Business owners or non-profit groups are invited to learn how to better use social media to promote their business or organization.

The “Advanced Facebook for Business” workshop will be held at The Forge in Jefferson on Monday, February 24th from 6-8pm. Jefferson Matters: Main Street is partnering with the North Central Iowa Small Business Development Center to host the program. JMMS Economic Vitality Committee Co-Chair Bonnie Silbaugh says the workshop focuses on topics that reflect what local business owners have said they wanted to learn regarding how to utilize Facebook more effectively for their business. 

“It’s going to talk to you more about how to engage with your customers (and) how often you should be posting. When it (Facebook) says ‘Buy an ad’ and you don’t want to spend the money, when should you and when shouldn’t you? So it’s just going to take a little bit of a deeper dive into Facebook.”

Silbaugh is also a small business owner, as she owns Fudge’s Flowers and Gifts in Jefferson and she explains how the social media company has benefited her business.

“I can tell you for sure that we have people that see something on Facebook call and say, ‘I want the arrangement in the top right corner.’ On the business side, you can see how many people see your post. And so you know instantly how many people have viewed what you just advertised. You can post as many times a day as you want to. Right now it is in general free for people, which is what the biggest draw for it is.”

The workshop is free and open to the public and no registrations are necessary.