How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Business
Roughly half of the world’s population is on social media. And by far, Facebook is still the most popular social media platform with over 2.7 billion registered users.
The sheer number of people on Facebook makes it an extremely viable marketing channel for any business. It also has a rich set of features that make it easier to connect with your target audience, and promote your brand in new and very creative ways.
According to Facebook, 2 out of 3 users surveyed visit a local business page at least once a week. There are also lots of successful new businesses that rely solely on their social media presence to generate demand for their products and services.
If you still haven’t set up your Facebook business page, or are still struggling to get traction for your social media presence, read on to learn some quick tips that will help boost awareness for your brand.
Creating and Optimizing a Business Page
The great thing about Facebook is that it’s completely free to set up a new business page. Even though it’s free, you still need to make sure it’s properly filled out.
- Upload a profile photo and cover photo that’s consistent with your existing branding.
- Add details like your phone number, email address, office address, website URL, and business hours in the ‘About’ section.
- Add a ‘Call-to-Action’ button below your cover photo. There are many different actions you can assign to this button depending on what your business goals are. You can set it up so people can send you a message via Facebook, call you by phone, send an email, join your Facebook group, visit your website, or even schedule an appointment.
Start Getting the Word Out
Don’t be shy about inviting people to your Facebook page. Start by sending out invites to your friends and family. The people you do business with will also be happy to support your new page, so don’t be afraid to invite your existing business and professional contacts. Ask your team members and employees to invite their friends and family, as well as people from their own professional network to your business page.
Let the people in your mailing list know they can also follow you on Facebook, and make sure every new email has a link or button to your Facebook page from here on out. Add social media links to your website so that new visitors and existing clients can see your updates on their news feeds.
It’s important to maximize the potential of your existing network so that you can get as many followers as possible. This not only allows you to establish yourself as a well known and trusted entity, but also lets you get sufficient feedback about your content strategy. Let’s face it, if people see that you only have a handful of followers, they’ll get the impression that your business is not very successful.
You can and should also use your Facebook business page to connect with other related businesses that aren’t your direct competitors. Join Facebook groups that may be interested in your products and services to increase awareness for your page. You might even want to create your own Facebook group so that people who are truly interested in your brand can get together and share ideas.
Mix Up Your Content
Facebook is no place for boring or bland content. You also shouldn’t spam your followers with dozens of posts a day. As easy as it is for people to click ‘Like’ on your page, they can also just as easily unfollow you and write off your brand altogether.
It’s important to remember that you’ll be competing for people’s attention as they scroll through their social media feed. So think long and hard about what you post, and consider what it says about your brand’s reputation.
The great thing about Facebook and other social media is that you have more freedom and be more creative with your content. You can post different types of content so that people will see the different sides of your business. You could post a link to one of your highly informative though leadership articles one day, then post a hilarious video on the next. You can also simply add one or two comments about an industry-specific news article that your followers might find interesting.
The bottom line is that social is just as much about connecting with people’s emotions as it is about providing them with information that they’ll find valuable.
Pay Attention to the Feedback
The beauty of social media is that it’s not just a one-way street. Followers can interact and engage with your posts by reacting or commenting on it.
If you’re not getting much engagement on your content, it’s time to switch it up and reconsider your content strategy. Pay attention to previous posts that get the most interaction and find out why it’s effective.
When you post content that really resonates with your audience, they’re more likely to share it through their own profiles which increases awareness for your brand even more.
A crucial tool that will give you valuable data about your user engagement is the Facebook Insights tab. It’s a built-in analytics tool that gives you a closer look at how well your page is performing.
Facebook Ads
You don’t need to spend money on Facebook ads right away. But if you want to grow your audience even more, it can offer a high return on your investment.
Like everything else on Facebook, it’s best to get your feet wet first before diving in. If you have little experience with Facebook campaigns, you might not get any results and end up feeling like you’re just throwing money away. In these situations, you’re probably better off hiring a professional digital marketer who can guarantee results.
The great thing about paid Facebook advertising is that it gives you lots of tools and data to work with. You can target specific demographics based on lots of different factors such as age, gender, location, interests and behaviors, among many others. This allows you to tailor your ads to appeal to a specific audience so you can get the most out of your ad spending.
You’ll also have to choose from a number of different ad types that Facebook offers. You’ll find image ads, video ads, carousel ads, Facebook Stories ads, and Messenger ads, just to name a few. Each one of these ad types will have different text and multimedia requirements – so it’s best to focus on one ad type if you’re just starting out.
Of course, the response you’ll get from your ads will still depend on how much value your offer provides and how you’re presenting the offer. Just because you’re spending money on Facebook ads, doesn’t mean your results are guaranteed.
You’ll have to test different Facebook ad campaigns thoroughly first if you want to limit your losses on ad spending. Pay attention to what the data and analytics are telling you, and refine your ads to address any glaring issues.
Key Takeaways
Getting a Facebook business page up and running is extremely easy. If you don’t have one yet, or if you haven’t updated your page in months, you should make it a top priority.
Facebook is an extremely powerful marketing and advertising tool, so you should put some effort into getting the basics right. Make sure all your contact information is updated, reply to messages promptly, and update your page with new posts every couple of weeks. Otherwise, people will think that you’ve gone out of business.
It’s going to take time to get really good at creating posts that generate a lot of user engagement, so don’t expect your posts to become viral hits if you’re just starting out. What’s important is that you learn from your mistakes and use the data that Facebook gives you to guide your social media marketing strategy. This is especially true for paid Facebook ads. Even if you have a huge budget to throw at it, you won’t get any results if you just go into it blindly.