In this day and age, everyone is on Facebook. For this reason, it’s an important marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. Because Facebook has so many users, chances are your target audience is on Facebook. If you’re interested in getting started with Facebook marketing for your business or revamping your Facebook strategy, we have the tips that can help. Read below for a complete breakdown of what you need to know to get started with Facebook marketing.

Build Your Page

When you start your Facebook page, you’ll want to fill in your information and then optimize it for the best possible results. Consider the following tips for optimization.

Provide Company Details

You should include as many details as possible about your company. Your hours, address, and location should be included to easily provide information to your audience. Provide a brief description of the most important aspects of your business in the overview and create a comprehensive summary of your products or services in your long description. You should also include a link to your website on your Facebook page.

Optimize Cover and Profile Photos

Your cover and profile photos are important in branding your company on your Facebook page. You should feature your logo and only include high quality pictures. Stick to 2-3 colors for your color scheme to send a clear branding message and keep your page looking clean and professional. Consider rotating your cover photos every so often to reflect different times of the year or different promotions.

Include a Call to Action

Facebook provides the option to include a call to action button on your page. You have choices such as book now, contact us, use our app, sign up, and many more. A call to action button will help create more conversions from your Facebook page. Consider matching your call to action to the messaging of your cover photo. For example, if your cover photo highlights your new app, include a “use app” call to action with an arrow pointing to the button.

Use the Pinning Feature

The pinning feature is a useful tool to highlight important posts. Time sensitive posts promoting upcoming events, offers, or contests are good candidates for a pinned post. You can also spotlight expert content you’ve created. Pinning content you’ve produced with other companies is a good idea as well, as it can highlight your involvement with these companies. If you have posts that you want to promote over a period of time, pinning can be very useful.

Create Company Milestones

Adding company milestones to your Facebook page is a great way to humanize your brand and promote trust. Include events such as the founding of your company and launch dates for popular products. You can also provide historical context for your company and include historical events related to your company. For example, if you have a restaurant known for its hamburgers, you might include the invention of the hamburger as a company milestone.

Create and Organize Page Tabs

Every Facebook page has basic tabs including about, events, and photos. Creating new page tabs that are specific to your business will improve the functionality of your Facebook page. For example, if you have a restaurant, you should include a menu tab. If you have a sneaker company, consider a customize your sneaker tab. Creating custom tabs will help personalize your page and improve each visitor’s experience.

Create a Custom URL

You should be sure to include a custom URL for your Facebook page. You have the option to make your URL “Facebook.com/YourUsername.” Therefore, you should choose a clear and accurate username, preferably the name of your business, to make your URL clear and accurate. A custom URL will help make your page look more professional and will increase its discoverability.

Create Shareable Content

Once your Facebook page is up and running, it’s important to create quality content that people want to share. Your content should be interesting, with a compelling caption and a visual component. Many businesses choose to run contests that require sharing to win. Creating content that followers want to engage with and share will help promote your business. The more your content is shared, the more people will see your content, increasing your number of followers and promoting brand awareness.

Make Connections

A strong Facebook page with good content is useless without an audience. Make use of the “build audience” tools that Facebook provides. You can invite your Facebook friends from your personal account and all of your email contacts. Additionally, the creation of engaging content will help you gain followers as well. The more followers your page has, the more trustworthy your brand appears, increasing your reach to potential customers.

Create Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are the best way to promote your business on Facebook. These ads will guarantee that you reach the right people to promote your page. You can target these ads based on different demographics such as age, location, gender, occupation, education level, and even political affiliation. To create successful Facebook ads, keep the following tips in mind.

Define Your Audience

One of the first steps you should take when creating a Facebook ad is to define your target audience. You’ll want to be as specific as possible, narrowing down all desired demographics. Facebook allows you to target your ads based on many different demographics including age, location, profession, gender, education, and more. The more specifically you define your audience, the better chance you’ll have at reaching your desired prospects.

Create Unique Ads for Each Audience

If your company appeals to different demographics, you can create different ads that are targeted to your different audiences. In some cases, you might want the same exact ad to be sent to multiple distinct audiences. You might also want to design specific ads to each audience. Often times, businesses will have the same picture and same general idea but will alter their copy slightly to appeal to different demographics, especially age demographics. Tailoring your ads to your specific audience will improve their success because your viewers will relate to them better and be more interested in them.

Establish a Budget

When you begin an ad campaign, you’ll want to establish your budget. However, once you run your ads, you’ll want to increase your budget to the more successful ads. It’s important to reevaluate your budget frequently based on periodic reviews of the success of your ads. The more money you allot to your ads, the more successful they will be. Therefore, it’s important to increase your budget on successful ads and make adjustments to less successful ads before pouring more money into them.

Connect Ads to Landing Pages

Because you’re spending money on your ads, you’ll want to get something valuable out of them. For this reason, you should avoid sending people who click on your ad to a generic page on your website. Instead, send them to a landing page where you can capture their information for future contact. Landing pages can help educate users before they make a purchase, provide them with something valuable, and provide you with a method to capture their information. It’s important to connect your Facebook ads to landing pages in order to get your money’s worth on these ads.

Provide a Valuable Offer

When you create a Facebook ad, it will link to an offer of some sort. Make sure that this offer is something that your target audience will find valuable. This offer does not necessarily have to be of high monetary value, but it should be something that your target audience wants. It might consist of an ebook with useful information, a subscription to a newsletter with information and coupons, or a discount code. Whichever offer you use, choose one that your target audience will find valuable to encourage them to click on it.

Use Strong Visual Content

In order to attract your audience, it’s important to use strong visual content. Whether an image or video makes more sense for your ad, it should be of high quality and be attention-grabbing. Visual content is more influential than text, as it is more likely to get a person to stop and read your ad. It’s important to have strong copy that communicates your point, but your visual content is what will initially attract your audience, meaning it should be of the highest quality.

ImageWorks, LLC | CT Social Media Marketing

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