Facebook is perhaps the most famous global phenomenon that continues to grow exponentially since its launch. It isn’t surprising that Facebook dominated ad revenue in 2016, taking in 67.9 per cent of social media advertising spend. Social media ad spending doubling worldwide over the past two years – rising from $16bn in 2014 to $31bn in 2016. Instagram alone generates $1.53 billion in mobile ad revenue worldwide in 2016. That’s an impressive year-on-year increase of 144 per cent.
Why Use It Facebook?
Facebook out performs all other social networks in terms of unique users. This is demonstrated by the Pew Center statistics of U.S. users:
79% use Facebook (April 2016)
32% use Instagram (April 2016)
31% use Pinterest (April 2016)
29% use LinkedIn (April 2016)
24% use Twitter (April 2016)
With its millions of users, Facebook offers unrivaled potential for exposure. Moreover, now that Facebook owns Instagram and is integrating the products, Facebook has a near monopoly on social media. When used strategically and consistently, Facebook can contribute to the significant increase in your company’s online presence and visibility. Post comments, provide insights, advice and tips to earn respect and credibility in your network, and ultimately gain leverage.
Facebook’s “Pages” application allows users to create professional profile a for products, services and businesses. Additionally, these pages are also linked to Instagram so as when purchasing ads users have the option to spread ad campaigns across both Facebook and Instagram platforms. A Facebook page provides the option to include links to your website and “like” buttons. This helps drive traffic towards your website and generate more interest.
There is no cost to use Facebook or create a Facebook page. It allows you to reach out to hundreds, even thousands of people with a host of user-friendly applications and tools you can use to market products and services.
A user can purchase an advertisement and are only charged when the audience is "engaged" with the advertisement. Engagement only counts when someone clicks on the advertisement. So in theory, thousands of people can see the business’ advertisement, but only when someone clicks on the ad is business charged. This greatly decreases the expenses associated with advertising outside the targeted group. Furthermore, a user can tailor the ad by specific gender, age, location and interests.. Finally, Facebook has strong analytics to understand the performance of the advertisement.
Facebook offers a convenient way to update the business’ network on new products and promotions. Newer companies can appreciate the ability to modify and change basic information about the company to stay fresh and relevant in the minds of the market as the company grows. The Facebook page also offers a convenient and accessible option to speak directly to the clients. A Facebook page is capable of managing and storing content such as forms, PDFs, pictures and blog posts.
Setting Up
From your Facebook profile page, click the "Pages" header on the left-side navigation. Next, click the Create a Page button, and select the type of page--Local Business or Place, for example, or Brand or Product. Give the brand, business or cause a voice on Facebook and connect with the people who matter. Add the business information in the required fields then click the "Get Started" Button.
From this point, the creative process begins. Here are some pointers:
A cover photo is the larger photo at the top of your profile, above your profile picture. Like your profile picture, cover photos are public, which means anyone visiting your profile will be able to see them. Covers can't be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else's copyright. You can't encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines. Ensure your cover photo is at least 399 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall. Loads fastest as a JPG file. PNG files do not work well. Also the cover photo should not exceed 851 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall. The file size should not exceed 100 kilobytes.
Since your profile picture is on the left, you want to add some balance to your Facebook cover photo design by focusing the image heavier on the right.
Populate your contact information and also use the add button so people can link to your website, if you have one.
In April 2016, Facebook reported that over half of its user base (54.2%) access the social network exclusively from mobile devices. That's huge -- and it's exactly why it's so important to keep mobile users top-of-mind when designing your Facebook cover photo.
ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS
Interact and join conversations. Maximize visibility and presence by posting regular updates on your wall about your business. You can also provide exclusive offers that will generate interest and comments and drive active engagement. Build deeper relationships. Use this opportunity to get to know your loyal client base or “fans” and go out of your way to make them feel at home by responding to comments in a timely manner. Gain valuable insights. Learn and study how your audience interacts and make the necessary adjustments to encourage more engagement.
Promote Your Business
Create Ads. Make use of Facebook Ads to promote your business and get the word out based on your targeted criteria, like location, interest, age group, etc. Run Sponsored Stories. Set up Sponsored Stories, so you can encourage friends/fans to spread the good word about your business to their network. Remember, word of mouth marketing is twice as effective when it comes to driving results compared to traditional advertising.
Use your social media community. Actively add people that can potentially become customers or those who are related to your specific line of business. Use the search function to discover relevant or related pages, events, people, groups and even messages. This can also be used to keep track of any brand mentions as well as provide timely feedback. Communicate. It’s an interactive page, so make sure to answer back.
When you are composing a post or message, put an @ sign and type in your business page so you can mention it. You can even use this as a signature for your regular updates.
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAMWORK!
Ask employees and fellow staff members to post comments and “likes” on your status updates in order to boost rankings. If you are a "solopreneur" build relationships with other solopreneurs and ask them to post to your site (you'll want to reciprocate). Status updates that has 5 or more comments and “likes” can show up in the Top News section. This will also help make your Facebook wall more alive and inspire fans to participate in conversations and be more active.
Constantly look for ways to add content. Encourage fans to post photos of how they use your products and/or services. Upload photos of your products and/or services, including your team and office so fans can easily relate to you. Upload photos of events you hosted and tag your fans Post videos that features any of your team members talks. Use video to respond and entertain your fans. Show your products and/or services in action
Reward your fans with special or exclusive offers every now and then. You can reward loyalty by offering discounts, limited only to Facebook fans. Keep your fans updated by using direct messaging. Direct messages are very powerful, but make sure not to abuse it. Before you send messages to your fans, think twice. Your updates should be valuable and a welcome news since your goal is to inform and engage and not irritate. Ask your fans for help. Seek help from your fans in building your community using “Suggest to Friends” and “Share” tools.
Build partnerships with other Facebook pages. Each page on Facebook feature a function called "Add to my Page's Favorites" button. Any "favorites” page will have their logo displayed in the “Favorite Pages” featured on your Facebook page.
There are some really useful apps on Facebook that you can readily use to promote your company or brand. You can conduct polls, quizzes, and games where people can play against each other and outrank. There are even apps for giveaways and sweepstakes – something most consumers love to participate in.
Spy! Yes, you also need to keep an eye on your competitors, most especially those that are highly successful in their own campaigns. Check out what they are doing every now and then and study their strategies. If you choose to copy, make sure you offer a better version.
Consider getting a coach, a life coach, business coach or both. I feel fortunate enough to have had this experience and am now in a position to return the favor to others that are just starting out. If you are interested in a coach, please send me your email so I may contact you directly within the next 24 hours or go to my website: https://21kgroup.com/coaching.
