People like to feel they are talking to a person not a corporate body, when they are using social media. Some small to large business owners and social media marketers do not understand how to sell on facebook and other social platforms. They make the same mistake again and again. Social Media Marketing is about gaining potential customer's confidence by engaging with them first. Then your sell later

When I first started using facebook I did not understand this personalization concept. I used an icon instead of a photograph of my face. I thought that no one would want to see my ugly face on all my fishing company updates. This is why I created the green and white fishing fly icon you can see in the lower facebook cover photo example. I was so wrong. I went to a facebook marketing meetup in central London and heard the speaker talk about the better response they had when they ditched the company logo as a profile picture and used the CEO's face instead. I was skeptical at first but I decided to test the idea. I was so glad I did. I received a number of positive comments along the lines that it was nice to see the face behind the company. I noticed a big increase in the amount of comments and engagements with my readers. Many of these converted into being new customers. This applies to your Google+ and LinkedIn accounts as well.

As a small company it was easy to decide who was to be the "face of the company". This will be a bigger problem for larger companies but not one that cannot be solved. Take Google for instance; Matt Cutts who in charge of the anti-spam division, is a very visible spokesman for the company in addition to the CEO Larry Page. Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is a very visible spokeswoman for the company along with its founder Mark Zuckerberg. We all know what Sir Richard Branson looks like from Virgin. If these big companies can find a face to represent their company so can you.

As part of this personalization effort consider sending your followers digital birthday cards. If you look in the top right column of your Facebook page when viewed on a browser, you will see that you are told how many of your followers are celebrating a birthday today. There are many fun images on the web you can use or better still make your own. Go to your follower's facebook page and upload one of these happy birthday images and wish them a happy birthday. Do not try to sell anything. It just helps to show what a good social company you are. The same applies for the different official holidays during the year. In December I post a different festive image every day just like you receive when you open the door on an advent calendar.  Send an image that is connected with your business and add a link to your website. Also add a comment. Ask your readers to click the share button.