If Facebook were a country, it would now be the largest one in the world. Because of its sheer enormity, businesses have always flocked to the social network to try and connect with their audiences. But many are doing so without a clear strategy in place. Are you using Facebook as an engagement tool, to drive awareness, or to secure leads for your business? If you are new to marketing on social media, it can be difficult to know what exactly your focus should be. But setting up a Facebook Business page for success is easier than you think – especially if you know the answers to the following questions.
Who are you trying to reach?
Before embarking on any marketing campaign, it’s important to know who your audience is. Your audience will inform nearly all of your strategy, from messaging, to the frequency of posts, to the types of content you should publish. It won’t always be readily apparent who your target audience should be. You will need to conduct research to identify what types of people would find value or benefit from your product or service and what the best way to reach and influence them is.
Once you have identified who your ideal target audience is, the real work of attracting them to your page begins. HubSpot recently published a post about what businesses can do to build their Facebook audience. Put simply, they suggest making your page easy to find. You can do this by optimizing your content for SEO, making your Facebook ‘like’ boxes prominent on your blog and website, and cross-promoting your page on other social media platforms where you might have better traction.
What are you trying to accomplish?
Facebook is an excellent channel to increase awareness with your target audience. It can also help you build and maintain relationships with existing customers while attracting new customers to your business. Once you have your business’ page up and running, you can place ads on Facebook to drive leads. As you try and expand your footprint on this social media platform, it’s important that you have clearly stated goals and aren’t just throwing mud against the wall to see what sticks.
What are you trying to say?
The content on your Facebook page is important. Your audience has opted into receiving messages from you, so you should try your hardest to not make them regret that decision. You need to find a balance between promotion, engagement, and entertainment.
Facebook offers businesses robust reporting with Facebook Insights. These reports will help you identify which type of content is having the most impact, when the optimal time for posting is, while also giving you a glimpse of who you are reaching.
Are you engaged with your audience?
Social media marketing is different than traditional channels. You can’t just blast your messages out. You also need to be actively listening to what your audience is saying and respond when appropriate. One helpful feature of Facebook Business pages is a Ratings & Reviews tab which allows you to track feedback from your customers and engage with reviews.
Engaging with online reviews is important because it shows that your business cares what customers have to say. Interacting with online reviews can impact your local search ranking and can increase trust with your audience. You should also look for opportunities to respond to comments in your posts and find other ways to interact with your audience via your Facebook Business page.
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