Using Facebook can increase engagement more than almost any social network, making it a powerful social marketing tool.  So, how do you effectively use Facebook? Here are three tips to get your Facebook usage rolling:

1. Make sure you have a Facebook Fan Page. It sounds so simple, and it is, really. In fact, just a few simple steps get you all set up–check out this link for the basics. A few more steps can help you glam it up–just ask Gigi of Kludgy Mom.

2. Update your page frequently. And not just with your latest blog posts. There is a huge network of people out there, from business contacts, to potential friends, to potential customers. Engage with your audience, grow your audience, and see the positive results.

3. Interact with others. Do you have a friend who is all about me, me, me? Do you also hide that person from your Facebook feed? Remember, Facebook is a social network. Without being social and engaging, you are not going to see results. Try to visit other pages, highlight your friends and share content that is of interest to everyone. Sharing is key on Facebook, so in sharing content you find valuable, you endear yourself to readers and fans. The possibilities are endless, and sharing resources makes you a resource.

The variety of social media networks is full of conversations at any given point in time. Trying to stay on top of everything can be a daunting- and impossible- task. The best way to get the most out of your activity in these networks is to follow a few simple tips. These can help your Twitter activity be more productive and efficient.

• Timing. To be effective on Twitter, you need to remain part of the conversation. While watching Twitter constantly is not always an option, scheduling your regular time to spend on there can work effectively. Set up ten or twenty minute intervals at several points in your day, and focus your tweeting interaction to these times. Give it your full attention to make the most of it, but then put it away until your next scheduled time.

• Messaging. One of the most important things is to balance your promotional tweeting and your interactive tweeting. There are plenty of bots out there tweeting links and ads at people who have no interest in hearing them. Become part of the conversation and your message will be much more well-received.

• Automating. Automating messages is a much-debated topic. With Twitter, it can be hard to promote your messages throughout everyone’s time zone. So, it can be useful to schedule tweets, like event reminders or message promoting. One thing to be mindful of is when you schedule these tweets, you need to be sure you do not tweet on top of the time they are scheduled. Or, be sure to work your tweeting in with the conversation.

Twitter is an awesome networking tool and a great way to engage in conversation. It can provide an introduction to many people, brands, and opportunities you might otherwise miss. Here are a few tips to be sure you don’t alienate potential followers.

To do

@ people. I know this sounds obvious, but talk to people. Even if they don’t you. Twitter is all about meeting new people and networking, so go ahead and talk to someone. Even if they ignore you, there are millions of other people who won’t.

Share interesting content. While updating your Twitter stream with random thoughts throughout your day is definitely allowed (such as daily pictures of #coffee), be sure you are tweeting out links that are valuable in some way to people. Whether you are sharing tips and suggestions or even a humorous break, people will follow you if you share interesting content.

Interact with your followers. If you only share your links and do not really engage with people, then others won’t find you appealing to follow. People want to have a conversation, so they follow those who will talk back.

Not to Do

Follow someone and unfollow after they return your follow. Trying to ramp up your numbers this way is just plain rude, and eventually, people will catch on.

@ your links to people. When you have something valuable to share with someone, by all means, share away. But spamming links at people will just get you blocked from their streams- and probably reported to Twitter.

#FF people you don’t follow. #FF is the Twitter hashtag for Friday Follow . You send out suggestions of who your followers should follow and you find new people to follow. Great concept, right? Except, every so often, I will get random #FF mentions by people who don’t follow me. Um, if you’re not following me, why tell others to? I am not going to follow you just because you mention me- Twitter is about interaction.

What are some of your Twitter rules?

The footer space in your blog is often an underutilized and overlooked opportunity to share more content with your readers. While trying to ensure all of your important information is shared throughout your site, many details are often put in the sidebar. Although your sidebar is a crucial element of your blog, some items are better left for the footer as to keep from cluttering too much of the blog. Three things you can quickly and easily relocate include:

Community badges/buttons

Showing support is one of the best things you can do in the blogging community, and sharing buttons and badges from your site can be a great way to do just that. However, it can become messy in your sidebar quickly if you try to show too many of these. While putting a larger number of these badges on a separate page to take them off of your home page can be a great solution, you can use your footer to highlight a few of the main ones you want to showcase.

Social Icons

One of the easiest way to foster communication is by making it as easy as possible for your readers to connect with you through social icons on your blog. Give them multiple options to follow you on Twitter, Like your fan page on Facebook, or subscribe to your RSS feed. These are items that should also be in your sidebar, but repeating them in the footer gives them a bit more of a feature.

Favorite Posts

Depending on how much information you feature on your blog, your footer can be a long way down. Even if it’s not, you have managed to keep a reader’s interest enough to investigate your blog further. If they have made it to the bottom of your blog, you want to give them somewhere else to go. Make a list of your favorite posts or use a plugin that displays readers’ favorites. Make it easy for readers to browse more of your content.

These are just some of the items that can find a home in your footer, helping you to keep your blog neat, uncluttered and more organized. Always make sure that ways to contact you are easily found throughout your blog, even if you include it in your footer as well. This is a perfect opportunity to take a look at your blog and see what you can reorganize.

What are some of your favorite uses of the blog footer? Leave a link to an example if you have one!