Oct. 10, 2017 -- The Montana High Tech Business Alliance was proud to sponsor Facebook's free Boost Your Business presentation at the Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula along with the Montana Chamber of Commerce and the University of Montana School of Business Administration. Facebook presenter Chris Curtis focused on equipping local businesses with the social media tools they need to compete in an increasingly competitive digital market.

Listen to the presentation below.

Blackfoot's Marketing Communications Specialist Lacey Hawkins spoke on the Local Business Panel, telling the audience how engagement on social media has helped Blackfoot reach customers in a more meaningful way. Here are four quick tips from Lacey to help you boost your business' social media presence.

1. Build a social media plan... and stick to it.

"Building a strategy and documenting it: that has been one of the biggest factors for Blackfoot. We set some benchmarks, we set some KPIs [key performance indicators], which we blew out of the water... I think that documenting that strategy then actually having a practice. So, each month we put together our sort of slated calendar of what we want to put out there [on social media]."

2. Reach your audience where they are.

"Blackfoot’s Facebook page is really about the communities we share and serve. Check it out @GoBlackfoot and follow us. But we don’t talk about our products and services. It’s really about the communities and all the feel-good things and all the awesome things that happen, events, sponsorships, different ways that we reach our communities... Unlike traditional campaigns, traditional forms of advertising, which takes a lot of time and planning and production, we can put out an ad the day we hear of [a need], targeted at that specific community."

3. Utilize built-in tools, like Messenger and scheduling.

"Customers reach out to us on Messenger regularly. Almost every day, we’re receiving messages... We feel like that instant response and being really responsive to our customers’ needs, especially if they’re needing to troubleshoot an issue-- the faster we can get to them, the happier they are."

4. Have fun!

"I think social media has helped our brand become a lot more fun. I would just encourage you guys to do Hyperlapse and Boomerang and put videos, go live, be willing to make mistakes and have fun while you’re doing it... It’s a really good opportunity to humanize your brand and just be a person you can interact with."

Listen: