Facebook has been the dominant social media platform on the internet for the past 10 years. In fact in some countries, it is essentially the internet. With everyone being a part of the platform, it only makes sense that most businesses would take advantage via Facebook marketing for their services or products on the site.
But most often, they do not know how to do Facebook marketing on Facebook, more so how to do so at low cost. With that said, here are some tips for leveraging Facebook to increase your business’ online presence and generate website traffic for increased sales.
1. Think of your brand, and be consistent with it
Facebook marketing whether low-cost or a premium campaign will always fail if your business or product does not have a brand. People are constantly barraged by content from friends and other businesses in Facebook, so a brand is the easiest way to imprint an idea to users in the most effective way. And it doesn’t have to be expensive; brandings are more than fancy colours and designs. They can be a way you interact with customers online like how Wendy’s interacts with its users on Twitter, or the reputation of your products similar to Big Baller Brand which sells shoes online.
More importantly, when your brand starts generating buzz, you’ll have to make sure the same service or reputation is given to new customers. Facebook might be a big place, but the buzz about the new player in the game is easy to spread in the platform. Having a brand will make Facebook marketing exponentially more manageable for everyone when using the platform.
2. Leverage on Facebook groups
Groups are an underrated feature when doing Facebook marketing in the site. They are mostly free communities in social media and can be a leverage in promoting your business to a specific group of users with shared traits and interests. If your business is into homemade geeky merchandise, for example, you can join in Facebook groups catering to geeky or nerdy interests where you can promote your product and generate sales.
In the same way, it applies if your business is into cooking and food delivery, where various Facebook groups that are centric to ‘foodie’ interests are available in the thousands. Through leveraging groups, any small business can do Facebook marketing without spending on sponsored posts to reach a wider audience. More importantly, Facebook groups tend to generate higher engagement than sponsored posts. This means it’s possible to get an active user base which can be converted easily into sales revenue.
3. Your Facebook friends are your first influencers
Most large companies use influencer marketing to promote their products on Facebook. Small companies, however, do not have the same luxury, but instead have an even better advantage: their Facebook friends. Facebook is designed to connect to both users and content of similar interests easily. And with Facebook’s algorithms recently modified to cater more towards content shared by your friends rather than pages, asking your pals to signal-boost your posts in the site has never been more important.
Posting a public post about your services or product and asking friends on Facebook to share it is still an underappreciated but time-tested way of marketing your products online at no cost. More so, potential consumers would rather listen to friends or family when trying out a new product or service than any other online influencer. This makes it a more effective method of Facebook marketing that will build your business network gradually.
4. Take advantage of Facebook page features
Facebook pages do more than merely making your business look legitimate. They also include several features that can be taken advantage by users. For example, if your business page is under the category of “local business” “company” or “organization,” your page may be eligible for a verification badge. These badges only make sure that your business is authentic, but it also adds much to branding that makes it easier to gain consumer trust.
This can be done by going to the Page Verification in your settings menu, where you’re asked to add your phone number, country, and language. You can also include your website link in the page so that it will quickly show when users visit your page. Moreover, the call-to-action feature of Facebook pages means that you can include a readily accessible button when users visit your page, to which it can be designed to instantly direct users to either a landing page, a video, or so on.
5. Be creative with content, post images and videos as often
Visuals rather than monotonous text attract most users on Facebook. This is at the core of Facebook marketing, so your products or services should be as visually appealing as possible. For images, expensive photo shoots are no longer necessary especially with smartphone cameras becoming better at taking photos per year. There are various free tips online which you can access how to handle smartphones when taking decent pictures of products or goods. This can be used as helpful skills in promoting products on your page.
If you feel the need to be a bit more creative, free editing sites such as Canva can be used to make simple infographics that are beginner-friendly without the need to learn photoshop. Videos can also be utilized using smartphones to take short snippets of the product or service you’re selling. So long as the video looks decent, users will not mind your novice skills in video taking as they may become curious about your service or product if it’s within their interest.
6. Use your Facebook page as a funnel, take advantage of backlinking
Including links in your posts is still an acceptable form of Facebook marketing, and there’s a way to make it less “spam-looking.” If you have a website or a blog, ensure that it has a meta caption with a short title and description. This means that when you share the link from your blog or website, Facebook would automatically feature the meta caption. Feel free to delete the original link in the post after, as the featured post will suffice as a backlink to your site.
But if you need to feature your link in one of your posts, use a URL shortener like Bitly. That way, your links would look visually palatable in your post and online users won’t mistake it for spam. Feel free to experiment in ordering the right text structure and links for your posts. Make sure that your captions are short enough that your users won’t feel bored reading it, and practice writing witty captions that can convince your users to click your links.
7. Don’t ignore Facebook live and stories
Facebook live and stories are relatively new features on the platform. However, they are garnering more uses and are becoming even more important as a feature on Facebook. Facebook live videos are also usually prioritized, and using it will often pop up in the notification of your followers as soon as you start using it. Facebook Live can be a useful tool for your special promotions that can be leveraged by your businesses. They are also helpful when your enterprises hold special events particularly during the holidays, which can promote greater engagement among your followers.
Facebook stories are also useful mainly since they appear at the very top of the Facebook app. Most users in the social media site tend to check Facebook stories during their spare time, and the tool is one of the few places in the site that’s forgivable to spam a bit your content. Try experimenting with both Facebook Live and stories, and improve upon your practice as you go along. There’s no harm trying since these tools are free to use for everyone.
8. Cross-share posts between Facebook and Instagram
Ever since Facebook bought Instagram, the social media giant has done everything to make it convenient for cross-platforming content. Instagram has been growing more rapidly than Facebook, so it would be unwise to ignore the said app. Feel free to connect your page to Instagram under the settings in the app. From settings, tap “linked accounts” and select your Facebook account.
That way, sharing photos will be more convenient as they would be shown on both platforms. Even stories can be cross-platformed, so making stories is also convenient and would make your branding more consistent. By linking your Facebook to Instagram, you get the opportunity to expand your potential client base to users who may not be as active in Facebook but are very much engaged in Instagram.
Facebook marketing has become more important than ever. With 2 billion users, the platform provides a highway for small businesses to grow their customer base at little to no cost. We live in an age where businesses need to be online savvy in order to connect with customers and generate sales. Luckily, Facebook makes that convenient for everyone. And even better, it’s offered to us for free.
Author Bio:
Kyle Bacsal (born 1996) is a freelance researcher and a content writer. Her interests revolve around contemporary sociology, cutting-edge technology, and journals on the algorithmic rise of computing. She is a current contributor to Your Last Host blogs and contents.
