FACEBOOK MARKETING

“Facebook marketing is the practice of promoting a brand and maintaining its presence on Facebook. Facebook marketing refers to both organic (free) postings/interactions, and paid, or ‘boosted’ posts.”

Facebook isn’t new. It has been around a while. But what started as a college kids dream to get people to connect with each other online, has evolved into a massive and powerful marketing machine. With around 1.5 BILLION daily active users who spend an average of 60 minutes a day on the platform, the reach of Facebook is incredible.

When users sign up for a Facebook account, they give them permission to gather information about them. Not only basic info like name and location, but very detailed things about their activity, what they like and dislike, what they spend time viewing and much, much more. The reason for this is not nefarious, it’s business! Early on in the development of the platform, the creators realized that having all this detailed info about people (consumers) would be VERY valuable to companies looking to connect with people and sell their products to them. It was genius, and completely changed the way that businesses market themselves. It was also a tremendous opportunity for local businesses to target their marketing messages to a very specific audience.

It is critical that local businesses use Facebook to be visible to customers and prospects, attract new customers, and build their brand. Basic Facebook marketing is not only important, it’s free!

Creating a Facebook Business Page costs nothing, and is the first step in a Facebook marketing plan. The page should be completely optimized by the business. Promoting the page is important as well. Facebook icons and links should be used anywhere they can, but especially on the company’s website and blog. There are entire strategies devoted just to attracting likes and follows to Facebook Business Pages. The more users that see the page, the more reach your marketing efforts will have, so gathering followers is important.

The second step is to post frequently and consistently. Posts can be refined over time to be more effective, but in the beginning the volume of content is more important than anything. Posts can be about anything related to the business; products, services, specials, events, and more. Although too lengthy and complicated to get into here, there is a complete discipline of creating content called copywriting. It involves training, experience, and psychology, to get the most response from viewers.

Content certainly is not limited to words either. Photos, videos, and virtual walkthrough tours using 360 degree panoramic photos are all very important to optimizing Facebook marketing posts. Also, there is a large variety of types of posts that can be used; polls, carousels posts, slideshows, collections, instant experiences, lead generation posts, dynamic ads, messenger ads, stories ads and augmented reality are all options that can be used. There is a lot that can be done for free in a companys’ Facebook business account.

Most if not all businesses need to use Facebook marketing as a major part of their overall marketing strategy. A properly crafted and executed Facebook marketing strategy is crucial to most local businesses, especially if they want to grow.

Facebook Marketplace came along a few years ago and was intended for users to be able to but and sell things to each other. (Actually it is a free service intended to keep users on the Facebook platform longer). Since Facebook specifically did NOT intend for the Marketplace to be used by companies (because they want those companies paying for regular ads), there are ways to leverage the marketplace for local businesses, within the boundaries of Facebook rules of course.

If a company wants to really ramp up its Facebook marketing plans, then paid ads are available. Paid ads can be very effective, but running Facebook Ad campaigns is a whole marketing niche unto itself. Creating the content of the ads, targeting which users will see the ads, and planning when to run the ads, are all important factors in the success of the campaigns. Facebook allows the ads to be seen only in the feeds of users who meet certain criteria (based on marketing info it has collected on each individual user) and also when and how often to run those ads and in what geographical locations. For example, a motorcycle dealership in Austin, Texas can run ads that only Facebook users who identify as motorcycle riders, in the Austin area, can see in their Facebook feeds. There are many more factors involved but that gives you the idea. also, you can tailor the ad spend by giving Facebook a budget to stay within. It will run ads until that budget runs out.

All in all, Facebook is an amazing tool for targeting prospective customers who would be interested in your poroduct or service. It is powerful, sophisticated and has tremendous marketing reach. It’s a marketers dream and a huge opportunity for local focused businesses.

Facebook marketing is a great tool for local businesses but, as you can see, it can be a bit complicated or intimidating, as far as learning how best to use it for a local business owner.

So the first question that needs to be answered is, should a business owner or manager try to run their marketing campaigns, or hire a professional marketer or agency to do it? Most companies will benefit from an investment, even if minimal, in their Facebook marketing by hiring a professional. They are in the marketplace every day, understand how Facebook Marketing works, and will maximize the ad spend versus a business owner or manager trying to activate a proper campaign on their own.

At Elevate Solutions Group, we see companies as partners, not clients. Your success is our success. We have a team of experts we tap into that allows us to have experience and insight into a businesses needs and how best to achieve their goals using Facebook Marketing.

We offer a free evaluation and Facebook Marketing roadmap for your business so reach out today and we’ll provide it for you with no expectations. It would be our pleasure to help you build your business.  

FOLLOW US