Social Media Marketing on Facebook for Small Business Owners

 Facebook is one of the major hubs for social interaction, with more than a billion subscribers worldwide, so if you are a business, how can you get in on this action?

Facebook has a number of different features that enable businesses to promote products and services on their site, which can help increase your company's presence in the online world and ultimately improve customer turnover. However, as with any social media campaign, it is important to implement a plan to help get you noticed, so your efforts don't go wasted.

Utilize Facebook's Instant Articles for Business

If you are a business who is considering publishing your content on Facebook, the Facebook Instant Article feature can help you stand out in news feeds. Whether you have a self-hosted page such as WordPress or you are a Drupal user, you can set up Facebook Instant Articles, so your audience never misses your content.

Set up a Shop Section

If your business sales products, now you can do so right from Facebook. Facebook powers some different shops including Basic Products, Snow Lizard, ARDO USA and more, where businesses can sell their products. If you are a Bigcommerce or Shopify customer, these sites offer respective links to sell on Facebook, while all other companies can just add the shop feature from the Add Shop Section link on your Facebook page.

Consider Incorporating Facebook Contests

Video-vote, photo-vote, caption and sweepstakes contests are very popular on Facebook. Remember, the idea is to develop a contest that will get you closer to meeting your goals. For example, sweepstakes are the simplest to enter and play a huge factor in driving lots of traffic to your site to pick the right prize.

Add Incentives to Your Facebook Ads

Whether you are looking to gain more posts or page likes, try simply asking for the number of likes you want. For example, one major brand asked for 40,000 likes included in their print ad with the incentive that once they reached this milestone, they would release a promotion code where people could enter to win to their product free for a year. Needless to say, this company sacrificed something relatively small, and in return, got over 800 comments, over 60,000 likes and more than 1,500 shares in exchange for providing one person with their free product.

Offer an Escape

One significant trend with Facebook is posting vacation pictures. The problem is, when friends post their vacation pictures on Facebook, it includes other people in them, which can distort viewers image of escape. To engage your fans in some escapism, share a relaxing image, free of people, that viewers can escape into, followed by a catchy message and your logo imprinted somewhere in the lower half of the picture to show that it is about the feeling, and your brand is just there to accommodate it.

Stay Current

There's always something exciting happening that people are engaged in. Whether it is a major awards show coming up, a much-adored television show starting a new season, or a popular reality show is coming to a conclusion, there's always a way to connect to a show and relate it to your brand. For example, at the end of American Idol, the company AT&T asked a simple question undoubtedly on the minds of followers far and wide..."Who are you voting for?" In doing so, they conjured an enormous amount of comments, shares, and likes.

Know Your Audience

As with any social media site, it is important to know your audience in order to both attract and retain customers. Knowing your audience means understanding their expectations, as well as what resonates with them. This will allow you to give your clients what they want and eliminate guesswork. Facebook Insights and Google Analytics provide a clear picture of your audience and how they engage with your page. Using these tools, businesses can track their audience's preferences to determine which content or pages visitors are engaging with the most, then adjust their campaign accordingly.

These are just a few ways that Facebook can be used to help grow your business. For more advanced online social media marketing, please contact us.