Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in a college dorm, who could have predicted that ‘The Facebook’ — as it was originally called — would become one of the most powerful, persuasive hubs of news and information, fake or otherwise. It simply can’t be argued — Facebook is the reigning king of social media. The ‘social networking service to rule them all’ reaches a staggering 60.6 percent of internet users and is the most widely used social media platform among the lucrative young adult demographic, eclipsing competition by an abyss of a margin. These statistics paint the picture:
- Of the 2.45 billion active monthly users, 1.62 billion log in on a daily basis
- There are over 80 million small- to-medium businesses using Facebook to network and engage for business growth. Not to mention the fact that almost every brand — both big and small — has a profile on the platform.
- 96% of active users access Facebook on their mobile devices.
We could go on, but you get the idea — Facebook is an absolute juggernaut, offering ample chance to connect with new customers and move products. With that marketing opportunity in mind, here are 7 highly effective strategies to make the most of the world’s biggest social media platform:
1. Outline your primary goals for Facebook
According to Sprout Social’s 2018 Index, these are the priority goals for businesses on Facebook:
- 34% — increasing brand awareness
- 21% — increasing community engagement
- 11% — increasing sales and lead generation
From the outset, you need to define realistic goals for your business. Are you looking to increase sales? Have you noticed a dropoff in the quality of leads? Are you trying to create a community centered around your services? Perhaps you want to grow your followers by 500 users every month? Or, are you trying to maintain a firm foothold in your industry by remaining top-of-mind and on-the-pulse of the latest trends. Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy, but setting SMART goals is a simple way to begin your Facebook journey and to define what works for you.
- S: specific
- M: measurable
- A: attainable
- R: realistic
- T: timely
2. Determine your Facebook target market
There’s no point in using Facebook if you’re not targeting a specific audience to market your products to. Luckily, you know your demographic better than anyone, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to reach them. First off, use Facebook Page Insights to see who’s been engaging with your content, and then use these analytics to build an audience in Facebook Ads Manager. While it may seem like a good idea to try and reach as many people as possible, this will dilute your messaging — the more is not necessarily merrier if most of your audience isn’t receptive to your content.
You can narrow your audience by segmenting them according to age, gender, interests, profession, and other criteria. While this will reduce the number of people you’re targeting, it hones the relevance of your messaging and increases the chances of users engaging and visiting your website.
3. Share positive customer feedback and reviews
This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many businesses don’t actively search their comments section and inboxes for positive feedback from customers. Let alone crafting a post to share the good sentiments! By taking the initiative and drafting a post with an arresting image, you let your audience know that you’re listening to them and that you value their feedback. And users who wouldn’t normally post brand-related content, may decide you’re worth a bit of praise and brand ambassadorship.
4. Run Facebook promotions and competitions
Yes, the hordes of ravenous freebie hunters may descend on your page, but that’s a small price to pay for brand exposure and the very real chance of generating more sales and new customers. Competitions and promotions are effective ways of increasing interest on Facebook, and you can boost these offers even further by promoting them. What’s more, it doesn’t have to be a once-off post — it can be developed into a campaign that runs for a week, a month, or longer, depending on your available budget.
A disclaimer: be prepared for more notifications and more community management!
5. Monitor and engage with your community daily
In the past, businesses had to go to extremes to reach the number of customers we take for granted today. Thanks to Facebook, there is no barrier between customer and brand, which can be both a positive and a negative. In the past, brands could easily sweep consumer complaints under the rug without consequences.
Now, however, one irate post on social media can cause the kind of damage entire PR departments would balk at. This means your community manager has to be alert, and processes firmly in place to deal with any complaints, as and when they’re posted. It’s not all doom and gloom, either. By being attentive and understanding, you have the opportunity to defuse a potentially volatile situation and turn a negative situation into a positive one.
Right, enough of the negative. Let’s move swiftly along! An active community is a healthy community, and one of the ways to ensure your audience is thriving is to monitor and engage with them everyday. We suggest scanning your page in the morning, at lunch, and late afternoon so you’re seen to be active and enthusiastic about your unique community and its users.
6. Use Dynamics Creative Ads
Dynamic Creative generates different combinations of copy and design collateral to deliver unique, relevant ads to segmented audiences of your choice. This means, a business can get a more accurate understanding of what works with various audience demographics. Did we mention the process is automatic? It’s true, all you need to do is upload your assets and set your targets for it to work its magic. Here’s what you’re working with:
- 5 titles
- 10 images or videos
- 5 bodies of text
- 5 descriptions
- 5 call-to-actions
Strengths
- Saves you money and gives you more
- Less time-consuming
- Dynamic Creative will eventually phase out the need for automation plugins that generate more than one ad
- Gives your creative more legs
Weaknesses
- Long-term campaign success is yet to be determined
- Compared to traditional ad formats, Dynamic Creative takes more time to gain traction
- Image and video cannot be combined (yet)
7. Integrate WordPress with Facebook to get the best results
In the era of digital transformation, a business needs to be active on social media to drive new customers to their website. With WordPress, you have a solution that seamlessly integrates with Facebook to empower you with accurate traffic analytics and sentiment analysis tools.
Looking to make your digital footprint larger and more persuasive to online audiences and social media users? Kaira creates WordPress themes and plugins that seamlessly connect with Facebook (and any other social media platform you may require). So if you’re looking for guidance or advice, we’d love to assist you!
Get in touch with us here. To see what we love to do, check out our newest theme, Overlay.
