Facebook To Promote Your Business
Despite the rapid growth of Instagram and TikTok, Facebook remains the leading social platform, with 60.6 percent of Internet users.
Keep reading to learn about ten ways you can use Facebook to grow your business in the years to come.
10 ways to Use Facebook To Promote Your Business
Start a Facebook page
You’re not going to get very far without a Facebook page representing your business. Sure, you can post on your profile, but if you want to take advantage of some of the business features Facebook has to offer, you’ll need to create a Page for your business. These features include ads, collaboration with influencers, and a new business suite that lets you cross-post with Instagram.
To create a business page, go to Facebook Page creator and follow the online instructions to add your business name, title, and description.
Start a Facebook group
One of the quickest and most effective ways to grow your brand on Facebook is to create a business group. A group is like a 24/7 version of a networking club. Organic reach on Facebook is hard to come by these days, but not if you build an active and engaged group!
When you’re starting, make sure you post every day to encourage conversation and accelerate engagement. And Facebook rewards an active group by showing posts in group members’ news feeds and showing your group to like-minded Facebook users as others join, post, comment, and reply.
Host FB Lives
According to recent studies, ‘82% of consumers prefer live video to social posts from a brand’. Hosting a live broadcast on Facebook allows you to authentically connect with your audience, respond directly to comments, and answer questions in real-time.
Read on for some great ways to add FB Live broadcasts to your marketing strategy. You can conduct Q&As with customers, conduct product or service demonstrations, offer something educational or motivational, and interview prospects or peers in your niche. Think creatively or better yet, ask your customers what they want to see from you on their social feeds.
Utilize FB Native Video
If you’re not ready to go live yet, you can pre-record a video and upload it directly to Facebook. People want authentic content these days, so let the inspiration grab you, don’t be afraid to fire up your phone, record, and post!
If you don’t want to get in front of a video camera, use apps like Biteable or Lumen 5 to create image-based or animated videos. Add value.
Post-high-quality images
Poor quality images perform poorly on social media. Most phones these days have built-in high-quality cameras that deliver quality images right off the bat, although apps like VSCO or Lightroom can add stunning filters to images with just a few clicks of a button.
If the thought of running a photo through the app doesn’t excite you, use Instagram’s built-in filters or download Snapchat and show your teen how to create and save the perfect pictures on the app.
Use hashtags
Hashtags are always available on Facebook, but they are not as widely used as they are in other applications. Facebook is actively working to change that and is encouraging brands to use hashtags to ensure their posts are shown to the right people.
Add some choice hashtags to your posts to increase your chances of being seen organically on Facebook. Don’t go overboard; 3 – 5 relevant hashtags will ensure you pop up when someone searches for your keyword.
Utilise FB Stories
Everyone loves a good story! Stories were created to show people what was going on in their day-to-day lives. If you scroll through stories, you’ll find quotes, memes, videos, photos, gifs, and (sometimes unwanted) explorations into the minds of your friends, family, and favorite brands. FB stories get 300 million views every day.
Think about what questions your customers might have. You can decide to answer customer questions on your FB story. You can record 15-second videos, upload screenshots of questions and answers you’ve typed in your Notes app, upload photos of your products, generate discount codes, or run a quiz. Get creative or re-engage kids and make stories part of your existing marketing strategy.
Set up & use FB Messenger
When you create a Facebook Page, you have the option to enable messaging. While this may seem like a big job to manage, FB allows you to add an ‘Away’ message when you’re away, as well as a list of answers to common questions, which are automatically provided depending on the question. You can also use an external messaging bot to do the work of a customer service assistant.
Enabling messaging is a great opportunity to get direct feedback from your customers. You can use this content as a springboard for your posts, videos, and stories.
Post entertaining and relevant content
To stand out from the crowd, you need to ditch the corporate speak and talk to your audience like people. Post content that adds value to your customers by meeting their needs, solving problems, entertaining, and informing.
For inspiration, look to other successful brands and businesses in your niche. How do they connect with their audience? Then create something similar for your business.
Boost posts and use FB ads
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to boost some of your more engaging posts or run a Facebook ad campaign. Costs for FB ads have increased over the years, but they are much cheaper and more targeted than a newspaper campaign.
Select your audience based on gender, age, location, interests, and behavior. It’s impressive how granular data can be and how targeted it can be to ensure you’re only showing your content to people interested in your business or brand.
Summary
Social media is one of the most powerful ways to connect with customers and prospects. As long as you’re willing to listen to feedback, look to other brands for inspiration, and be creative, your business can reap the benefits of a Facebook presence.
