Social Media Tips for Using Facebook to Grow Your Business
How to expand your business reach using these basic Facebook marketing tips
Facebook helps businesses achieve their goals every day. In the social media world, Facebook remains dominant with a whopping 2+ billion active users monthly and more than 1 billion daily users.
As you plan to grow your social media following, Facebook should be 1 of the first places you look into because it is highly likely that your target market regularly uses it. Whether you manage a software company, e-commerce site or a brick and mortar shop, in this guide we’ll explore how to leverage Facebook to your advantage.
Let’s go through what you should know to maximize its benefits in your business.
Choose the right template and category
Make sure you create a business page, not a personal account. Facebook offers unique pages for:
- Local businesses or places
- Entertainment
- Brands or products
- Artists, bands or public figures
- Causes or communities
- Companies, organizations and institutions
Choose your category accordingly. Every category has its unique features, which play a huge role when developing your brand awareness. For example, local business pages on Facebook have a section for indicating a store location, whereas online brands do not. Make sure your page has a suitable profile picture, sidebar tabs and sign-up call-to-action (CTA).
If you don’t choose the best template and right category the first time around, you can make the necessary changes along the way. You can customize the templates to best suit your brand by adding, hiding or rearranging the tabs. So, for example, if you pivot your strategy to focus more on video marketing, the videos tab should be placed close to the top.
Optimize the photos
Nearly every social media platform, including Facebook, is highly visual. Make sure you take and upload high-quality photos on your business page. If possible, make your company logo your profile picture and pick the most appropriate cover photo. You don’t have to use a call-to-action (CTA) image as your cover photo necessarily; instead, consider using the opportunity to show off your creativity.
The photos should inform your audience of your brand’s essential details, but you can also have fun while doing it. Beginners should take time to develop an effective Facebook marketing strategy, including finding the kind of photos that will resonate well with their audience.
Select a CTA
A strategic call-to-action guides your audience through the buying process and has a direct impact on your company’s conversation rates. Since it enhances your sales funnel, boosts your digital marketing campaigns and is expected by customers, it would be a huge mistake not to have it.
Ensure that you link the CTA to your brand’s catalog, landing page, video, opt-in page or a contact form to allow your customers to purchase or book from your page directly. There are no fast and hard rules for a CTA, so focus on what you think your Facebook audience needs.
Generate excellent content worth sharing
Every brand has a unique story, inspiration and information to share with its audience.
If you hone your content to be informative and intriguing, you will have a powerful tool at your disposal. Find out what is essential to your audience, their problems and their expectations. Regularly offer practical solutions and stories that will encourage them to keep visiting your Facebook page. Keeping your social media audience engaged allows you to develop a loyal community of followers, increase the chances of making more sales and stay informed of what people want and need.
Videos are excellent for keeping your audience engaged and provide quality content, as users view about 8 billion Facebook videos daily. Although big brands often spend a lot of money on video production, home-grown videos can be quite effective as well.
Try hosting Q&A sessions by answering common questions from your audience, promotions and/or business updates. Before sharing videos on Facebook, upload them on YouTube to raise your business reach and views.
Analyze your results and engagement
Generating awesome content is only the first step. Your Facebook marketing strategy should also include keeping tabs of your metrics to discover trends and gauge your performance. There are plenty of social media analytical tools you can choose from based on your needs and budget.
Through social media analysis and monitoring, you can discover key insights that will help you make the necessary changes to your strategies and drop failing ones. Some tools offer real-time information that aids in quick and smart decision making. You can experiment to find out the best times to post your content to get an insight into your page’s engagement.
Develop and maintain a budget
Traditional marketing channels such as newspapers, TV and radio may charge a sizable amount of money for ads. However, you can run a successful campaign on a small budget with Facebook. Marketing should not deplete your company’s already limited resources.
The best thing about the platform is that you can customize your approach to target a specific audience for maximum outcomes. You can set your budget either on the campaign level or ad set level, depending on your preference. Keep in mind that Facebook has a minimum budget for consistent ad delivery.
If utilized well, Facebook can be a valuable tool in your business as it allows you to reach more consumers, increase your visibility and sales. A multifaceted approach goes a long way in improving your engagement.
Reach out to our team at Brown Bag Marketing if you need more assistance in growing your brand, audience or other marketing aspects.