Most business owners know that Facebook is the premier social media platform. The two billion monthly users for Facebook represent an incredible pool of potential customers. However, you will need to develop an effective marketing strategy for Facebook if you expect to stand out among the millions of businesses that use the platform to reach customers.
The following strategies should become pillars of every successful Facebook marketing strategy.
Facebook Ads
Small business owners have the opportunity to give their business a huge lift by advertising on Facebook. This fact is especially true for business owners who are just starting out.
Facebook advertising is much more affordable than most people think and will provide you with a constant and effective advertising channel after you test a few ads for effectiveness. You can expect more engagement with your Facebook page, more likes for your Facebook page, more visitors to your company website, and a host of other benefits from a well thought out Facebook advertising campaign.
Facebook Reviews
Positive reviews of your products or services on Facebook will greatly increase the chances of your business realizing success. Put simply, people trust reviews. Studies indicate 97% of consumers say that reviews factor into their purchase decision.
Your Facebook reviews will also increase your search engine rankings. This is because search engines will pay attention to all pages associated with your business including your Facebook business page. So, the more mentions and reviews you gain on Facebook the more it will boost your SEO efforts.
Determine the Best Time for Posts
The Facebook insight feature allows you to learn what time of day fans of your page are usually online. You should use this information to schedule the times you will deliver posts to your audience.
You can access the insights feature on Facebook by clicking on the "see insights" link at the top of your Facebook page. Next, click on the tab for "posts". Allow your mouse to hover on the day you are planning a post and you will see which times of the day your audience is most likely to be present.
Budgeting
The old adage says you will have to spend money in order to make money. In many cases, this is true for businesses using Facebook. The Facebook platform is one that is motivated by money. And setting aside a budget that can be applied to your advertisements and posts will assure your content is seen by potential customers.
It is a bit more difficult to grow your following organically on Facebook than it is on other social media platforms. Because of this, your budget should include money for ads to gain page likes, ads for lead generation, content creation, and boosted posts.
Daily Monitoring
Once your plans for posts and advertisements are nailed down you should make it a point to monitor your Facebook business page on a daily basis. You should make sure your scheduled content is properly posted at the times they are planned and respond to all messages and comments left on your page.
Consumers love to interact with the brands they like. In fact, 70% of consumers report they are more likely to recommend a business to others when they have experienced a positive interaction with the business online. So it’s a good idea to respond to all comments left on your page even if you do no more than "like" the comment.
The opportunity Facebook presents to grow your business gives it a priority over all other social media platforms. You need to develop an effective Facebook marketing strategy to fully realize the growth potential provided by Facebook. The five strategies above should become the main ingredients in your marketing strategy for Facebook.