4 Savvy Marketing Tactics for Facebook
Social media is the ideal platform for business and marketing. You reach millions of consumers simply by maintaining an online presence. Plus, unlike traditional platforms, the Internet lets you connect directly with your audience. The numbers then multiply on their own. Think about it. Your friends are not going to know how much you like the billboard near your exit. You can’t go up to it and write a tally mark, nor are you going to send out a massive group text about it. On Facebook, however, a simple mouse click automatically tells everyone in your circle how much you like something. Here are four marketing tactics for Facebook that can help your business secure and retain a following.
Evaluate Your Platform
In general, a Facebook profile is for an individual and a Facebook page is for a business or organization. The page platform offers specific marketing tools, such as Facebook Insights. Furthermore, most profit-seeking behavior is restricted on profiles. However, many small business owners might be better off sticking to a profile rather than converting to a page.
Simply put, you’ve probably already built up a sizeable following, and a changeover would cause you to lose that information and have to re-convince your fans. If you currently use a personal profile as a supplemental way to promote your business, you probably want to keep it as is. You can always create a new page from scratch and grow from there.
Create a Community
A smart marketing director allows consumers to make informed decisions. Banking on this idea of online community is one of the best marketing tactics for Facebook.
First and foremost is to have a central focus. Your audience needs something to get behind, something that people care about. This doesn’t have to be the product you’re selling. In fact, you’re better off focusing on recent industry news, a general idea or even a hot social issue.
The best marketing tactics for Facebook are those that focus on the relationship before the sale. Don’t just push your product. That doesn’t work anymore. What does work is adding value to online conversations. Strive to become the industry expert and the source that people go to for advice, trends and news. Building trust is the most effective way to build an audience. Once you have that, your product will sell itself. Consider the following:
-A women’s clothing company states the best and worst of Milan Fashion Week
-A cellular provider discusses the environmental benefits of recycling old phones
-A financial firm posts pictures of its attendance at a local cancer awareness walk
Hone in on topics that are important to your readers, or use Facebook as a way to convey your dedication to a worthwhile cause.
Have a Strategy
When you’re building your community, make sure you have a structured goal. Avoid random posts. Your audience doesn’t need a play-by-play of your operations. You should thoughtfully plan out all your marketing tactics for Facebook. Set some guidelines, rules and short-term goals by answering the following questions:
-How often do you want to post to your profile or page
-Will you include pictures
-What specific topics would you like to cover
-What is your audience demographic
By following a strategy, you’ll learn more quickly what works and what doesn’t. If only a small number of your fans are actually discussing your topics, you probably need to change direction and incorporate content that’s more relevant to your readers.
Pay extra close attention to your Insights tab. This is a powerful tool that was designed specifically as one the key marketing tactics for Facebook. It helps you better understand your target audience by aggregating existing information, including the following:
-Page likes ïA user’s top pages in each category of interest
-Demographics ïGender, age, relationship status, professional title, lifestyle and household size
-Purchase behavior ï What and where people purchase
-Geography ïWhere your audience lives and what languages they speak
-Facebook patterns ïHow often users log in with each device
Learn By Doing
Many of the structured marketing tactics for Facebook were designed to teach you how to understand your audience. It’s more important to employ a strategy rather than to spend time analyzing which one is the right one. This is not how online marketing works. Be prepared and willing to revise your strategy as needed. Listen to your audience and let them guide your actions. Above all, remain engaged. This will garner trust, and that’s what you need if you want to be successful online.