Using Facebook for Business
When it comes to using social media to find leads and customers, one social network that you shouldn’t overlook is Facebook. Facebook garners over two billion monthly active users worldwide. This social network has users of all demographics, interests, and locations.
Facebook isn’t merely a place for you to like your friends’ pictures and comment on their posts. It’s also a great place to connect with customers most likely to want your product or service.
Tips and Insights
Your journey to finding customers on Facebook starts with mastering marketing and advertising on the platform. This article will provide tips for using Facebook for business. Get ready to learn how to create a Facebook marketing strategy. You will also learn the types of business posts you can run on this network.
Tips to Use Facebook for Business
We’ve now established that Facebook is as good a network to socialize with your peers as it is to find customers for your business. But how do you use this social network for business purposes? Check out these seven tips for promoting your company on Facebook.
Create a Facebook Business Page
If you are looking to promote your business through Facebook, creating a Facebook Page is probably one of the first things you need to do. A Facebook Business Page is, more or less, like a Facebook personal profile. The only difference is that its functionality and features are tailored for a business.
Creating your Facebook business Page is only the first part of the equation. Strive to make it stand out. Let it advertise your products and services for you when you are not around. Keep in mind that most customers who find you through Facebook will want to look at your Page to get a glimpse of what you do. Ensure you include as much information about your business on your Page.
Learn All the Features Available on a Facebook Business Page
One notable thing about Facebook is it has multiple tools and features that you can take advantage of to capture users’ attention and thus grow your business. A tool like Ads Manager, for instance, allows you to create, manage and launch Facebook advertisements to reach users who aren’t in your Facebook social circle. Another attribute is the call-to-action button, which enables you to attach a link to encourage users to take the desired action.
Here are a few of the features to learn about on your Facebook business Page:
- Page Insights
Use this tool to view and evaluate audience interactions and engagements on your Page.
- Ads Manager
Use this feature to create and run ads to promote your business.
- Events
Use this tool to create events or inform customers about your upcoming event.
- Review
Under this tab, customers can rate and review your business.
- Shop
This part allows you to add your products and services so customers can buy directly from your Page.
- Appointment
This function allows your customers to book appointments directly from your Page.
- Groups
Use this tool to create and join groups with whom you share interests.
- Facebook Messenger
Use this instant messaging feature to communicate with customers on Facebook.
- Posts and Stories
Share information, pictures, and videos using these two Facebook tools.
Set Up Facebook Messenger for Your Business
When someone is interested in your product or service, they will most likely want to contact you. Facebook offers many tools for talking with customers, the best one being Facebook Messenger.
Facebook Messenger is an effective channel for communicating with your audience. This Facebook tool is quick to set up and free to use. The only things you need are a Facebook account and access to the internet.
Try setting up Facebook Messenger on your Page to make it easy for customers to get in touch. A good tip would be to add a “Send Message” button on your profile and link it to your Messenger account. This way, customers who click on the button will be redirected to Messenger, where they can chat with you.
Learn About Facebook Advertising
Facebook advertising enables you to expand your audience base from your circle of Facebook friends to new organic customers in and out of your locale. It essentially increases brand awareness and visibility. This advertising solution is a great way to generate traffic to your Page or website and get customers to engage with your brand.
As you use Facebook for business, try not to focus solely on organic reach. Take advantage of Facebook advertising. Learn as much as possible about this advertising solution, from types of Facebook ads to bidding strategies and audience targeting to steps to create an ad. Doing so will allow you to run the most effective Facebook ads at the best time and for the right kind of audience.
Join Facebook Groups Related to Your Industry
Facebook has more than 600 million groups tailored to different professions, industries, and interests. Consider joining the ones related to your industry. The more active groups you join, the more relevant users get to know about your business.
As you join the groups, contribute to the ongoing discussions positively. You don’t have to go straight to selling and promoting your business. Give your genuine thoughts and opinions about things relating to your industry or profession. With time, members of the group will begin to recognize your name. Some of them might even be your future customers.
Create Your Own Groups
If you can’t find a Facebook group relating to your industry, why not create your own? You can invite friends to become members and encourage them to invite their friends. You can also publish whitepapers and articles or initiate discussions to get members to contribute.
The first key to creating an active Facebook group is establishing a common interest between your target audience. Afterward, create a group that caters to that niche or interest. Doing so will allow your target audience and group members to discuss naturally and freely. Moreover, they will be discussing on your turf. Thus, whenever they want a product or service you sell, you are most likely the business they will contact.
Maintain an Active Brand Presence
It’s vital that you post regularly on your Facebook business Page. You can’t get more customers and leads for your business if you are inactive. Remember that most customers will go through your Page before contacting you. If you are barely active, they may assume your business is not legitimate or that you closed.
Posting regularly helps your business remain memorable to customers. It shows people that you are ready to serve them, making them more willing to work with you.
Types of Posts to Create for Your Business
Now that you’ve learned a few tips to use Facebook for business and know how to create a Facebook Page, it’s time to post some content. Like other social networks, Facebook has different types of posts that you can run.
- Status Posts
Status posts, also known as text posts, are the oldest yet most basic type of Facebook posts. They contain plain text with no photos, videos, or links. Status posts are ideal for starting a conversation, for example, asking a question or seeking feedback. They are, however, not suitable for getting more leads or increasing traffic to your website or Page.
- Photo Posts
Photo posts acquire higher user engagement than status posts. This type contains a photo and a short description. Photos are great for capturing users’ attention, and thus you can use this post type to tell users about your product or service. Users are more likely to remember a photo of what you’re selling than a description.
- Video Posts
Video posts get even more engagement than status and text posts. They are engaging, compelling, highly sharable, and suitable for giving instructions or explanations. A good tip would be to keep videos below two minutes. Longer video posts have lower engagement rates.
- Live Video Posts
Live video posts are not only great for spurring high levels of engagement, but they are also an intimate and organic way to talk to your audience. You can use these posts for Q&A sessions, product and service demos, and behind-the-scenes business tours. Some customers appreciate the authenticity that comes with such posts.
- Link Posts
A link post shares a URL to a website or blog. Like status posts, this post type is simple to create. The only thing you need to do is copy and paste the external link to Facebook’s “Create Post” section. Facebook will automatically generate a preview of the web page.
When creating link posts, it’s advisable to add a few lines of text to give viewers an idea of what to expect when they click the link. Strive to keep your description short but persuasive.
- Pinned Posts
A pinned post is any post you choose to pin at the top of your Facebook Page. It is the first post that users see when they go to your Page, and it can be either a photo, video, or status post.
The best posts to pin provide essential information about your Page. Use this feature when you have something important to tell your Page visitors, for example, an upcoming sale or promotion.
- Stories
Stories are short photo or video posts that run for 24 hours. They appear in the Stories section. Pictures run for 5 seconds and videos can run up to 20 seconds. This post type gets high engagement since the Stories section is the first place most users visit when they log into their accounts.
Creating a Marketing Strategy
As you learn how to use Facebook for business, you should have a Facebook marketing strategy. Don’t just post content without any goal or intent in mind. A marketing strategy enables you to reach your target audience with the right message. It puts you in a better position to succeed in Facebook marketing. Here are some must-dos for an effective Facebook marketing strategy.
Define Your Target Audience
The first step to creating a marketing strategy is knowing your target audience. In business, your target audience refers to the people most likely to need your product or service. They are the users you want to reach with your Facebook posts and ads. Ask yourself these questions when defining your target audience:
- Which users need my product or service?
- Where do they live?
- What gender(s) are they?
- What language(s) do they speak?
- What do they do for a living?
- What is their age group?
- What are their interests and challenges?
- At what times are they most active on their Facebook accounts?
Once you answer these questions, you’ll be in a better position to reach your target audience.
Set Marketing Goals
Your next step will be to set your marketing goals. What objectives do you want to achieve with your Facebook ads and posts? Do you want more Page interactions, additional leads, or more sales for your business? Lay down your marketing goals to fine-tune your Facebook content toward achieving them.
Here are a few marketing goals worth considering:
- Acquiring new customers
- Increasing Page interactions
- Getting more high-quality leads and prospects
- Improving website or app traffic
- More sales and revenue
Plan Post and Content Mix
Find a balance between the type of information and content you post. You don’t want to delve too much into one sort, for example, educational content, and forget to promote your business. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be wise to sell your business in every post without offering users any valuable information.
As a rule of thumb, try using the 80-20 rule. 80% of your content should be to educate or entertain users, and the remaining 20% to market your business. This rule will enable you to promote your brand while still giving value. Users will have a reason to visit your Page since they know they might have a laugh or learn something new.
Post at the Right Time
Apart from considering what to post, also decide the best time to do it. Run Facebook ads and post content when your target audience is active. It wouldn’t be a good idea to post aimlessly and at your convenience. Your content might go unseen and thus will not have much engagement.
Take some time to study your audience’s surfing habits. You can do this through trial and error. Try posting content at different times of the day and measure engagement. Aim to find patterns between times when user engagement is high and low. Study your audience’s behavior for some time, for example, two weeks. Doing so will give you an idea of when to post for more interactions.
Schedule Facebook Content
Growing your audience on Facebook requires consistent posting. There may come a time when you won’t have the time or energy to create a post. This part is where scheduling comes in.
Facebook lets you schedule posts for a future date, thus helping you post consistently and at a desirable time. As you create a post on your Facebook Page, tap the “Schedule Post” icon and select the time and date you want it to run.
Measure the Success of Your Facebook Marketing Strategy
The final step of your Facebook strategy should be to track and analyze your post’s performance. You can use the Page Insights section to measure your post’s performance and the Results page to analyze your Facebook ads. Try checking the following metrics:
- User engagement (the number of people who liked, shared, clicked, or reacted to your content)
- Reach (the number of people who saw your post)
- Conversion rate (number of people who visited your Page or purchased your product divided by the total number of users who saw your post)
- Page activity (new Page likes, phone number clicks, website clicks, new check-ins, etc.)
Article Key Points:
- Facebook users are of all demographics, interests, and locations.
- If you are looking to promote your business through Facebook, creating a Facebook Page is probably one of the first things you need to do.
- A Facebook Business Page is, more or less, like a Facebook personal profile.
- Facebook has multiple tools and features that you can take advantage of to capture users’ attention.
- Page Insights is a tool to view and evaluate audience interactions and engagements on your Page.
- Ads Manager is a feature to create and run ads to promote your business.
- Facebook Messenger is an instant messaging feature to communicate with customers.
- Set Up Facebook Messenger so customers can contact you.
- The more active groups you join, the more relevant users get to know about your business.
- As you join the groups, contribute to the ongoing discussions positively.
- Posting regularly helps your business remain memorable to customers.
- Status posts, also known as text posts, are the oldest yet most basic type of Facebook posts.
- Photo posts acquire higher user engagement than status posts.
- Video posts get even more engagement than status and text posts.
- Longer video posts have lower engagement rates.
- Live video posts are not only great for spurring high levels of engagement, but they are also an intimate and organic way to talk to your audience.
- A pinned post is any post you choose to pin at the top of your Facebook Page.
- The first step to creating a marketing strategy is knowing your target audience.
- 80% of your content should be to educate or entertain users, and the remaining 20% to market your business.
- Run Facebook ads and post content when your target audience is active.
- Take some time to study your audience’s surfing habits.
- Study your audience’s behavior for some time, for example, two weeks.
- Facebook lets you schedule posts for a future date, thus helping you post consistently and at a desirable time.
- Track and analyze your post’s performance.
- You can use the Page Insights section to measure your post’s performance.
- Track User engagement (the number of people who liked, shared, clicked, or reacted to your content)
- Track Ad Reach (the number of people who saw your post)
- Track Conversion rate (number of people who visited your Page or purchased your product divided by the total number of users who saw your post)
- Track Page activity (new Page likes, phone number clicks, website clicks, new check-ins, etc.)
Frequently Asked Questions
This section will highlight a few commonly asked questions about using Facebook for business.
1. Is Facebook good for small businesses?
Yes, Facebook is a great social network for small businesses, garnering billions of monthly active users worldwide. Facebook’s user base contains people of all demographics, interests, and locations, so you should be able to find your target audience on it.
2. Can my Facebook friends see my Facebook business Page?
Your Facebook Business Page is public. Therefore, anyone can see it, even your friends. They, however, will need to search for your Page to see it. This is why you need to inform your friends about your new Page and encourage them to like it.
3. Can a business start a Facebook group?
Yes, a business can start a Facebook group. What’s better is they can create their Facebook group from their Facebook Page in the Groups section.
4. What is the difference between a Facebook Page and a group?
A Facebook Page is tailored for businesses, while a Facebook group is community-centered. The purpose of a Page is to help an entity connect with its target audience or customers. The purpose of a Facebook group, by contrast, is to help people with a common interest to interact with each other.
5. Can customers book appointments from my Facebook business Page?
Facebook offers an appointment feature that enables businesses to showcase their services and availability. This feature is free to use. Customers can use it to book appointments straight from your company’s Facebook Page.
6. How can I get my Facebook friends to like my Facebook business Page?
If you want your friends to like your business Page, you need to invite them to like it. Tap the Community section and scroll down until you see the “Invite Friends” button. Tap it and select the friends you want to like your Page.
7. Can I get more people to manage my business Page?
Yes, you can allow more people to manage your Page. You just need to make them administrators. Once you make someone an administrator, you grant them the permission to edit and manage your Page in your absence.
8. Should I effectively manage my Facebook business Page?
Yes. If you want to grow your target audience and get more Page engagements, you need to manage your Page effectively. Post consistently and at the right time. Choose the right content mix, and don’t let your Page become dormant.
Conclusion
Simply because Facebook has billions of users doesn’t mean you should rely purely on luck. Don’t wait for customers to come and find your business on Facebook. Actively search for them on the network and educate them about your brand, products, and services.
Start by creating a Facebook Page and learning the functionality of every feature and tool on it. Next up, set up Facebook Messenger to help you communicate easily with your audience. Also, create a Facebook marketing strategy and start posting engaging content. With time, you’ll find yourself getting more interactions and sales.
Resources
In this section of the post, you’ll find a few resources to expand your knowledge of using Facebook for business. Many of the resources lead to search engine results, and that’s by design to ensure you have the latest and most popular information every time you use the resources.
Books
Books are another excellent resource to expand your knowledge for using Facebook for your business. Below are two links one leads to a search result from google box, and the other is a link leading to the books available at amazon.com.
It’s worth mentioning with nonfiction books, you don’t have to read the book from beginning to end to get the information you want; instead, you can opt to flip through the table of contents and go directly to the chapter you’re interested in.
View the most recent Google Book search results related to Facebook for business.
Courses
Taking a course to improve your knowledge and understanding of using Facebook for business is another option.
I like using self-paced courses that allow me to take the course during my spare time, plus I always have the information to review.
So take a few minutes to see what’s out there, and I also want to mention when looking at a course, it’s a good idea to search for reviews to see what others have experienced that have taken the course. You can also review the author to check out their credentials.
Google’s search results related to Facebook courses.
News
The news is another source to see what the media covers about using Facebook for business.
I like using sites like Google News because you get the latest information and archived stories. So from my point of you, if the media covers a story, then that’s something worth looking into.
See Google’s news search results related to Facebook for business.
YouTube Videos
YouTube is another excellent site that offers quality videos from which you can learn a lot. When watching a video, keep in mind that you’ll get a list of related topics, and many of those are ones you may not have considered. So keep an eye out for them.
See the most recent videos related to Facebook for business.