If you’re not on social media, do you even exist? People You May Know, a movie coming to theatres near you soon, goes to show just how obsessed our culture has become with our social media personas, examining the ways in which social relevance and self-validation are measured in the digital age. But business owners and entrepreneurs have to ask themselves this question even more often than the rest of us, since they’ve got more than just their social life at stake. For businesses in the digital age, social media strategy is critical to the success of your venture.
If you’re not sure where to go to move your Facebook marketing strategy forward, start by implementing the following tools to boost your social media results.
1. Get a professional design.
Regardless of your industry, your business needs to have a proper, professional logo design to make a strong first impression with your customer base. A well-designed logo reinforces your credibility, helps you to stand out from your competitors, and develop brand recognition. Business is all about earning and keeping customers’ trust, and a professional logo is the first step in establishing and generating that trust.
2. Know your audience. You are not going to sell a dishwasher to a 13-year-old boy no matter how amazing you are at sales — but you could probably have him begging for an PlayStation in 2 minutes flat with no sales experience to speak of. Knowing your audience and targeting your marketing efforts toward them specifically is the key to success and positive return on investment. Facebook offers audience insights, which is an incredible analytics tool to help you draw the most precise customer demographics to your business page. Better yet, you can more effectively target any Facebook ads you run to that audience, improving your conversion rate.
3. Timing is (still) everything. You might think that since people are glued to their phones and online constantly, you don’t have to worry so much about timing anymore. But you would be wrong, because timing is still everything. Just because content stays alive on the internet forever doesn’t mean it can’t get buried too far down in your audience’s newsfeed to ever meet their gaze. On Facebook, the best times to post are Thursdays and Fridays, with 1-4pm being the ideal time of day for posts. Facebook traffic peaks around 3:00 pm, but it can be a good idea to post around lunchtime when people are on breaks or hitting that afternoon drowsiness wall.
4. Don’t be spammy. Yes, people shop on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. But these are social platforms, and no one likes feeling like they log in to their account just to be spammed with sales pitch after sales pitch. Bear in mind the 80/20 rule for posting to your business page; 80 percent of your Facebook posts should inform, educate, and entertain your audience. Only the remaining 20 percent should be dedicated to promotional posts. Remember that social media is all about building relationships, so you’ll have to produce enough valuable content for your followers to stay engaged with your page. It doesn’t matter how good your product is; no one wants to follow a page that’s nothing but product pitches.
5. Mix up your content strategy. All the best written content in the world can’t compare to one stellar viral video; on the other hand, a feed filled with nothing but live videos isn’t as appealing as one with a mix of video, image, and written content. Be sure to mix up your content strategy and include a variety of mediums, but don’t skimp on video content. A high ratio of video content (at least three times a week) will increase the visibility and engagement on your page substantially, especially if you use the live broadcast function. It also helps to remember that Facebook’s autoplay video feature doesn’t play with sound, and a huge chunk of your audience may only watch the video without sound. If possible, include captions for those who want or need the sound off.
6. Ask questions. Everyone loves to share their thoughts and opinions, so why not get your followers to weigh in on some questions or offer their advice? Knowing your audience will help you generate questions and topics for discussion that are relevant and engaging for the people who follow your business page; you can ask questions in a variety of ways to spark dialogue. For example, you could ask yes or no questions, preference questions, ask for tips or recommendations, and more.
If you haven’t already starting utilizing these strategies in your social media marketing approach, it’s time to maximize your results and drive conversions by making these changes. Facebook can be a valuable tool for boosting your business, but only if you are using it effectively.
What is your favorite Facebook trick of the trade? Share your social media marketing strategies in the comments!