Social Media Marketing Tips: Facebook

How to market on Facebook

The introduction of a ‘Buy’ button to Facebook is transforming the site into a retail store with millions of daily visitors, as users can make purchases directly from ads without having to leave the social network. This also means that it’s as good a time as ever to get your business marketed on Facebook.

What is it

The world’s biggest social networking site. Primarily used for personal interactions, it is now also a main player for big corporations and smaller businesses too – although we would encourage you to use multiple platforms in an integrated strategy, Facebook is still a powerful marketing tool.

Who uses it

The average user is 40.5 years old, with an almost 50-50 split male to female. Yes, teens are spending less time engaging with content on Facebook, but the sheer scale on which it operates (1.23 billion active monthly users) means you don’t want to dismiss it just yet.

Facebook is regarded as a fun place for social interaction – as a business you need to join conversations, create new ones and become part of a community rather than being an ‘outsider’ who tries to sell aggressively. It won’t work and people will unfollow and unlike.

Why is it different

It is the original. Facebook has become synonymous with social media and in this way it is viewed by many as the biggest and best. We could bombard you with countless facts and figures about how important Facebook is, but the chances are you already know that.

How should you use it

Understand:

Facebook is multidisciplinary – you can drive engagement across posts, images, videos, infographics, comment, debate, educational resources, jokes, hashtags, politics, blog posts, article links, anything. Facebook has become something of a jack of all trades (and master of none?)

Due to the vast scope of Facebook, make sure you set up clear goals for your marketing plan – do you want more website visits? More likes? More fan engagement? Choose your objective before you start.

For starters:

For example, the initial aim could be to increase your ‘likes’ as once a user likes your business page they become a follower, and your posts will appear in the news feed – start by inviting friends to like your business page, sharing your page and getting friends to share it, then begin inviting business contacts. The average Facebook user has around 130 friends, which means roughly 16,900 friends of friends.

Remember though it’s not simply a vanity contest in getting your numbers up – you need to be engaging and getting genuine likes from your target audience, ie the people who matter, who actually like your business in real life and thus who are more likely to convert clicks into sales.

Think about: what your ideal customers have in common? How old they are and where they live? How your business can help them? Would one group be more interested in specific messages, products or services?

In essence, more meaningful likes means more interaction between customer and brand – your business page needs to become the equivalent of a smiley shop assistant standing at the entrance to your store ready to show money bags around.

You don’t have to pay to play:

Yes, you can pay for promoted posts and marketplace ads, but this errs on the side of aggressive selling which is precisely what you’re trying to avoid on a social network. Instead, take inspiration from other successful social media platforms and focus on your images – pictures are a proven success. Posts with images get much higher engagement than those without, so feel free to use multiple images for added variety. You can upload up to six images in one post.

Try a large photo instead of the auto-generated article box. Attach your own larger image in a bitly URL beneath a post. Try to use an image that is 1200x627pixels. A larger image will capture more attention and stand out from the text-based statuses of a user’s news feed.

Update your cover photo according to the season or trends; changing your cover photo shows you are staying active and relevant – use the banner space as advertising space for a special sale or giveaway every now and then.

Pictures are working, so why not upload videos? They have similarly high engagement rates, so use them!

Inject some fun:

Contests, sweepstakes and promotions are a typical marketing tactic that can increase fans and brand awareness – competitions like ‘add a caption’ or ‘fill in the blank’ are fun and appropriate methods to use on Facebook.

However, you don’t want everything to be on show. Hide valuable information behind a ‘like’ barrier, working with the logic that people want what they can’t have. Make sure it’s a colourful and captivating message and you should see your likes increasing.

Communicate well:

Posts involving inspiring or life-affirming quotes often perform very well. For an added bonus, attach a photo to your quote – even better, do a Pinterest-style image/quote overlay. If it’s working well on other platforms, you can drop in the occasional Facebook version.

Positive words don’t have to come from philosophers with trendy catchphrases – testimonials from your own customers are always powerful so share them to other potential clients. Take a similar approach to above by incorporating images or superimpose text over a picture.

Ask questions. Facebook users like to get their voices heard. Try incorporating questions or surveys into your posts – being open about customer service and feedback will improve your brand image.

Keep it short. Concise posts tend to fare better than lengthier ones – it’s recommended that you trim down your words to somewhere between 100 and 250 characters for optimal engagement. No one wants to read an essay.

Manage your posts:

Post frequently and consistently. Don’t worry about overdoing the posts – as long as they are spaced evenly through the day, you’ll be fine. Only 16% of your fans will see one post (if even that), as news feeds easily become over populated. The more you post, the better your chances are of being seen. As ever though, remember to focus on quality over quantity – every post should be of value, not just something thrown quickly together.

Tag people, other organisations and upcoming events. Including tags in your posts is a great way to broaden your exposure with each tag you use. Everyone likes to get noticed, and they’ll remember that you were the one to put them in the limelight.

Integration is key. Similarly to the above, use hashtags. Facebook has enabled hashtags, so use them. They’re a great tool for promoting a specific campaign or product, and seamlessly connects your Twitter and Facebook marketing efforts.

Use Page Insights to find out what’s working well and customise future posts accordingly – one option is to turn successful posts into exclusive Facebook promotions.

Take these tips on board to help carve out a space and market your business on the world’s largest social network.

Katie Rowley

Recent graduate and now interning as content editor, when she's not writing articles Katie can quite likely be found festival-ing, holiday-ing or reading a book (dedicated English student that she is). Follow her @KatieAtSMF.

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