Kicking off Your Facebook Marketing Program
It doesn’t matter if you personally love or hate Facebook, it is not going away anytime soon. There are more than 1.7 billion (that is billion with a “b”) active users every month so Facebook marketing has to be a part of your annual plan. You have to have a presence on the platform.
Notice I said “have a presence”. I did not say you need to spend all day every day. For many companies, a minimal presence such as a company page and a weekly update is all the Facebook marketing they need.
Not sure if an active Facebook page is right for you? We created a simple worksheet you can use to figure out which social media platform is right for you. If Facebook is a good fit our social media kit will help you get set up.
Facebook is always changing so once you are done with the basics, and are ready to dive into Facebook for your business, there are a few things you need to know.
Successful Facebook Marketing is About Balance
Even when you are posting content for your business account there needs to be a heavy dose of social/fun along with the informative and sales-oriented messaging. A good rule of thumb is the 50/30/20 rule. As you create your content calendar, this ratio will help you make sure you are offering a mixture of fun, informative and sales oriented content to keep your audience engaged. You can learn how to apply this rule by reading this post:
Prepare Your Links for Sharing on Facebook
Facebook is a great place to share links to your blog posts. A short snippet from the post along with a beautiful image is a terrific way to direct your community from Facebook to your website. This will only work if you prepare the content correctly on your website before you try to share it on Facebook.
It starts with selecting the right size image (make it wider than 600px and taller than 315px) and adding an interesting subject line and meta description. If you want to know more about how these elements come together, check out Peter’s post on why your links look dumb and how to fix them.
Finally, Facebook is becoming an advertising platform. While you don’t have to spend a lot you do need to be investing in advertising. Just a little bit each month will allow you to build your community and stay visible in the timeline. Fortunately these ads are relatively cheap for the reach they deliver. For as little as $5 you can boost a post or run a small ad reaching several thousand potential prospects in a matter of days.
Since Facebook knows so much about their users it is easy to segment your ad based on age, gender, hobbies, interests and geographic boundaries. Want to learn more? Grab a copy of our Facebook advertising workbook or simply give us a call.