I’m starting a regular series here at the LP blog showcasing Kansas City-area brands that are worthy of your fanship on Facebook. Called Become a Fan, it will highlight businesses that are using their Facebook pages right: to interact with customers, exhibit transparency, give value, drive non-branded discussion and embrace their community.

Without further ado, this week, you should become a fan of …
Shatto Milk!

The small, family owned and operated dairy farm is one of our area’s best-loved brands. Their milk — and now ice cream and soap — is high-quality, delicious (well, not the soap), local and organic, and Shatto has worked hard to cultivate lots of enthusiasm around its brand by proving itself a forward-thinking company with all the values of a family business.

And when you visit Shatto’s Facebook page, you’ll see that enthusiasm coming to life.

Scan back through the Wall posts. Not a day goes by that one of Shatto’s nearly 10,000 fans isn’t posting something — a compliment, question or suggestion.

And, just as important, no comment is too small to warrant a response from Shatto.

They’ll even answer the question “What is this milk about?”

With so much work to do around the farm, it’s a testament to the people at Shatto’s work ethic and appreciation for their customers that they take time to engage their customers in social media.

And speaking of that farm … when a barn collapsed recently, Shatto used Facebook to tell the story transparently and let people know there might be a delay in production. The post got 44 likes and 49 comments, most of which were expressions of sympathy and even offers to help with the barn raising.

That’s loyalty you can’t buy. But, as Shatto shows, to earn it, you’ve got to work hard and be real.

Tip Us Off: What businesses do you see using Facebook the right way?