Every Friday, thousands of people can be seen playing the #FollowFriday game on Twitter. What started out as a single tweet announcing the game a year ago has turned into a hugely popular trend that keeps on growing.

The concept is simple: every Friday, tweet about a friend who you think is worthy of following. Include their twitter name + #FollowFriday. Those looking for new people to follow can easily search #FollowFriday and see what others have to offer.

#FollowFriday was specially designed to help people get connected and stay engaged on Twitter. If the people you’re following are starting to bore you, #FollowFriday is the perfect way to help you find new prospects.

This social networking game is also great for businesses. Ask your friends to promote your company with #FollowFriday. Your company’s name will appear on the Twitter feeds of all their friends, in addition to whoever finds your name through a #FollowFriday search. Be sure to make your tweets fun and interesting that day, because you never know who might be checking you out!

Having trouble managing all your social media? You're not alone. It's tedious work trying to update your Facebook status every time you tweet, and to tweet every time you update. The good people at Facebook and Twitter feel your pain, so they've created an application to synch the two: update one and the other automatically follows.

Here's how to do it:

1. Log on to your Facebook account and search for "Twitter." Add the first "Twitter" application that shows up in the search results (it was created by Twitter).

2. Allow Twitter to access your profile by clicking the blue "Allow" button.

3. Log into your Twitter account (via the Twitter application inside Facebook that prompts you). At this point, Facebook will update Twitter, but there are a few more steps to send information in the other direction.

4. In the upper right corner, there will be a blue button that says "Allow Twitter to Update your Facebook Status." Click that.

5. Allow status updates from Twitter back to Facebook by clicking on the button that appears.

6. Check to see if it works! Log into Twitter.com from a different browser window and enter a tweet!

One of the things that I'm enjoying most about social marketing is watching the various ways that companies are creatively utilizing it to communicate their message. For example, See's Candies just announced on Facebook that they will be expanding into the Midwest with two permanent kiosk locations. In a short time after they made the announcement, 203 people told them they liked their expansion plans and another 162 people posted comments.

I encourage you to get creative with your social marketing. Announce your new lines, promote a contest, and offer your Facebook fans something a little extra as a reward for being your fan!

By now you've seen (and heard) about the thousands of retailers who are successfully using Facebook to create an online community for their store, build a list of followers and fans and most importantly, drive store and web traffic and sales.

So if you're not on Facebook yet, you should be. According to Clara Shih, author of the Facebook Era, 300 million people are Facebook, and there are 1.4 million Facebook pages (with that number rapidly growing every day). Shih says, "Facebook is increasingly where your audience is for a lot of products and services."

Even if you don't have a website yet, which is one of the biggest objections I hear from retailers, this is a great way to get started.

Ready to try? Follow these (basic!) steps:

1. Set up a Facebook Page (which is different from an individual profile page—you must have a profile on FB to create pages) using your store name. Make sure it's spelled correctly and what you want—once you create a page and give it a name, you can't change it!

2. Fill out all the pertinent information—store websites, hours, directions, etc. And upload good store photos—a blank Facebook page won't attract fans.

3. In the beginning, invite friends and family to become your fans so you will start to build your list. From a marketing perspective, it looks better when people go there and you already have fans (it creates the herd mentality).

4. Start promoting your Facebook page to your existing customers through every marketing channel you have: email newsletters, direct mail, business cards, your website and signage in your store.

5. Offer monthly promotions, drawings or giveaways to incentivize your customers to sign-up.

6. Make sure you're posting messages on your site that aren't sales-y. You want to entertain, give them a sense of community and be interesting. New store promotions, new products and new sales staff are also good updates.

7. Think about using Facebook's new advertising campaign program to attract more fans and traffic to your store. You can target geographically, by gender, by age, etc., and any time someone says "gift" on Facebook who you've targeted, they'll see your ad. It's a very pointed way to market to potential customers right in your area.

8. Just like any marketing initiative, it's helpful if you map out your goals to use them as a foundation for the content you post, the ways you promote your Facebook page and a way to measure success.

Have you done any innovative promotions to draw more fans to your page? Let us know about it.

Two recent promotions I've received via email.

Powell's is an independent bookstore in Portland, OR, that has attracted over 28,000 Facebook fans. But this isn't just any bookstore… it's famous in Oregon and beyond, and while they've had a website for years (and have been selling books to customers all across the world), Facebook has helped them reach a whole new generation of readers—for FREE.

The one big thing they're doing differently on Facebook? Creating copious amounts of content that people are interested in reading and seeing. Their updates include informative book reviews, photos, videos, regularly updated wall posts and store events.

Here are three tips for creating your page on Facebook:

1. Communicate your store's persona—Like your website, your Facebook page should help to reinforce what your store is all about.

2. Provide valuable content—Let your customers know what's going on at the store, from special events to store promotions to new merchandise.

3. Marketing vehicle—Offer special promotions to all your Facebook fans (aka, existing and potential store customers)

I'd love to add you as a friend on Facebook or follow you on Twitter. I hope to "meet" you soon!