A Guide to Facebook Marketing
It is too easy to spend hours a day fooling around on Facebook, posting about this and that, not knowing exactly where you want to go and what you expect from your fans.
You can spend months trying to grow your fan list, and not reach more than 100 or 200 fans ! I have been there too. Just sharing some content fom other pages, or linking to articles on your blog. Or maybe just cross-sharing your posts from IG or Twitter. And nothing happening on FB.
Well, here is the secret, you need to have a clear goal in mind.
What is it that you’re trying to accomplish? Are you trying to get them to read your blog? Are you trying to get the word out about an event? Are you trying to get more people into your store? Maybe you’re looking to bring in new volunteers?
You need to have an answer to this question before you do anything else.
Where to start?
1) Set up your goal. You have to put down a strategy on paper, analyse data and stats, work on your branding and create amazing content targetting your desired fans.
2) Put yourself in your fans' shoes. The first time anyone comes to your Facebook Page, make it clear that your page is active, engaging, and helpful.
3) Let your personality be seen on your page. It is not just about being active or helpful. Work on your branding, your cover picture, your logo. In one look at the page, your fans should feel you and want to know you. Your profile photo should be your logo. Simple as that. As for your cover picture, some use photos of employees, while others use fancy artwork and put their contact information in the cover image. Pick a photo that will enhance your page and draw the eye of your visitors. And make sure you put good information in your "about" section, but stay casual and informal.
4) Come up with a list of topics. Put down on paper a list of topics you could be sharing on your FB page. Here are some ideas for the kinds of things you might want to post to your wall:
- Use compelling visual elements and graphics!
- Links to articles related to your company or your industry
- Links to your blog posts
- Coupon codes for fans to save on your products
- New product announcements
- Links to online tools your fans might find useful
- Ask your fans questions/opinions
- Don't spam!
5) Work with a designer. Don't try to save money on your branding. If you have no design skills, hire someone to do it for you.
6) Create a clear call-to action. The first thing to do is decide what it is you want your fans to do. Buy? Donate? Like? Join? Download? Something else? Don’t ask for too many things at one time. For each post, and also on the tab that is on your cover photo, encourage them to share your campaign with their social networks, download a whitepaper or coupon, call you, subscribe to your blog, or give you feedback on your wall.
7) Be active. Honestly, you do not need to spend more than 20 minutes a day on Facebook. But use your time wisely.
- Update your status.
- Answer every comment you get.
- Go like and comment on the pages you follow (you of course need to follow pages that are linked to your activity or your industry). It will bring people to your page and make them want to reciprocate.
- Then, review your page news feed and share the best contents on your page.
8) Use social media management tools/softwares. I like to use Hootsuite but you have other choices like Buffer or Tweetdeck (here is a list of the best alternatives). Indeed, you should not be posting everything at once. You should be scheduling updates in advance, so you can be more regular, and save yourself a lot of time. Here is a video tutorial on how to shedule Facebook posts on Hootsuite.
Read my blog post on why you should be using social media management tools.
9)Post during strategic times of the day. Studies have shown that posts published between 1-4pm have the best results.
9) Reward your fans. Share Facebook-only flash sales or dicounts.
10) Invest in Facebook ads. And target the right audience. Facebook offers a fantastic targeted advertising platform. You can create ads targeted at specific geographic areas, ages, education levels, and even the types of devices used for browsing. Facebook also lets users close ads they don’t like and “Like” a page right beneath an advertisement.
Read my blog post on how to run effectively your Facebook ads.
11) Study your statistics for better results. You can't improve your Facebook Page if you don't know how your posts are performing in the first place. Use tracking URLs with UTM codes to identify which posts are driving traffic and conversions to your website. And for Page-specific data such as your engagement rate per post, head over to Facebook Insights. Once you have insights from these analyses, you can tailor your content strategy to post more of what works -- and less of what doesn't.
Facebook is a powerful marketing tool. It has more than enough different marketing options that you can tailor to fit your company, your budget, and your time constraints.
If Facebook is not a current part of your marketing campaign, it should be. Get started now!
Anna B.
