Facebook Free Marketing Opportunities

The beauty of using Facebook as a marketing tool comes from the endless ways in which you can advertise your business for free. Once you've set up a free account, use your creativity to maximize these features.

1. Profile Page: All Facebook members get their own profile page when they sign up. Use this as your canvas to upload pictures, logos and other information about your company.
2. Groups: Use the site's Groups feature to network with your target audience. You can join existing groups or create one just for your business to amp up the buzz about its services.
3. Facebook Marketplace: College kids use the site's Marketplace to scout out used couches and find roommates, but a savvy business owner can advertise services and product sales, as well as search for new employees.
4. Networks: Ignoring the Networks question when you create your company's profile could lose it a lot of business. List your business's city, industry, neighborhood and any other relevant information to let potential customers and business partners know where they can find you.
5. Facebook Badge: Facebook describes its Badge feature as "a customizable way to share your Facebook information on other Web sites." Creating your own Badge will link Facebook friends to your company's Web site.
6. Events: Instead of printing out flyers and mailers the next time you want to advertise an event, use the free Facebook Events app to get the word out.
7. FunWall: Mass emails are so yesteryear. If you want to keep in close contact with your Facebook friends, use the FunWall to create a message or send a greeting to everyone at once.
8. Top Friends Network: Reward your top friends by sending them a virtual drink or writing on their FunWalls. As a marketing tool, the Top Friends network serves as another way to group your contacts, keep an eye on your target demographic, and quickly and effectively reach out to your company's best customers.
9. Inbox: Send secure, private messages to your clients on Facebook with the Inbox app. You can still send out mass messages, but only to the contacts you select.
10. Notes: Mashable! calls Facebook's Notes application a blogging feature because of the way users post links, messages, photos and other information that they want to share with friends. Even if you maintain a blog elsewhere, give your Facebook friends an exclusive peek into your company's news and behind-the-scenes schedule by posting here.
11. Contact Importer: The contact importer helps you "find your friends on Facebook." If you want to find out if your clients or other work-related contacts use Facebook but think it's a little lame to come right out and ask, upload your contacts from AIM, Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and more to find out if they're online.
12. Share Partners: When you publish updates to your company blog or Web site, add the link or a link and a photo to your Facebook profile using the Share Partners app.