Like it, love it or hate it, Facebook is still the biggest and most important social media platform for marketers, with almost 3 billion monthly users as of October 2022. When it comes to opportunities to promote your business online, you simply can’t afford to forget about Facebook. In this blog post, we’ll be walking through the best strategies to make use of right now in order to grow your brand and shoot for business success. 

 

Facebook Marketing: The Essentials

 

If you’re going to do social media marketing on any platform, make sure it’s Facebook. The tools that Facebook provides in order to market your business to users are far-reaching. That said, many marketers don’t understand how to make the most of them. When you do, attracting customers, generating leads and making sales becomes a hell of a lot easier. Let’s take a look at the site’s most important features. 

 

1. Facebook Business Page

 

If you have a business, you need a Facebook Business Page. This is pretty much non-negotiable. Moreover, your Business Page must be separate from your Personal Page, which is what most people think of when they think of Facebook. Whereas a personal page is where you’ll share content specific to you as an individual, your Business Page will be the face of your company on the platform. This is the place where you’ll add information about your company, and also the place where you’ll run ads tailored to your business.

 

2. Posting Content

 

Many small businesses are under the impression that more posts = more engagement. In fact, the opposite is true in many cases. Just because you can post 3 times a day doesn’t mean you should. When in doubt, focus on quality not quantity. This is because quality posts are more likely to receive engagement from people, and in the eyes of Facebook’s algorithms, engagement is far more important than how many times you’re posting. 

 

Let’s take a moment to chat about these mysterious Facebook algorithms. They call the shots when it comes to succeeding at Facebook marketing…

 

Let’s Talk Algorithms

 

The Facebook algorithm ranks content. It’s as simple as that. Similar to Instagram, Facebook’s algorithm will fill its users’ feeds with posts from people they interact with the most, the type of content they engage with the most, as well as posts that their friends have engaged with. This is why engagement is paramount. 

 

The average organic (i.e. non-paid) Facebook post receives just 0.007% engagement. So, in order to make your business stand out, you need to convince the algorithm that your content is valuable, authentic and worth sharing with as many people as possible. 

 

Our advice is to focus on two things: 1) Double-down on the effort you’re putting into the quality of each post. Think about what kinds of posts will actually engage people—will make them like, comment and share. This is why competitions and giveaways are still incredibly effective strategies. 

 

2) If you’re posting organic content, make sure these posts are part of an omnichannel feed/network; i.e., spread the same post out across different channels and platforms such as your website, email newsletters, blog posts, etc. 

 

 

3. Facebook Stories

 

A great way to increase engagement rates on your Business Page is to post regular Stories. Facebook Stories are a fun, lighthearted way to share quick moments and behind-the-scenes content to do with your business. Stories are vertical videos or pictures shot from your phone that last only 24 hours. Add stickers, effects and opinion polls to them to further increase engagement. A little more real and raw, Facebook Stories are guaranteed to increase engagement. 

 

4. Facebook Live

 

Speaking of real and raw, going Live is another fantastic way to show your personality and the overall character of your business. Authenticity sells—and people can spot it a mile off. Facebook’s Live feature scares many marketers because you can’t edit out the bits you don’t like; but the thing is, audiences love them! If you can muster up the courage to go Live, people will tune in. Whether you go Live spontaneously to share business updates, or schedule a specific time to do things like Q&As, you’ll find that Facebook Live is a powerful marketing tool for your business. 

 

5. Facebook Ads

 

Here’s the truth about Facebook Ads: they’re an accelerator, not a magic bullet. What we mean by that is: If you have a good business idea, a good offer, clear messaging and a target audience that’s clearly defined, Facebook Ads will send your business into the stratosphere. That said, many people expect them to make a dull idea go viral, which is simply unrealistic. 

 

Another reason why many Facebook Ads fail is because they’re sharing the right information to the wrong people. Facebook Ads allow you to target increasingly specific target demographics—so make use of this feature! When in doubt, hire a marketing agency to ensure your message matches your market. 

 

 

Universal Web Design

 

Are you a small- to medium-sized business frustrated with underperforming marketing strategies? Has your social media presence stagnated? Is Google seemingly unaware of your existence? At Universal, we have reliable team members dedicated to the full digital marketing spectrum. Get in touch with us today and unleash the audience your business deserves. 

Call 01206 588000, email sales@universalwebdesign.co.uk,  or browse our services by clicking here.