How to Attract New Clients using Facebook (and Other Social Media)
It’s hard to argue that social media is an extremely powerful marketing, advertising and branding tool. Roughly half the people in the world use social media, and the average user spends about 2.5 hours on it per day.
By far, Facebook is still the most popular social media platform with over 2.7 billion monthly active users. As a business, you can increase your brand’s exposure simply by creating a Facebook page. But if you want it to be truly effective and bring in lots of traffic to your website and increase your conversions, you’ll need a decent social media strategy.
Here are some tips to get you started in the right direction.
Build New Relationships and Nurture Existing Ones
When it comes to dealing with social media, it’s important to always be responsive when it comes to responding to messages and comments. It doesn’t matter if you’re replying to a fan, a follower, or just a random person who happens to see your page. A prompt reply shows that you care about your audience which builds trust. Other people can also see how quickly you respond, so it helps build a good public image.
You should also make your social media page easier to find by adding ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ buttons on your own website and your emails. This way, when someone happens to visit your page, they can just easily follow you on Facebook for future updates.
If you already have a mailing list, make sure to send out announcements about your new Facebook profiles, so you can get the ball rolling and increase your followers and likes much quicker.
Define Your Goals
Before you start posting on Facebook, it’s best to have a specific goal for the post. A news update won’t necessarily drive conversions. At the same time, posting only promotions and special offers can get stale quickly – and doesn’t really help build lasting relationships with your target audience.
A Facebook post can have three different goals:
- Awareness – promoting who you are and getting exposure for your brand
- Lead Nurturing – showing what you can do and how you can help your followers and their friends
- Conversions – this includes a call to action to sign up for an offer or join an event
Once you’ve decided what you want to accomplish with your post, you can then craft a better narrative around the post to make it more effective.
Mix Up Your Content Strategy
Facebook updates shouldn’t necessarily look like just another blog post on your website. You’re competing for people’s attention on their news feeds where they see updates from friends, family, and their favorite Facebook pages, so you also have to appeal to their emotions. Add some humor or sentimental value to your posts so that people can form an emotional connection with your brand.
You also don’t need to limit your updates to be only about yourself. Look for news stories and posts from other pages that are relevant to your industry. You can also ask your followers to participate in surveys or quizzes, just ask them a question to generate engagement.
Just make sure to curate the content you post, and only pick the ones that you think are most compelling. You can check on your older posts and see which ones get the most likes and reactions.
Remember to keep your posts fresh and well-curated since the top posts on your Facebook page will be a reflection of the type of quality and professionalism your company offers.
Use Captivating Videos and Images
If you want your Facebook posts to have any sort of impact, you have to accompany each one with an attention-grabbing image or video. Come up with a great headline and an interesting caption to better frame the ideas that you’re trying to promote.
People scroll through dozens of images every couple of seconds. But if you post an image that really makes a connection with your audience, it takes less than a second for them to react to it. Once you have a couple of people reacting to your posts, other people will be compelled to engage with those posts as well.
Leverage the Power of Facebook Ads
Paid Facebook ads are a cost-effective way to get more exposure for your Facebook page and your website. Compared to PPC ads and SEO where trying to do anything feels like a shot in the dark, Facebook ads allow you to target specific demographics. You can fine-tune your ads to appeal to people in different locations and age groups.
Facebook also has a powerful platform that shows you different metrics, so you can refine your campaigns in the future to be more effective.
Final Words
Taking care of your brand’s social media marketing requires you to put on several hats at once. Be prepared to handle marketing, public relations, and customer support at any given time. Doing it right may seem daunting at first, but it gets easier fairly quickly and the payoff is huge once you get used to its intricacies.