook. It is definitely the forum you want to begin gaining exposure on and there are plenty of creative ways to do so. Have fun with it, keep it simple and you will surely gain the fan base you desire for your business.