With over 2 billion monthly users, Facebook gives small businesses several ways to promote their products and services, increase customer support and boost recognition in the market.
Having a presence on Facebook is a must if you want your business’ content and products to reach a wide range of consumers.
Benefits of Facebook for business
Facebook presents prominent marketing opportunities for businesses of any size and type. It has many potential benefits, some of which are listed below-
1. Low-cost marketing strategy
When compared to other channels, Facebook offers relatively low-budget marketing tactics. This makes it the best fit for small to medium businesses with a limited marketing budget.
2. Publicize your business
A Facebook page can serve as a place where you can promote your business name, address and briefly describe your products and services. You can share your customer reviews and feedback with pictures and videos that are likely to attract other Facebook users and convert them into your customers.
3. Provides customer support
With the help of Facebook, you can communicate with customers and potential customers and acknowledge their feedback. Customers can post their questions on your Facebook wall which can, later on, be answered by your team.
4. Targeted advertising
Facebook analyzes all the information that millions of users enter into their profiles. You, being the owner of a business page, can pay to use this information and can further target your ad delivery. Your ads will be automatically visible to people who are most likely to find them relevant.
To use your Facebook page most effectively, you need to optimize your Facebook presence. The below-mentioned points will explain to you how to set up a Facebook page for your business, and how to use that page to engage with customers.
Creating a Business Page on Facebook
The first step is creating a Facebook Page for your business. And the best part is – Setting up a Facebook Page for your business is completely free!
To create a page you must have a personal profile(Your personal info won’t appear on your Business Page.)
Set up the page
1. Go to facebook.com/pages/create
2. Choose your page type:- Business/brand or Community/public figure and Enter your business details
3. Upload your profile and cover photos:- Remember you use images that can be easily identified as your business. The best way to go is to use your logo as your profile photo.
4. Click on Edit Page Info:- Here you can add a short description, contact details, opening hours, and other relevant information. Always maintain up-to-date information.
5. Click on Create Page:- Add your username in this step. It can be up to 50 characters long. Try to use your business name as your user name.
6. Set up a call to action:- Click Add a Button under your cover photo to set up a call to action like “Shop” or “Contact Us.”For example, if you are a restaurant you can add the button ‘Book Now’.
7. Organize your page tabs:- You can rearrange and turn certain tabs on and off. Go to the settings, and click on ‘edit page’. Here you can prioritize which tabs you want customers to see first as they visit your page.
After setting up your Facebook Business page, you are all set to put in some valuable content on it.
You can create different types of posts on Facebook, depending on your social media strategy and objectives.
Types of Facebook Posts
- Facebook text post
- Facebook Image Post
- Facebook Video Post
- Facebook Live video
- Facebook Stories
- Carousel ads
1. Facebook text post
Text posts are direct and to the point.
You can use a text post to ask a question, call for feedback, share important information that your audience might search for on your page like opening hours and product launching date.
2. Facebook Image Post
An eye-catching image post is an excellent way to attract a potential customer scrolling through their news feed. Especially for product-based businesses, image posts can serve as a very significant way to display their products.
3. Facebook Video Post
As compared to Image posts, Video posts see even higher engagement rates. Your video post or ads need not have only filmed video footage. On Facebook, video plays automatically in the news feed which increases the chances to engage your audience.
4. Facebook Live video
Facebook Live video is a live-streamed broadcast on your Facebook Page. It is a great way to interact with your audience. You can share behind-the-scenes tours, product demos, and the viewers can ask questions and post comments on the live itself.
6. Facebook Stories
Exactly like Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories are photos or short videos that disappear after 24 hours. They appear at the top of the News Feed and give an intriguing sneak peek of the business’ content to the users.
7. Carousel ads
A carousel ad is used to show up to 10 images or videos displaying your product or service. In such ads, you can add the “Shop Now” button below them that goes directly to the sales page.
Advertising on Facebook can be an easy and effective way to increase your reach but to use it most effectively, you need to build a solid strategy for Facebook marketing.
Tips for an Effective Facebook Marketing Strategy-
- Know your audience
- Post at the best times for your audience
- Set goals
- Choose Your Budget
- Create your Group.
- Track and optimize performance
1. Know your audience
In order to engage your audience, you must have an idea of what kind of people will be interested in your page’s content and then take a look at Facebook Audience Insights to gather information on things such as Age, Gender, Past purchasing activity, etc.
2. Post at the best times for your audience
You must post your content at times that your audience is online. For getting an idea, check out the post analytics in your Facebook Page Insights. Click on ‘Insights’ on the top menu bar and then click Posts in the left column, and select ‘When your fans are online.
3. Set goals
It is very essential to define a strong goal that relates to your business objectives. Every business should mainly focus on –
- Generating leads
- Increasing conversions on your website
- Improving customer service
You can create a Facebook mission statement and Facebook-style guide that defines a consistent tone of your content.
4. Choose Your Budget
The budget is the amount of money that you want to spend on your ad. There are two types of budgets-
- Daily Budget: Your ad will run continuously during the day, and Facebook will measure your spending per day.
- Lifetime Budget: The ad will run at a specified length that you choose. Facebook will measure your spending for this set time period.
5. Create your Group.
Create your own Facebook groups where you can add members, publish articles, carry on discussions, etc. You can also use them to showcase your expertise to your fans.
6. Track and optimize performance
Facebook Insights helps to determine which types of posts work best for your Page so that you can make adjustments wherever necessary.
Conclusion
Facebook, when used strategically, can prove to be a great tool for your business if you want to thrive on social media.
Potential customers are probably looking for businesses like yours on Facebook and the only way to connect with them is to build your own Facebook for business page and use it effectively.
How are you using Facebook for business? Let me know in comments below.
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- Top 10 YouTube Channels for Business Owners
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