“If you’re a brand hoping to thrive on social media, mastering Facebook marketing is going to be key. More than 2.8 billion people use the platform every single month. That’s a lot of potential eyeballs on your business.”
Your step-by-step guide to setting up Facebook Marketing for business
If you’re working with a limited budget, we’ve got some good news: setting up a Facebook Page for your business is absolutely free.
Then, once you’ve created your Page, you can use it to create content, share your contact information, link to your website, build a product catalog and communicate with your customers… also for free. If you do have some cash to spare (brag alert!), there’s the option to use paid marketing strategies like Facebook likes, ads and sponsored posts from your Facebook Business Page, too.
But step one is to set that Facebook Page up (did we mention that it’s free?). Here’s how:
- Head to facebook.com/pages/create (Note: you’ll need to be logged in to your personal account to get started, but don’t worry: your personal info won’t appear on your new Business Page.)
- Choose your page type: Business/brand or Community/public figure
- Enter your business details.
- Upload your profile and cover photos. Make sure to use the optimum image sizes for Facebook so they look their best.
- Click Edit Page Info: here, you can fill in your description, contact information and any other relevant details like operating hours.
- Then, click Create Page @Username to make your vanity URL. This can be up to 50 characters long and helps people find you easily on Facebook.
- Click Add a Button under your cover photo to set up a call to action like “Shop” or “Contact Us.”
Pat yourself on the back: You just launched a Facebook Business Page into the world! And she’s beautiful!
Types of Facebook posts
Now that you’ve got a Facebook Business Page to call your own… it’s time to create some content. On Facebook, you can create different types of posts. Each have their benefits and can spark engagement in different ways. Your brand’s social media strategy and goals will likely impact what style of posts you’ll be making.
Here, we’re breaking down all of the different options you have for Facebook Page posts, including examples to spark a little inspiration.
Facebook text post (a.k.a. status post)
This is the O.G. Facebook post: just straight up text. We’re talking just words here. No photos. No videos. No links.
They’re direct and to the point, but if your goal is to drive traffic to your website or directly convert a lead to a sale, text posts aren’t a great option. The social network’s algorithm also isn’t too fond of these bare-bones posts, and they usually don’t get much reach in the news feed. What text posts are good for, however, is sparking conversation. Use a text post to ask a question or call for feedback. Text posts can also be useful for sharing important information your audience might be seeking out on your page, like ticket availability or opening hours.
Facebook photo post
Generally speaking, photo posts see much higher engagement than text posts. An eye-catching photo (or illustration or infographic, we’re not picky!) is a great way to catch the attention of a potential customer scrolling through their news feed.
Particularly for product-focused businesses, photos that show the goods in action can be really effective. Carb lovers, for instance, might be stopped in their tracks by these photos of The Soap Dispensary’s bread baskets featuring yummy sourdough loaves. Breathtaking! And don’t worry if you aren’t a professional photographer — or are selling something difficult to capture in an image: stock photos are here to save the day. (In fact, here are 25 free stock photo sites to check out! Just be sure you fully understand the basics of image copyright before you start posting.)
Facebook video post
Video posts see even higher engagement rates than photo posts do. Whether it’s for a short-and-sweet video announcement or a longer, artfully shot vid with a narrative, video can be incredibly compelling. On Facebook, video plays automatically in the news feed, so you’re all but guaranteed to catch users’ attention. It’s the perfect trap!
Facebook Live video post
If pre-recorded videos aren’t your thing, try dabbling with Live.
Facebook Live video is a live-streamed broadcast, right on your Facebook Page. This medium is very, very popular — in spring 2020, Facebook Live viewership increased by 50%. Live video is an intimate, authentic way to connect with followers. These broadcasts can be used for Q&As, behind-the-scenes tours, product demos and much more.
Linked content post (aka link posts)
A link post is a post that shares a URL with your followers. Just paste a link into the composition box, and a preview of the website will automatically preview. (Is it technology or magic? We may never know.)
You could share a link to your website, but you could also share content from other sources — like an interesting think piece about your industry. Whatever the content, make sure to add a few words of your own to the post before you click Publish, to give your readers some context or a takeaway. Ooh, and one more thing to keep in mind: link posts get more engagement than plain text posts, but considerably less than photos or videos.
Facebook Stories
Just like Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories are photo or short video posts in a vertical format that disappear after 24 hours. Photos appear for five seconds, and videos can be up to 20 seconds long.
Facebook Stories live at the top of the News Feed — which means they’re immune to the Facebook algorithm. This might be why more than half a billion people view Facebook Stories every day.
Pinned post
A pinned post is any regular Facebook post that stays put at the top of your Page. This ensures it’s the first thing people see when they visit your Page.
Once you’ve created the post itself — whether it’s a text post, poll or video post — just click on the three dots on the right-hand corner. You’ll have the option to “pin post.” Use this feature to make sure important news or great content don’t get lost in the shuffle. It’s your chance to show potential followers exactly why they should like your Page. You can change your Pinned post whenever you’d like.
Facebook Watch Party
Watch Parties are a way to screen a public video on Facebook in real time, so you and your Fans and Followers can experience it together. You can even promote Watch Parties (or Facebook Live events) by creating an Event.
How to choose the perfect type of post for Facebook Marketing?
Finding the perfect type of post for your Facebook Marketing requires a little bit of experimenting. Try out different combinations, and keep an eye on your analytics for clues about what’s working.
You can also engage in social listening to learn about what people love about your company… or what challenges they’d like you to address. Keep an eye on what people are saying about your competition too. Yes, it’s eavesdropping, but it’s for business purposes, so it’s totally fine. Just listen and learn.
A good place to start is simply by posting content that’s performing well on other channels. Have you tweeted content that’s getting a great response? Share it on Facebook, too! Have a page on your blog that’s always getting new comments? That’s another Facebook post contender.
7 steps to an effective Facebook marketing strategy
Now that you have learned about the types of Facebook posts for Facebook marketing, let’s dive in to 7 steps to an effective marketing strategy.
Set goals for Facebook
The first step to any marketing strategy is setting the right goals. This roadmap will be an essential reference to measure against to make sure your Facebook strategy is successful. But to set goals, you’ll first want to do a little research to ensure your plan is attainable through the platform.
Additionally, if your company has already set general goals, look for how these overlap with your own plans for marketing on Facebook.
Addressing Your Goals
Here are some common yearly goals for businesses and how an effective Facebook strategy can help you:
Increasing quality of sales:
Improving the quality of sales starts with better targeting. Through a well-planned Facebook marketing strategy, you reach your target audience more efficiently. Just because the pond is bigger, doesn’t mean you’ll get bigger fish. Work on what you know best and use Facebook as a source to improve your reach.
Adding more value to the organization:
Facebook can better nurture customers, improve awareness and provide more resources to you audience. Make Facebook your go-to source of information.
Better pulse on the industry:
Are your competitors always one step ahead? With the help of social media monitoring tools, you can track, listen and report on all social conversations revolving around you, your competitors or the industry. Always try to increase your listening powers before speaking.
More efficient recruiting:
No one said social recruiting is easy, but it’s only growing in popularity. Social can be a great source for increasing recruiting efforts and reaching top talent faster. Working your employees’ social networks for a higher social reach makes your chances of recruiting higher quality employees better.
Smarter growth:
Reducing churn, limiting spend and increasing acquisition are all parts of a successful business, but Facebook can help you in each of these areas. Whether it’s through ad spend, increased targeting or more social selling, addressing your Facebook marketing strategy can help you get closer to these goals.
Know your Facebook audience
Understanding who is on Facebook and what your current audience breakdown looks like will be important in determining which Facebook marketing strategies you should employ and how.
Engage proactively with your audience
Like most social media channels, they’re built as networks to converse, discuss and share content. As a brand, you can’t forget that basic idea of what makes a social media network. That means conversation and engagement should never be put on the back burner.
Instead, try to be a community for your audience. Facebook is a great place to hold industry chats or discussions, whether it’s with a different audience or your own customers. While Twitter often gets all the limelight of being a social customer care mecca, don’t forget about Facebook too.
You can help drive Facebook engagement by asking people to simply engage in the first place. However, you can’t sit back and wait for your followers to interact. You can’t reach everyone, but there are ways to increase engagement.
Post at the Best Time on Facebook
Facebook is still one of the most difficult social networks to use for organic content. Again, algorithms make it a challenge for businesses trying to find optimal posting times. However, our guide on the best times to post on social media outlines the do’s and don’ts of posting on Facebook:
Schedule your Facebook content
Content creation and curation are important components to any social media strategy. On Facebook, you have many more choices on the types of posts you can use. This ranges from Stories to status to Group posts.
With the selection of options comes the specific types of content your audience is interested in, which should also be kept in mind while evaluating the techniques for marketing on Facebook that will work best for you.
For scheduling content, you have both free and paid options available to you. Facebook’s Page controls allow you to schedule your posts right from your own page. Scheduling and planning your calendar makes it easier for you to see where gaps are in your posts.
Hundreds of millions of people log on to Facebook every day. As a business owner, this presents a unique opportunity for you to connect with current and potential customers. It’s incredibly easy to get started setting up a Facebook page. The site’s algorithm allows you to set up a highly targeted marketing campaign that is bound to bring in results.
Share Blog Articles
Many businesses keep a blog on their website. That’s a good thing, because new and relevant content can help your search engine rankings. To ensure you’re not the only one reading those articles, you should share them on your social media pages. When you post interesting articles to your Facebook page, your fans also have the opportunity to share them with others, which increases your reach. You can schedule to post the articles when you’re ready, but you should be available to answer questions and comments about your posts.
Boost Posts
It’s not easy for a new business to gain followers and customers. Fortunately, Facebook simplifies the process of boosting your content. When you boost a post, a broader audience will see your content in their newsfeed. You’re completely in charge of the marketing campaign and can even ask Facebook not to show it to the people who are already fans of your page. Facebook will even let you target people who are similar to the fans you already have.
Invite People to Like Your Page
When people share your content, you’ll get likes and comments from a variety of people. If they don’t already like your page, you can invite them to do so. This is a win-win, because they get to see more useful posts from you while you gain an interested follower. Here is how to invite people who reacted to your post to like your page on Facebook.
Targeted Advertising
When you opt for mailings or TV ads, you don’t usually get to decide who your target market is beyond the specific geographic area. Facebook offers a lot more information about your potential customers, including ethnicity, age, gender, and location. Since they collect a lot of personal data, Facebook can help you reach your perfect customers. You can essentially target the type of person who would be your ideal customer by selecting specific interests or hobbies your audience must share.
Interactions with Users
This can be a two-edged sword, but generally, interactions with your users are a positive thing for your company. Since people can publicly comment and respond on your social media pages, you can demonstrate how you take care of your customers. People can even leave a review of your product or services. Finally, they can directly get in touch with you through Facebook Messenger and receive an instant response. Facebook Messenger is extremely convenient and free to use for anyone with an Internet connection.
Direct Traffic to Your Site
Your biggest goal with online marketing is to direct more traffic to your website. Facebook allows you to do just that. A post doesn’t even have to go viral to help you expand your reach. After all, when one person shares your content, all their friends see it, too. This lends credibility to your offerings, but it also expands your reach dramatically if you can manage to create exciting posts people want to share.
Grow Your Audience
There are many different options to use your marketing budget. You can take advantage of Google Ads to find the people who are actively looking for your services. However, Facebook allows you to grow your audience. You can bring your product in front of people who can benefit from your service, although they’re not currently looking researching your offer. Facebook allows you to connect with them and build a relationship. If you present yourself as knowledgeable and trustworthy, they’ll come to you when they’re ready to buy.
Easy Setup
It’s easy to set up a Facebook page for your business. Anyone can do it in a matter of minutes. That being said, it does take an expert to optimize your page for best results. For example, you’ll need a great description, crisp images, and a relevant icon. It’s a good idea to keep your company identity the same across the board, using the same signature images and icons from your website on your social media page. Finally, there’s a learning curve with setting up Facebook advertising, which is why an expert can get you the results you want faster.
Best of luck For Facebook Marketing in 2022
“It is what makes Facebook marketing so lucrative for marketing B2C businesses and driving business growth.”
Facebook marketing more or less content-driven media where people spend a lion’s share of their free time (in good or bad), communicating with their friends and looking for inspiration. Rental businesses are enablers of unforgettable experiences.
No matter the industry, your business has a story to tell that can bring positive energy and inspiration into people’s lives. Through Facebook’s advertising platform, your story will no doubt reach an interested audience. Facebook is not only a robust advertising tool but one of the most cost-effective platforms that you can use to grow your business. Besides engagement, Facebook guarantees transparency for your business making it easier to win the trust and loyalty of more prospects. If you haven’t thought about integrating Facebook in your online ad campaigns, then it’s high time you try it out.
And if you need more inspiration for actionable ways to build out your strategies, make sure to check out our packages for Facebook likes, followers, views, and comments packages for all platforms including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud, Telegram, TikTok, etc. Best of luck in 2022!
