At this point, most people know how to market their business on Facebook — there are more than 900 million people on the social platform, constantly “liking,” sharing, commenting and posting.
The basic for all your advertising is your Facebook page. This is central for your appearance on this platform. A user can decide after seconds if they like your company.
They probably don’t know anything about your company but they still make a choice of whether they stay or leave your page.
Why Cover Photos Matter
The cover photo can make a huge impression. A Facebook page provides you with endless possibilities to draw someone in.
Update your cover photo and change your Facebook profile picture to mix things up. Changing the image to reflect a season or time of year shows fans that you are making an effort to be active and stay relevant. Updating your cover photo to advertise a special sale or giveaway will also help those events get more attention than they might otherwise receive.
Highlight or Pin Your Best Posts
Facebook is no longer a chronological river of posts. Facebook gives you an option to draw more attention to a single post by “highlighting” it. “Highlight” your brand’s most important information by selecting the star icon on the top right corner of any post on your Timeline. With this option important posts stand out amongst the rest.
Facebook recommends taking advantage of the “Pin to Top” option on your Brand Timeline. Pinning one post per week to extend the life of the content is essential to gaining more views. When you pin something onto the timeline, it not only becomes larger but also becomes the first item within the Timeline itself. Social media users are bombarded with information 24/7, so pinning helps to cut through the noise and ensure that your fans will see your best posts.
Run Contests to Boost Engagement
People love winning, whether it’s a t-shirt, early access to a sample sale or a free flight to New York.
Prizes don’t have to be outrageous but they should be on-trend and relevant. High value prizes aren’t as important as low value prizes. With lower prices, the more fans you reach.
Keep the Facebook contest as simple as possible to get consistent results and a lot of submissions, and make sure you abide by Facebook Guidelines and run all promotions within Apps for Facebook.
While it seems like to good idea to ask fans to “like,” comment or vote directly on your Facebook Page, these actions actually violate Facebook’s guidelines, so be sure you read them thoroughly.
The best way to promote your contest is through changing your cover photo. Displaying an image with the promotional banner will draw people in. Another way to promote your contest is through writing posts about the contest and pinning or highlighting them for maximum effect.
Potential fans have good reason to stay
After an advertising campaign, many users have probably visited your page, which is the first step to building a relationship. The tricky part is integrating new fans and giving them a good reason to stay.
It’s not easy because there is so much competition on social media with many Facebook pages advertising similar offers. Flooding Facebook with content will have a negative effect on new customers. It will most likely drive them away, so it is best to stagger your promotions.
The key to performing well is to differ from other Facebook pages. You must offer something that no one else has. If one follows the same strategy as the competition, you will not be able to settle on a permanent positive.
Facebook fans are only fans of your page because they see advantages for themselves. If you only post the same pictures or have the same strategy like all the other hundreds of Facebook pages you won`t grow and can even lose some of your fans.
You can avoid losing fans if your post has added value. This might mean for example there is exclusive content that will be published only on Facebook. The message to potential fans is clear.
There is high quality content on offer, but they are published only on a specific channel – namely Facebook.
This Creates pressure and forces potential users to become a fan of the Facebook Page; because if they aren’t a fan, they will miss out on the opportunity and cannot benefit from it. Exclusive content has to be extremely high quality, this then provides excellent means for generating and retaining fans.
Pay Attention to Insights
Facebook does a lot of the work for you, especially when it comes to analytics. Your job is to understand what they mean and how to use them to your advantage. Facebook tells you who your new fans are and breaks them down by gender and location to help you get a sense of who you’re talking to on Facebook.
If you’re using a mix of paid and organic tools for nabbing more fans, Insights will tell you how you reach people, so you know whether your time or money are yielding better returns. If you’re a big Excel nerd, you can even export the Insights data for further analysis.
Facebook marketing is a crucial way to build a fan base and spread word about your business. But a successful campaign doesn’t have to be a drain on your time or your wallet. A few minutes a day and a strategic plan can have an immense impact on your brand’s Facebook presence.