Wednesday morning at the Lacombe Golf and Country Club, the Social Media Breakfast Lacombe organization had a guest speaker in to talk about how to grow your Facebook following for your business organically.

In this case, organically means naturally and without the use of paid ads or other expensive marketing tools. It means simply interacting with your audience, and posting interesting and engaging content to attract new customers without spending a dime.

Meghan Alton is the Communications Coordinator for the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division and a social media consultant, and she talks about how important it is for businesses to engage their public on social media.

“It's a way to connect to your existing consumers, and generate some potential consumers. So for many people, including the baby boomer generation, if you are not online, you kind of look like you do not know what you are doing in this day and age...you have to sell yourself as a person, because if you are negative, or grumpy, people might want to take their company elsewhere, where someone is cheerful and positive...if you are connected to people on social media, that helps people connect with your company."

Alton says one of the worst things a business can do on social media, is to ignore your custumers when they post a question or comment. She says even doing something as simple as liking their comment shows that the business cares about their customers, and at the very least are acknowledging them.

The Social Media Breakfast Lacombe meets on the first Wednesday of the month every second month, and is 100% free for anyone to attend. You can register for the event two weeks prior by going to their Facebook page.

Social Media Expert Meghan Alton explains her strategies to the crowd.