Small businesses can’t ignore the marketing potential of Facebook. With millions of active users, it has become one of the most efficient marketing platforms that generate sales leads when used correctly.
With that in mind, we’ve developed Facebook marketing tips for small businesses. These tactics are effective, easy to implement and most importantly, very affordable.
Start Local
For business owners who are just beginning to utilize Facebook, success begins within your own personal networks. Why not invite family and friends to be the founding members of your community? At the top of your Facebook admin panel, you will see a “Build Audience” section that has a drop-down menu that allows you to email contacts, invite friends or share the page (within your own timeline or group)—all of which require no funds, just a quick note to your supporters about liking your business page and spreading the word.
If you own a brick-and-mortar store, advertise your page at the check-out counter as well. If you already operate an email list, link your subscribers to the page. Marketing on Facebook is a necessarily social process; it’s best to get the community involved.
80-20 rule of content development
In a previous blog post that we created, we explained the importance of having a 80-20 rule when developing content for social media. Facebook is an interactive platform and highly social in nature. You can’t just put your TV ad on the site and expect your sales to increase. The best Facebook marketing strategy is to create content that your community members would see value in.
20% Ads, Products and Services:These are posts that create awareness of your product offerings and increase brand recognition. Photos that directly feature your products or tell the story of your business fall in this category.
80% Interesting and Fun Content: There are posts that highlight relevant, curated information, educational content as well as posts that make people happy—contests, entertaining posts, cartoons and memes.
To see if your posts are engaging the community, always check your Facebook insights to check which posts resonate well with people.
Offer Deals and Contests
If you have leftover inventory, why not offer it at a discounted rate for your community? Or even better, how about giving it away through a Facebook contest? A big reason why people like business pages on Facebook is so they can get exclusive deals on products and services. Running deals and contests will give your community reasons to engage with the business and remain active on your community page.
Additional Tip: If you have a hot deal that people within your community page love so much, why not give it a boost by running it as a Facebook promoted post? By spending a little, your post will be more visible to a wider audience—you can target the viewers of the post according to your desired audience (according to location, age, gender, etc.)
Buying Facebook Ads
Last but not least, we also recommend running an ongoing Facebook ad for pages. This is a cost-efficient way to reach your target audience. We highly recommend using Promoted Page Likes which allows you to set a daily budget for a determined range of new likes per day. Select an eye-catching photo and compelling copy for your ad and be sure to narrow down your audience. Target the age, gender and location of people who will most likely see the benefits of your products or services and choose from a list of interests that might overlap with your business. A huge part of running ads on Facebook is knowing how your customer is like. This will help you maximize your budget.
Do you have a Facebook marketing tip that works well for your business? Let us know!
