Kim Jordan Facebook—many businesses use it, but most don’t understand its full potential. Far more than just an avenue to post your business hours, this online networking service is a powerful small business tool, enabling companies to market services and interact with both current and potential customers.
Businesses, both big and small, are using social media to make a name for themselves. Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok—the list goes on. Compared with its competitors, though, Facebook has established itself as one of the most effective marketing tools for small businesses. With the ability to interact with consumers directly and the opportunity to share fresh, relevant content every day, small business brands simply cannot afford to not be a part of the conversation.
Setting up a Facebook page is just the first step in growing a small business’ marketing efforts. In order to effectively engage new customers and hone a dynamic brand ethos on Facebook, companies need to implement a strategy and continually engage with consumers.
But, where do you begin? Here are some simple ways that small businesses can successfully attract and engage with their target audiences on Facebook:
Two of the best-performing types of posts are visual-centric: images and short-form videos. In fact, about 50% of time spent on Facebook is spent watching videos. In a world where you have minimal time to catch a potential customer’s attention, photos and videos are able to do it more effectively than a block of text. That being said, throwing any old photo into a post will not work. Relevant, branded images that add value to your post are the way to go. Having branded content enforces brand consistency and reliability. Storytelling is also an important part of social media, and it is easier and quicker to do so with images or videos. On average, Facebook posts with visual elements have 2.3 times the engagement of those without visuals. Next time you’re planning out your monthly social content, see where you can add branded imagery! We’ll bet you’ll notice some changes to your results!
One mistake that is easy to overlook is not adding enough information to your page or thinking that the bare minimum is enough. Your cover photo and profile photo are the first things people will see when they land on your page. A profile photo can be as easy as uploading your logo, but the cover photo space is real estate to really draw people in. Showcasing branded merchandise, promoting a current special or adding a photo of your team are great ways to utilize this space and show a little more of what your brand is all about. Keeping your brand visually consistent also builds memorability!
In addition to the visual aspects of the page, it is vital to fill out all of the informational sections. Your “Intro” section showcases your tagline, website, hours, phone number and other important, at-a-glance information that people will want to know about your business. But this isn’t enough. Adding information to the “About” section of your page allows you to put additional information in a bio format where you can add relevant keywords about your business into the text to increase social search visibility. Ensuring your profile is fully filled out builds trust and reliability with potential customers who come across your profile.
Pinning a post is a way to keep relevant or important information at the top of your page feed, ensuring that it is the first post people will see when they visit. Some great examples of evergreen pinned posts include posts that highlight your services, your team members or even a welcome video. Posts about monthly specials, coupons or events are great to pin during the duration of your campaign to raise awareness so they don’t get lost in the shuffle. Doing something as simple as pinning a post can boost engagement and increase reach. Sometimes this can even boost your conversion rate when it comes to coupons or specials. This underrated way to drive engagement on your page is a simple way to drive results!
Social media users love to hear back from the brands they follow. A great way to humanize a small business brand on Facebook is to interact with the audience. According to Sprout Social, 51% of people say the most memorable brands reply to comments. When a visitor comments on a post, a business can respond and provide them with additional information. Plus, a great way to increase engagement with an audience is to thank them when they leave a nice comment. Always remember to show appreciation and personalize the reply. Doing so will build trust with the community and positively impact your brand’s reputation.
The same principle applies when a user leaves a negative comment about a brand. Whether the user had a bad experience with a company’s service or was dissatisfied with a product purchase, each and every comment should be addressed individually and appropriately. Ignoring a negative comment or, even worse, deleting it from the timeline, will only attract more negative attention to a brand. People increasingly expect accountability from brands, and this is a great way to take it. Just like with positive comments, responding appropriately to negative comments builds trust with your community and will positively impact your brand’s reputation. As a general rule, the best ways to handle responding to negative comments are to:
Deep down, everyone has a competitive side and consumers love to win free things—whether it’s a branded t-shirt or a free vacation. In fact, a study by EasyPromos shows that 65% of respondents believe giveaways and contests are effective in increasing followers, with about 34% of new followers obtained directly from these contests. Contests are an incredible way to increase your brand’s reach on social media. When your followers engage with a contest-related post (by liking, commenting, or sharing), it gets put onto the feeds of their Facebook friends. This extension of brand visibility will drive more people to your page and website. Even if they do not follow your page, they KNOW about it. Raising brand awareness and having people realize that their friends use your services can help them remember your name when THEY need service down the road.
There are two effective ways to promote your page and/or posts: boosted posts and Meta ads. In simplest terms, boosted posts are made from those that already exist on your page. Once a post is on your page, you can choose to “boost” it by adding a budget, timeframe and targeted demographics. This will cause you to be shown in non-followers’ feeds that fit within those chosen targets. Meta ads are similar to boosted posts in some ways. You are still able to choose your budget, timeframe and target demographics, but you can create multiple ads within a campaign, not just a singular post.
Both of these types of paid advertisement allow your reach to expand exponentially and have measurable results. And the more you can expand your reach, the more you will increase your number of followers and overall engagement. Working with a marketing agency is a great way to ensure your boosted posts and ad campaigns are running effectively and that your social media marketing budget is put to good use.
Facebook does a lot of work for its business users—especially when it comes to tracking audiences and posts. Facebook analytics allows small businesses to see who they’re talking to and who’s listening. Analytics can tell you things such as how many people visit your profile, how much engagement your posts get, how many link clicks there have been on your posts and page, how many people saw your posts and more. Be sure to check analytics at least three times per week and make appropriate changes to any posts that aren’t getting enough engagement or those that are not reaching the desired audience. An easy way to increase engagement on your page is to see which posts have performed the best recently, and then repurpose that content to fit different targets.
A certain degree of trial and error is necessary to truly win at Facebook marketing. Make it a point to get started, and continually engage with your community and your target consumers. They’re the ones who allow small businesses to succeed, so go the extra mile and do something special for them via social media. The more engaging and compelling the content is, the more often it will be liked, commented on and shared—launching your content and brand onto more and more Facebook newsfeeds.
Beginning with these Facebook strategies will point your business in the right direction. Social media marketing can be a full-time job, especially on a platform as large as Facebook. If you need assistance with your social strategy, development or just need further clarification, the team at KickCharge Creative is here for you. Give us a shout…or find us on your favorite social platform!
