There’s no denying that having a Facebook page is becoming a more and more important part of running a business in 2019. From promoting your products or services, to building engagement with your audience, having a Facebook presence should form a vital part of your business plan for 2019 and beyond.
Despite what you might think, you don’t need to be a social whiz to stand out and be found on Facebook. There are lots of easy steps you can take to make the most of your Facebook business page. If you’re interested in exploring Facebook further, it might be worth employing the services of a social media agency, such as Digital Freak.
The Basics
First things first, you should make sure that all the information displayed is accurate and up to date. This should include your business name, address, opening hours, email, phone number and a list of the products and services you provide. This is easy to edit and keep up to date if things change in the future. To update this information, head to the ‘About’ section of your business page and then hit the ‘Edit Page Info’ button. Update as necessary and then hit save.
It’s important to set the right tone for your audience and potential customers with nice looking images. Your page picture, cover photo and images attached to the posts you create should be the right size so they’re not blurry. We suggest using your logo for your page picture and a team photo for your cover photo or an image of your product.
Creating Posts
Creating posts for your Facebook page can seem overwhelming. It’s important to make sure not all your posts are sales focused, as this can be overwhelming or off-putting for your audience. We recommend about 20-25% of your posts are directly focused on sales. What should your other posts be about? Here’s our suggestions:
- News about your business. Have you recently won an award? Or entering a competition? Post about it!
- Reviews and feedback from your customers
- Got a new range coming out? Tease your customers with sneak peaks!
- Inspirational or funny quotes make great content as they engage customers and they can be shared by your audience
We recommend preparing lots of posts at once and scheduling them through Facebook Business Manager, so you don’t have to think about creating content every day.
Photos:
Facebook posts with photos generally perform better than those without, so it’s always worth attaching some media to your Facebook content. There are lots of free resources (such as Canva) which can help resize your photos so they are the right size, don’t have black bars around them and don’t look blurry.
Choosing photos and making sure you have a wide range of photos can be tricky. Taking photos on your phone can be easy, but it may be worth pursuing some professional photography for your business. These can also be used on your website, so it’s an investment for multiple platforms!
If it suits your business, you may consider creating a subscription with a stock photography service such as Dreamstime. They’re a great source of constant images and cartoons which you can share on your social media, without having to hire a personal photographer. There are also many services which offer Royalty Free photos as well, if you’ve got a limited budget.
Building Your Audience
So you’ve created your page, updated the details and got some posts ready to go. Now what? It’s important to ensure your posts are being seen by the right people. Here’s some tips for growing your audience:
- Invite your friends, family and customers who have Facebook to like your page. They’ve probably already heard about your business and are supportive of your endeavours.
- Link to your Facebook from your website and invite people to like your Facebook from there – create a flow of traffic from one site to the other.
- Include a link to your Facebook URL on your business cards, pamphlets and any other print marketing materials you may have.
- Create content that encourages customers to like, share and comment on your pictures. The more people engage with your content, the more it will be seen on Facebook.
Facebook Ads
Running targeted Facebook ads and boosting posts can be a great way to spread the word about your business. However, if you don’t know what you’re doing, how much to spend, or how to ensure the highest ROI possible, it’s worth speaking to an agency who specialise in this type of work.
Engaging your customers
Just like with all other forms of communication with your audience, you should be responding to all customer queries. This could take the form of comments or messages, and it’s important to keep on top of them.
You should make a decision about how you want your brand to come across in this communication. Social media is a little less formal than email or phone queries, so make the use of emojis and GIFS, if it suits your brand!
Facebook Stories
Facebook Stories is a new feature, so it’s hard to know what’s best practice yet. We recommend you give it a go! They can only be viewed for 24 hours and appear at the top of your audience’s newsfeed automatically.
Stories are a great way to give a behind the scenes look into your business, so it can be less polished than your usual posted content. Try being fun and snappy, giving up to date information about your products and services.
You can even try giving Facebook Story exclusive information, like discount codes for your online store, to incentivise people to view your stories regularly.
Facebook Law
Facebook is always developing protections to make sure businesses and people alike are using the platform legally and safely. The Facebook Terms of Service are a clear guide as to what is and isn’t allowed, and it’s important to read up on this before you begin posting.
If you’re concerned that what you’re posting might be breaking the terms of service, you can read all about them here: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms
Competitions on Facebook
Competitions and giveaways can be a great way to engage your audience, and also potentially grow a bigger audience. However, like everything posted on Facebook, it’s important to ensure you’re following the rules. Here’s a great guide to what is and isn’t allowed: https://www.shortstack.com/blog/know-the-most-important-facebook-contest-rules/
Analysis
It’s one thing to create content and post it to your page, but it’s also important to analyse your work and see what’s working and what’s not. Using Business Manager, you’ll be able to see what posts are over or underperforming, who is looking at and engaging with your content, and what time of day people are looking at your page. Using this data, you’ll be able to constantly evolve your content strategy.
We recommend reviewing and updating your content strategy once a month, to make sure you’re staying on top of the trends.
Don’t have the time to spare to keep your Facebook page up to date? Contact the freaks at Digital Freak today and find out more about our social media management services.
You know how they say content is King? Well, meet the Queen. Engaging and exciting content is what I’m here to create. Whether it’s websites, print, digital, or social graphics – I take your brand’s vision and industry trends and turn them into high-quality content.
