When businesses create a Facebook page, they have one major question – how do we get more “Likes”? Other than being an obvious popularity score, “Likes” on your business Facebook page are important because: 

• Those who click 'Like' on Facebook pages are 2.4x more connected with your brand than the typical Facebook user. They share your brand's news and messages and drive desirable behaviors such as signing up for an event, watching a video, or downloading an ebook.
• When your page fans interact with your content by liking, commenting and sharing, your content has the potential to be seen by new audiences not yet warm to your brand. If you have 200 fans, and those fans each have 100 friends, you can expand your brand's reach to 20,000! That helps your brand cut through the noise and be heard. 

If you are sold on the power of the “Like” here are 5 ways to attract more fans to your Facebook page: 

1. Post content that delights your audience

First impressions matter, even on Facebook. Most page Likes happen when people visit your Facebook page. To have the best chance of converting a casual visitor to a longer-term relationship -- a Like -- post content that is eye-catching and visual. Even if you are a B2B company, you can create content that is visually appealing. Increase your odds next time by following this blueprint for a perfect Facebook post.

If you are really serious about gaining Likes, you can also consider placing a 'Like gate' on your Facebook page in front of high value or exclusive content. This requires a visitor to Like your page to access (view, download) the content. Do this sparingly and only for truly quality content because it can feel like a forced Like.

2. Start advertising your page

Even if you are posting brilliantly and building fans at a good pace organically, the truth is that not many people are seeing your content in their news feed. Why? The average business Facebook post on reaches only 16% of your potential audience. You need to get out to where the right audience-- the larger Facebook community-- will find you. We've learned that advertising is critical to jump starting page growth.

While spending on Facebook ads will be a trade off with other marketing spend (we target a rate of $1 per fan), well-targeted ads are a sure-fire way to help you connect with potential fans who may not know you are there. Facebook offers simple Page Like ads which can be targeted to the right audiences, and Sponsored Stories, which take a great wall post and put it in front of a target audience you want to reach. 

3. Optimize your presence for mobile

Did you know close to 70% of people visit Facebook on mobile devices? And recently Facebook made it easier to Like a page directly from mobile device. So, to attract your growing mobile fan base, think about frequent, lightweight posts designed to engage and encourage connection. This includes quick polls, yes/no questions, and colorful, easy to view images.

 4. Create Likes from Likes

Word of mouth works on Facebook, too. A major source of Likes is Friend Referrals.  If you want more Likes the free way, do a better job of posting great content, frequently. This means people are Liking our page after seeing a friend in their network Like a story or post. The lesson here is to keep your fans talking and sharing so that their friend network has a chance to join in -- this is the true viral loop!  

5. Think 'Web to Like'

Don't miss a key tactic to collect Likes -- placing Facebook's social plug-ins (the Like buttons and Like boxes) on your high-traffic web pages and blogs.  You can invite visitors to your webpage to become part of your Facebook community. Salesforce.com just added these to our home page and we're already seeing this as a growing source of Likes.

And finally, use Facebook's Insights tab to assess what's working. Facebook provides you a list of the sources of your page Likes. Check out this example of where our Salesforce page is collecting Likes:

For even more detail about where your Likes are coming from, see the external referral sources in Insights. Are you driving traffic to your Facebook page from your website and email campaigns? This will help you see what’s working for you, and how you can add more sources.

So those are 5 tips for boosting Facebook page Likes. Which tactic will you try first? Let me know your successes and challenges by reaching out to me on Twitter @jennydburnham or commenting below. Good luck growing your community, and may the fans be with you!

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Jennifer Burnham is Director of Social Strategy and Content at salesforce.com