Facebook may have started out life as a simple way to connect with friends online but it has evolved into a multi-platform giant of the internet, with 90% of its revenues coming from marketing campaigns. The site currently has 2.6 billion active users, of which around half visit the site multiple times per day. Included in these stats are business pages, of which there are around 60 million.
Facebook isn’t the right platform for every business and it tends to work better for consumer marketing rather than B2B, but when done well Facebook marketing can be an incredibly powerful tool which yields amazing results.
As with all social media marketing, the process you should follow for Facebook marketing is quite specific.
Firstly, you need to identify your goals. These will likely include one or more of the following:
Build brand awareness
Promote your product or service
Generate sales leads
Drive more customers to your store
Revive a former customer base
A Facebook marketing strategy should always be goal-oriented, so it is really important you keep this objective in mind throughout your campaign.
The next stage is to build your profile, starting with a really strong home page with a good mix of content: relevant and engaging posts, photos, videos. The profile photo on your Facebook business page should be your logo and the cover photo should either be a striking and relevant image, or something which has been professionally designed.
Above all, make your brand instantly recognisable; ensuring synergy with your website design, for example, will help to build brand recognition.
Most studies agree that posting at least once a day is ideal for audience engagement.
Facebook Stories
Facebook stories are more visible than regular posts, as they appear at the top of a Facebook feed. This is great for capturing your audience’s attention in what can be an overcrowded space. Today’s audiences are buying into the people that run a business as much as the product itself and are therefore drawn to authentic and engaging content, which is what Facebook stories is all about.
Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are online forums where audiences with a common interest can connect. Many businesses set up separate groups to enable their followers to interact, discuss their experiences and ask questions of other users and of the business itself. It’s another great way to build brand awareness, loyalty and crucially, personality.
As a business, setting up a Facebook group for customers and potential customers enables you to interact directly with this key target group by posting relevant product and service links. There is also the added bonus of gaining valuable customer insights, by monitoring the conversations.
Facebook Live
Facebook Live is a live stream in real-time and can be ideal for Q&A sessions, to make a big announcement or to simply show a more human side of your business. Streaming live videos will often result in a direct increase in traffic to your site or page.
Use Messenger
According to Social Media Today, over 20 billion messages are sent between people and businesses on Messenger each month. Facebook Messenger is instantly available when you create your business page. Messages sent on your Facebook page can go directly to your phone or desktop, so you can respond in real-time and it is useful for sharing photos and other media.
Advertising
All of the above tools are completely free to use. However, paid advertising on Facebook can be a valuable option as well, especially if you are looking to grow your audience or customer base. But to get the most out of your Facebook advertising, you need a strategy - and we can help with this, too.
If you are looking for advice on your Facebook campaigns or social media marketing in general, please do get in touch.
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon