The world has changed so much in recent years that when we think of social media today (i.e., Facebook), our thoughts are usually on how brands use them as advertising or promotional tools.
Rather than simply being places where people share their lives with family and friends.
Which if you think about it was kind of the original intention behind these sites anyway.
But nowadays, there seems to be more emphasis placed on posts by companies who want us to buy something from them instead of posting updates strictly related to themselves or others they know personally.
The internet is a wondrous place. And boy, do I have some gems for you! You're going to love this Facebook marketing guide; it’ll make your life so much easier by simplifying the process of creating an effective campaign to grow and track success with social media.
So scroll down- we've got everything from tips before starting a page to how to track your progress along every step in between.
It's time that you take control over what happens with YOUR small business online - just like our monkeys did when they learned about these tricks! Let's get started right now...
Paint a clear picture of your existing customer base and target audience
Make it easier on yourself and spend some time getting to know your customer before you dive into a Facebook Marketing campaign. You’ll be able to see what they like, dislike, want more of, or less of and tailor the content for them specifically!
Getting to know who your customers are
You’ll want to do some market research when it comes time to get a little more acquainted with your customers.
Who are they?
What are their average age range, gender, and location?
What kind of stuff interests them the most or what don't they like at all?
The biggest mistakes people make in this game happens when there isn't enough legwork done beforehand--it'll just cause fewer headaches if you spend a few minutes taking care of business now.
Creating an ideal customer
Knowing your ideal customer is key to a successful Facebook marketing campaign.
Who are they?
Where do you think their favorite places are to hang out online and offline?
What's the best place for them on social media?
Where will they look for information about products and services that interest them most of all?
If we know who our customers' peers or friends are, it becomes easier to know which content would be worth sharing with those people.
Create your business Facebook Page
Ok, so you might be wondering: ‘How the heck do I get started with my Facebook marketing strategy?’
Well, that's easy.
Just follow these few steps, and we'll walk through your goals in a second before diving into more detail about how to implement them.
Setting up your Facebook Page
The first thing you need to do when starting your Facebook business page is set up the Page. You can find all of this information on how to get started with setting up your own personal account, and there's even a video tutorial included, so it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.
Add basic information
If you've got a Facebook Page for your small business, then I don't have to tell you how important it is that this page be detailed and complete.
If there are critical areas of the site or information missing from any part of the profile, all sorts of trouble can happen down the line-in fact, setting up things in such an incomplete way will lead to more headaches than anything else!
You’ll want to do the following:
- To get the most out of your Facebook page, it’s essential to fill in this section. Your “about” section is what tells people a bit of you and why they should keep following your posts.
It can be something as simple as where you work or live - but remember that hashtags are key! Try using these popular ones: #ItJustGotReal or #WorstDayEver
- The domain is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. You can only change it once, so be sure that it's precisely what you want.
- Take the time to upload a profile picture of your storefront, product, staff, or logo. This is an essential step in building trust and credibility with potential clientele that you want to reach on social media outlets like Facebook.
- Make sure to add any information that helps your ideal customer know where you are located or when you’re available.
- To create a cover photo, you’ll first need to research what makes for an eye-catching and successful design. Once that information has been gathered, log into the platform of your choice (e.g., Canva) and start crafting away.
Or you can always hire a graphic designer to help craft something you will like.
- Put a call-to-action on your cover photo to get more people liking, following, and sharing you! A good place for the CTA is at the top of your profile picture. You can use text or an image as well if that would work better with what's in front of it.
Now that the Facebook Page is functional and ready to go, it's time for you to start creating posts. You'll also need a strategy on how to gain followers to get your business out there.
Help your Facebook Page find an audience
Finding your audience on Facebook isn't just about finding many people who want the same things as you. It's also about figuring out what kind of person is and then going from there to find them to be effective for every strategy. Finding an appropriate group with common interests can lead to increased exposure if done correctly.
1. Tell your existing customers about your Facebook Page
If you already have a Facebook Page, it is important to let your current customers know about the page. You can do this by asking them to "like" your page in an email or on one of their receipts.
However, if they are not interested in being friends with you on Facebook, that would be okay since there's not much benefit for them to like your page given that they're already a customer.
2. Broadcast your new Facebook Page across your other social channels, and add it to your email signature
The best way to advertise your new Facebook page is through other social media.
Have you already made a Twitter or Instagram account?
You can tell all of your followers about the change and include the link in with it! If not, make sure that when sending out an email newsletter, add on a mention of this latest addition (with a link), so they know what's happening.
3. Put up signs or small flyers in your business if you run a brick-and-mortar store.
Sometimes it's tough to spread the word about your business. You can create a Facebook Page, but you also want people who are at your physical location to see that too!
So make sure you have some marketing materials on hand like flyers or posters for customers and potential clients in-store.
For example, if you're opening up an old brick building as a hair salon, hang posters right by the entrance so those walking inside will easily spot them just after they walk through.
This way new visitors get enticed with all of our offers without going far from their car/bicycle parking area.
Grow your audience base
Now that your existing customers have found you on Facebook, it’s time to expand into other social media.
The best way to grow an audience is through the content shared by others. The more high-quality posts there are about your products or services in their newsfeed, the easier it will be for them to find and like what they see! To get started with this strategy, here are a few things you can do:
- Post great photos of people using our product - these pictures serve as testimonials that help bring potential buyers closer than ever before;
- Share videos showing how easy our service is so that viewers realize we make life better everywhere, from work meetings all the way home;
- Post engaging questions related (or not!)to
Next...
1. Cross-promote with other brands
Who doesn't love a good partnership?
Great marketing opportunities can have you getting your product or service in front of new customers.
Building relationships with other local small businesses is one way to find success that will benefit all parties involved! Reciprocal partnerships and cross-promotion strategies provide the perfect recipe for successful business growth.
2. Encourage your employees to post about your Facebook Page
The best way to get people talking about your business is by letting them see it on their news feed every day.
Make sure that everyone’s personal account is linked with the Facebook page for your company and encourage employees to add a place of work so you can connect with new potential customers.
They should also share content from our company's Facebook Page occasionally, too! That will help spread word-of-mouth advertising throughout social media sites like wildfire!
3. Add your Facebook Page to your email signature
The next time you email a prospect, do yourself (and your company) an enormous favor by adding Facebook's "like" button to the signature on all correspondence with them.
This way, people can like your page directly from their inbox and may even be more inclined to buy something because of it!
4. Use Facebook ads to promote your Page
Facebook can give you a bit of an edge in the paid marketing business.
Regular people like us can promote their Facebook pages for free by using promoted posts on our newsfeeds and targeted ads, but sometimes that's not enough! Paid promotion is available for those who want to take it up a notch or two.
Facebook advertising can be a powerful tool for driving traffic to your website or landing page, but before you start spending money on it, consider building up the content and followers of your Facebook Page first.
Develop a content strategy
So you want to be a social media guru, huh?
Well, not all of us were born with the gift of networking and having an aptitude for making connections. It's okay if you feel like this is something that would take years of studying before even coming close to getting decent engagement on your Facebook Page or Twitter account; there are other ways!
Creating content that will resonate with your audience can help gain new followers and make them share what we post, so let me break it down into sections about how YOU can do just that.
Create a mix of different types of content
The internet is a vast and fantastic world that can give you anything from information to entertainment. The one thing people are always looking for, though, is content which they can relate to on a more personal level.
This blog post will talk about the different types of content you should be creating to get your own voice out there and set yourself apart as an expert in your field.
Image-based content
We all know that one of the best ways to get your brand's message across is by using images.
But what if you don't have a graphic designer on hand?
Something as simple as adding an image to your post can make it more appealing and readable for those who may not be interested in reading.
It also helps drive traffic back to your website, making it easier for people to find what they are looking for.
Images are the way to go, and there's really no question about it. A study from 2014 shows posts with images have an 87% interaction rate while other types of content only had a 4% interaction rate.
Video content
When you create a video, it can be used to communicate your message in an engaging way. Video content is becoming more and more popular as technology advances. It's quickly taking on the role of text because people can learn so much faster with video content than they are with written articles.
- First off, by using videos, you're able to give someone the opportunity to "experience" what you have experienced or seen firsthand. If something has happened in your life that would make for good material for a blog post, then telling others about it through video might be just the thing.
- Secondly, there's no arguing when it comes to a visual medium like video people will believe what they see before reading anything else.
Short clips of text, store updates, or other “snackable” content
The process of updating Facebook pages for businesses isn't exactly like doing so from an individual account--you won’t find yourself sharing intimate thoughts or photos with all your friends.
However, one thing you might want to start considering is adding posts that contain brief pieces of information about changes happening in-store (or online), products being featured this week/month, etc.,
These types of lighthearted tidbits will not only inform customers who have liked them.
Links to long-form blog content
You may not be able to list all the Facebook content creation strategies, but it is a brilliant idea to share some of your blog posts on this social media site. This will encourage customers who have liked you and visited your page before reading more about what's going on with you online.
As long as there are many different types of content available to keep up with your audience’s interests, people won't get bored or tired quickly while scrolling through their feed.
You might be thinking, "How can I make content for Facebook?” It's not like you have to know how it works!
Right?
Well, actually, some terrific resources will help. Here they are:
Cultivate a tone of voice to suit your audience
You know how important branding is, and if you’ve read any of our resources on it before, you will also be aware that creating a brand tone of voice is essential.
But did you know the impact your business's tone has doesn't stop at your website or even just with employees? Your company's social media presence often relies heavily on its own unique style as well to help brands like yours stand out amongst others in an increasingly competitive market.
Think about some of your favorite companies—how do they sound when communicating online? Now think about what would happen if all these great businesses suddenly started using language that was completely different than their norm.
I always recommend figuring out a general direction: am I going to be edgy?
Am I going to sound like The New Yorker?
What does my audience want me to sound like as far as language style goes?
Is it formal speech patterned after "King Lear" or more casual conversation patterns from TV shows such as Friends?"
Once you choose this initial goal, then consider how much time will go into producing each post.
Time your Facebook posts strategically
Now that you know the specifics of what type of content to post on Facebook let's get into how often and when. You don't want posts going up at random--especially with all the knowledge we have about getting your followers interested in new updates!
How often to post on Facebook
You know that picture-perfect post where the colors just pop, and everything's in focus?
That’s not what usually happens.
For every five to 10 posts you publish on your page per week or day--depending on how often people like to see updates from brands they follow—there should be at least one of those high-quality photos posted as well.
But don't make it a habit: research shows engagement rates drop off after posting more than once daily.
Having a social media presence is vital for any company to have nowadays.
The more modern and interactive the business can be with its customers, the better they'll do in this day when we are all so interconnected through technology.
Your strategy for posting on these sites will depend not just on industry data but also on your audience- how often you publish should go hand in hand with what type of service or product you offer and who it's aimed at.
Depending on what kind of points such factors makeup, different strategies would work best and give you an edge over competition within those niches if done right! To figure out which ones might work best, though, keep track by using analytics tools like Google Analytics.
What times to post on Facebook
I’ve seen posts that receive a lot of engagement from active people on Facebook at all hours.
For example, I saw one post get liked and commented on by more than 100 people in the morning when it was posted around 2 am! Then, others like this other popular post got over 400 likes during lunchtime with only one comment.
The bottom line is to try different times for posting based on what your audience seems to respond best to--it might be early mornings or late night snack-times instead of just following the current strategy you hear about online.
However, some exciting findings could help you run your business better. For example, Mondays from 8 pm to 10 am, and Tuesdays through Fridays at 11:59 am have been found to be the best time on Facebook for businesses.
Looking back over recent posts by Hubspot and other sources revealed these insights about the most active hours of a week in general, with Saturdays coming close behind as an even more popular day for posting content!
Automate your Facebook posting
Facebook automation is a revolutionary way to save time! You can create and schedule all your posts at once, which will post throughout the week without you having to log in each day. It's incredible how much more personalization businesses can do now with their Facebook account!
Facebook ads
The last few years have seen enormous growth in the number of small businesses that are turning to Facebook Ads for their marketing needs. This is because more and more people are spending time on social media, specifically Facebook. It has become much more accessible than ever before to get a hold of your target audience.
Track engagement metrics and refine your strategy as needed
One of the most important pieces to any Facebook marketing campaign is making sure that you clearly understand what’s working and what isn’t. You can use different metrics like video views, page likes, or post engagements to figure out how audience members will receive your content.
By tracking these critical stats for yourself, it ensures all aspects are monitored from start to finish.
There are many ways to measure your Facebook marketing campaign, but one thing you can do is get a sense of what metrics matter and then find out how well those numbers work.
Start by figuring out which social media metric matters most to you (Do we want more followers? Do posts need more shares?)
Then, figure out if there’s an easy way to track it with tools like Hootsuite or any other kind of analytics software that will help us see how our effort pays off in terms of consumer behavior.
Conclusion
Facebook is a fantastic way for your small business to interact with customers and establish an online presence. The process of creating this campaign can be quite involved, but if you follow these steps, adjust where necessary based on what works or doesn't work as well as keeping track of successful posts- You'll have the perfect Facebook marketing strategy.
If you have any questions about your social media strategy, do not hesitate to enlist GINI for help, we would be more than happy to be at the very least a sounding board.
Book a Free Consultation today!
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