Facebook Marketing Ideas
As a small business owner, you may not have the bandwidth or funds to invest in extensive digital marketing programs like larger companies do. Unpaid social media marketing helps you grow your business without a dedicated marketing team or a big budget.
With 2.9 billion active users, Facebook is the most popular social network. No matter what type of business you have, your customers will be on Facebook. Also, 2/3 of Facebook users visit a local business page at least once a week. No wonder 93% of marketers use Facebook, and 54% of them rank Facebook as the most important social network for marketers.
Can your small business do well on Facebook?
Whether you own a local tea lounge, eCommerce store, hair salon, or landscaping business, any business can do well on Facebook. If your customers are on Facebook, you can be successful on the platform.
But if you only have time to focus on one or two social media platforms, you’ll want to make sure Facebook is the most popular with your current customers.
Ask your customers
The easiest way to find out if Facebook is the best place to reach your customers is to ask them.
If you have an email list, send your customers a brief survey asking them about their social media habits. Ask which platforms they use most and where they like to follow brands.
Compare your target audience to Facebook’s users
Different audiences are more active on some social media platforms than others. Compare the demographics (gender, age, geographic location, income, etc.) and psychographic characteristics (interests, values, beliefs, and personality) of your target audience to the social media platforms you are considering.
Take a peek at your competitors
If businesses like yours have a large following and a lot of audience engagement through comments and likes on Facebook, your target audience is likely on Facebook. After all, your competitors’ customers are your potential customers! You should start posting.
How to get started with Facebook marketing for small businesses
Ready to create your first post? Use these Facebook marketing tips to set your business up for success.
Fully set up your Facebook business page
As a small business marketing on Facebook, your business page is like your homepage. It tells potential fans who you are and what you do as a business. So it is important to set up your business page in a recognizable way.
- Start with your profile picture: This is the most important thing to ensure that your brand is recognized by your audience. Use your logo or brand icon as your profile picture.
- Add a cover photo: A cover image is the first impression your audience has of your brand.
- Fill out contact information: It should be complete and up-to-date, including your website, email address, and/or customer service phone number and location, so people know how to find and connect with you.
- Clarify your business in the about section:: It’s important for surfing fans to know what you’re up to! Focus on making your business unique.
Know your content types
Video posts see higher engagement rates. Posts with photos see higher engagement rates than links or plain text posts. However, every type of content has its place on Facebook, and it’s worth using all of them depending on how you’re trying to engage your audience.
- Plain-text posts: These are great for sparking conversation. You can use plain text posts to ask your fans questions or ask for feedback.
- Link posts: Posts with links show a preview of the website, so visuals will attract more attention than a plain text post.
- Photo posts: Facebook posts with photos grab people’s attention as they scroll through their news feed.
- Video posts: Facebook videos play automatically, so it’s even easier to grab people’s attention.
- Stories: Skip the News Feed algorithm and post a Facebook story.
Be relatable, not sales
Your fans come for your products and services, but they stay because they like your style and how you engage with them. Think of social media as an extension of your brand’s personality.
You Can Still Post Promotional Content – To make your brand worth following on Facebook, there needs to be plenty of non-sales content.
Publish media directly on Facebook instead of linking out
Sometimes you want to get people to your blog or website, but you’ll benefit from posting media directly to Facebook whenever possible.
The Facebook algorithm favors media posted directly to the platform through something connected. So limit how often you post on other websites.
Plus, posting directly to Facebook activates a conversation on the platform, which is great for engagement and leads to more attention on your content.
Adapt your content for Facebook instead of copy-pasting from other channels
Many of your fans follow you in many places. They may be on your email list or follow you on another social network like Instagram or Twitter. You need to provide these people with a unique experience so they have a reason to follow you.
Interact with your fans
Social media is more than just posting great content – it’s about building relationships with your followers. So stay connected with your fans!
Like and respond to their comments to keep the conversation going. This will encourage people to keep in touch with you on Facebook.
Consider starting a Facebook Group
With over 10 million groups on Facebook and 1.4 billion people using them every month, Facebook groups are a fun way to build a community around your brand and build a loyal following.
Groups can be a way to inspire people with your brand through challenges, you can offer sneak peeks or exclusive discounts, or they can serve as a resource for people to ask for advice on shared values.
Post on Facebook consistently
It takes time to build your fan base, but don’t give up! It may seem like you’re not reaching anyone at first, but if you post consistently, your fans will get in the habit of interacting with you and you’ll slowly grow your Facebook presence.
Measure the right metrics for success
When building your Facebook presence, you want to make sure that your efforts are paying off.
In the beginning, the number of fans and likes you have will be less, to begin with. That’s normal! Takes a while to take off. The important thing is that these numbers will improve over time. Find the types of content your fans engage with and use your metrics to amplify it.
