When Facebook began expanding its demographic past high school teens, it, in turn, became one of the most effective marketing tools available. Now Facebook appeals to people of all ages around the world, but without understanding how to use it properly, you might as well be sending your posts and updates into the black hole of cyberspace. Learn what you need to be doing differently on Facebook and how to make that royal blue your friend if you want your business to succeed.
Connect:
If you’re new to the Facebook game, the first thing you need to do is get your page some publicity. Share it with all of your friends to instantly promote your business to hundreds of people. The more people know about you, the more likely they are to recommend you to someone else.
Post!
A Facebook page won’t do you any good if you don’t use it. Post updates on products, announce sales and create polls. Some ice cream shops post daily flavors on their Facebook pages so that anyone mindlessly scrolling through their news feed might suddenly start craving mint chocolate chip. Regulate your posts so that no one feels bombarded with information, but even posts a few times a week will keep your company at the forefront of someone’s mind somewhere out there.
Work the system:
The posts that show up in your news feed are by no means random. Facebook has algorithms to determine what posts it thinks you want to see, and the trick is knowing enough about this formula to use it to your advantage and get your posts in as many news feeds as possible. For example, Facebook’s analytics discovered that people more often click links if they are presented as link previews as opposed to in photo captions. This means that Facebook will be more likely to promote link previews than photos with captions, so if you are trying to get users to a specific website, a status update with a link preview is the one most likely to end up in a user’s feed.
Know what users want to see (and what they don’t):
We’ve established what Facebook looks for, but what about your customers and clients? None of the aforementioned tips will help if your post quality is sub-par. Not only does Facebook promote what it thinks are the best posts, it also filters out what it perceives as low-quality content. These posts typically consist of anything with a gimmicky feel to them; link-baiting, like-baiting or articles with a misleading headline will be sorted through Facebook’s many filters and ultimately vetoed, so don’t make these kinds of posts. Instead of “Like this if you love Taylor Swift!” try something like “We want your thoughts. Tell us why you think Taylor Swift rocks!” Starting a conversation is a far more effective way to rack up those likes and get more activity going on your page without making people feel obligated or tricked.
Interact:
Looking for user feedback? Facebook gives you the ability to directly ask your consumers what they want or what their interests are. People love to talk about themselves, so given the opportunity to weigh in on whether or not chocolate chip cookies are better with or without milk, tons of people will gladly partake. This not only helps give you the information you need but also creates more activity on your page and increases its chances of showing up in someone’s recommendations sidebar.
Keep up with new trends:
Facebook has long provided many ways for users to interact with each other, but now they’ve expanded their methods past likes and comments. Now, Facebook gives you the option to “react” to a post in six different ways: like, love, laugh, wow, sad or angry. Make sure you’re up to date on all of Facebook’s updates and changes so you can use them to your advantage. If a post is wowing a ton of people then keep up the good work, but if you’re angering the masses then maybe you ought to change what you’re doing.
Don’t get caught up with numbers:
Having a lot of likes on your page is great, but it won’t do you much good if those likers aren’t actively engaged. Having quality material and meaningful connections are still one of the best forms of marketing available. Facebook just gives you the tools to make those connections and share that material with more people than ever before.
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