It’s not a secret that leveraging social media is a big part of marketing your business. Today we are going to talk about how to leverage Facebook in your business.
Facebook is a natural gathering place for people to connect, share their lives, connect and grow.
So that makes it a natural place to also get the word out and market your business.
Depending on your business model and who your ideal client is will dictate where you spend your time.
Using social media in your business is a game of watching and seeing where your ideal client (ICA) likes to spend their time. Then pair that with where you like to spend your time.
While in an ideal world, you’d only pay attention to the places your clients gather and not your own preferences.
I find that as a small business when you are wearing all the hats, it’s important that you enjoy the experience as well. Otherwise posting there will get neglected right?
How do you figure out which social platform is best? There are lots of options, but today we are talking about Facebook.
How can you leverage Facebook to market your biz in 2019?
A couple of fun stats that let you know that Facebook is a worthy place to spend your time:
- 2.32 Billion Monthly Active Users Worldwide
- 68% of Americans Use Facebook
- 74% visit FB daily and spend 30+ minutes.
That’s a lot of eyeballs who can potentially see your marketing efforts. Even with organic reach super low, it’s free. And you can’t knock that!
So how should you use Facebook in todays market?
Facebook Personal Profile.
Now, your personal profile is not meant for business use. It’s actually against the rules of FB to use a personal profile as a business. But there are ways you can optimize your personal page to showcase your business when people look you up.
First, add your website and explanation of what you do to your profile in the settings.
Link your FB business page as well. Use a small description that simply explains what it is you do and who you serve.
Why is this important to do on your personal page?
You’ll see this benefit when commenting on Facebook and on Facebook pages.
When you comment on a post, it gives people the opportunity to hover over your name. When you hover over, they can see a little glimpse of who you are and what you do.
You want to use that space to pique the interest of those looking to look further if your biz fits into the genre of needs they have.
For example:
My name is Becca Ellison and when you hover over my name you can see that my biz is Rebecca Ellison Creative.
That alone doesn’t tell people what it is that I do, other than it’s a creative business of some sort, and it’s me who runs it.
But by adding this, people now know if they are interested :
PNW based branding photographer and photography educator for content creators.
This lets people know if they want to look further.
Other than that, you want to use your personal page for normal personal posting. But keep in mind that, unless you have your profile locked down, people can see what you are posting.
Keep in mind your ICA when you post about anything controversial.
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Facebook Business Page
This is a critical place to be for your business. Whether you choose to post much will depend on your ideal client. But having a business page is a staple in your business, especially if you plan on
For one, you can’t advertise on Facebook or Instagram without a Facebook business page. Ads are a very beneficial way of growing your business.
More importantly, you want to have a presence here because it’s expected by people. Checking your Facebook page is one of the ways people check the legitimacy of your business.
While important, a Facebook page does NOT replace having a real and legit website.
Another reason to have a Facebook page is it gives an easy way for people to refer your business through the comments.
Think about it. Imagine you are a business coach and someone mentions looking for one in a group. If you have a Facebook page, people can link your page to recommend you.
Now, if you don’t have a page, you have to hope the person recommending knows your URL and thinks to add it to the comment.
They will likely type your biz name in with no link, the person asking for the recommendation will have to go and google your biz and try and find it.
They might do that if it’s the only recommendation they got. But if they have 5 others and can click a link to learn more, don’t you think they will get the click and not you?
It’s about showing up and making it EASY for people to find you!
Now, it’s up for debate if posting heavily to your actual Facebook page is as beneficial.
Organic reach is crazy low unless people engage with your content.
I am of the mindset that it’s easy enough to schedule posts to go to your FB pageso that there is a resource for anyone to find.
Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are the way Facebook engagement is going. Their algorithm is encouraging and showcasing highly engaged groups.
Let’s look at the two ways to use groups for marketing your business.
Create your own group
Decide on your niche, and create your own group.
Groups can be massively helpful to your business, especially an engaged group.
On the flip side, cultivating that engagement can be a large time suck.
As the group grows, you’ll need to stay active in the group to encourage people to post/share/connect.
This can be an amazing way to grab the attention of your ICA and build authority within the niche you serve.
Creating a group takes time and effort. You have to decide if the time commitment will benefit your business.
Groups are how people will naturally segment themselves.
Depending on where they are in their business or life and what they are interested in, they will search out your group.
Do a good job of niching down your group, and use common keywords in the group name. This way you’ll attract people who are interested in learning the thing that you want to be known for.
Join groups where your ICA resides
This next idea is to go and search out the groups that other people have created where your ICA is hanging out. Join these groups and show up as a helpful person (not as a walking salesperson!)
When there are questions that you know you can help with, then share your expertise. Show up and you’ll start to get noticed as someone who is not only there to help but is knowledgeable. You help people and they will become curious about you, and hover over your name.
This is why having your personal page point to your business and explains what you do is important!
When you post helpful content and ideas in a group, the people reading will hover over your name. They’ll look to see what it is that you do and if they want to look closer.
If you don’t have a biz page, they will not see what you do and move on as their interest wasn’t piqued.
The fine line you have to balance when you are joining another person’s group is to make sure you don’t break their rules.
Be respectful of the group they’ve cultivated. You don’t want to come in and instantly pitch your services in hopes to grab someone’s attention.
You need to show up and serve first. Without asking for a sale. Show be there to be a good helpful human.
Then, when soliciting posts are allowed, you can post your services then. Or people will get intrigued by you and look you up.
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Facebook Ads
When you are ready to put a little bit of money behind it, leverage Facebook ads. They can be crazy successful.
The ads platform is a VERY detailed and specific thing. So before you put money towards ads, I would do some major research on how to do targeting.
I bought a course on Facebook ads and it was helpful in understanding how to leverage the tool correctly.
If you don’t target correctly, it can be like throwing money into the garbage. The ads manager is that comprehensive.
When you are ready to learn how to use FB ads, running ads to content can enhance your authority.
My personal perspective on FB ads is to run an ad to content that will push people to a freebie. They get the freebie if they share their email address.
This builds your list while also giving people content and value before you ever ask them to buy.
Build their trust this way and when you are ready to sell to them, they will be primed and ready to buy.
If you publish an ad that goes directly to a cold audience (folks who don’t know you) and you ask for a sale, it’s a much harder sell. That audience is not familiar with you yet and is not trusting and ready to buy. So it’s
Okay, let’s recap shall we?
How to leverage Facebook in your business
- Make sure your personal profile showcases your biz in all bio and is linked to your business page. Check by hovering over your name and seeing what info comes up.
- Utilize and fully fill out your Facebook business page.
- Share your blog posts/podcasts/videos on your Facebook page and ask engaging questions. More engagement = more eyeballs on your stuff!
- Create a Facebook group, and make it for the niche you serve. Name it using a term that people will actually search and then post simple questions in the group to encourage people to respond!
- Join Facebook groups that your ICA hangs out in.
- Share insights and answer questions, and just be a stellar human being. Follow the rules and help people!
- Invest in Ads when you are ready. But make sure you do some research or buy a course that teaches you how to use the ad manager correctly because WOOF that the ads manager is overwhelming if you don’t know what to look for!
Alrighty, now share with me what how you plan to leverage Facebook in the comments below..
And then come and join my Facebook group: Easy Photo Tips for Killer Social Media Content
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