Have you ever been frustrated you’re not gaining the traction you hoped for on your small business Facebook page? These three ad-free Facebook strategies are for you.
Does marketing your business on Facebook make you feel a little dizzy?
Maybe you’ve tried to digest the literally thousands of articles available online and even tried to implement an idea here or there. But at the end of the day, your head is still spinning and your Facebook page has gained zero traction.
I know the feeling!
Last weekend, I was itching to get some horse time in. So, I headed to the roundpen to work with my son’s miniature horse, Storm. Like most minis, he has a mind of his own lots of days. And this particular day, he really did!
Now, I love horses and grew up with horses, but I am not a horse trainer. I am intrigued by liberty work, though, and I have high hopes of learning to do liberty work with Storm. So, I love to learn about liberty techniques and then work with him to see if I can apply what I’ve been learning.
Our roundpen session started out okay. However, as we were working on advanced leading, he just decided he was not interested in backing up. Let’s just say that by the end of our time together, he was still bucking and I was losing my confidence in being able to do any kind of liberty work with him.
I gained zero traction that day.
While I didn’t have a lightbulb moment as far as liberty work is concerned, the good news is that I did have one for you!
What I realized is that this was how a lot of business owners feel when it comes to marketing, specifically Facebook marketing.
You try your best, you do what you’ve seen other businesses do or what you think is the right thing to do, but no matter what, Facebook just doesn’t seem to work for you. Just like my son’s little mini was not working for me!
That’s why I’m giving you three proven Facebook marketing strategies you can use to promote your business.
Facebook Marketing Strategy #1: Engaging Page Posts
When you post on your Facebook page, share regular, relevant, and engaging posts.
Regular: Without getting too technical here, how often you share on your page does matter. It doesn’t have to do be daily but at the minimum, plan to post one to two times per week. Enough that Facebook and the people who have liked your page know that your page is “alive.”
Relevant: Share things that are relevant to your business and the audience you serve. That means you’re not going to gain traction on your page by sharing random, funny memes or photos of your barn cats.
Engaging: This is really the biggest key to remember. Engagement on Facebook is considered likes, comments, clicks, and shares. So, when you post to your page, think about what you can do to make it a more engaging post.
Can you write your post text in a way that readers feel connected to it? Or post a picture that people will want to share? Can you share industry information they’d want to tag others in?
One last thing when it comes to engagement. When you get comments, keep the conversation going! Reply to as many comments as you can. They’ll love that you’re interacting with them directly and Facebook has said they’ll reward pages who have conversations in the comments with more post views.
Facebook Marketing Strategy #2: Facebook Groups
In the past couple of years, Facebook has really encouraged the use of Facebook groups. What does that mean for you?
Your potential customers are in Facebook groups and you should be too!
Facebook groups are a great place to make connections with your ideal customers. Not just from a sales perspective but from a learning perspective.
When you join groups that are relevant to your business and the people you’re serving, you’ll learn what questions they have as well as what they want or need from businesses like yours. You may discover a new service offering or product ideas. And yes, you’ll definitely connect with potential new customers.
You can find the groups that are a fit for you by doing a search inside of Facebook on the topic areas that are connected to your business.
My advice when it comes to Facebook groups is to join with the intention to serve. Look for questions you can answer and people you can help by offering a bit of advice or encouragement. As they see you giving to the group and sharing what you know, they’ll see you as a trustworthy expert and you’ll likely earn the opportunity to connect with them outside of the group.
Facebook Marketing Strategy #3: Website Links
As part of the relevant, engaging posts you’re going to share, be sure you’re sending them back to your website—but don’t do it every time.
Why? The general rule for your social media posts should be to give at least 80% of the time and ask no more than 20% of the time.
Think of giving as providing the value right there on Facebook—they don’t have to leave the app to get what you’re giving them whether it’s a video tip or a regular text post. Asking is anytime you ask them to leave the app.
(Why would you want them to leave Facebook? I covered that here: If I Have A Facebook Page, Do I Need A Website?)
If you’re doing everything on Facebook and never inviting them to visit your website then you’re missing out on the chance to cultivate that relationship.
A reminder, though, from the engaging posts strategy—just posting a link to your website is not engaging. Think of it from the perspective of your audience. What would cause them to actually click on your website link? A helpful blog tip? A free download?
So, there you have it. You, my friend, do not have to stay in the dizzy zone when it comes to Facebook marketing for your business.
You can do this. And so can I.
I’ll keep doing my homework and get back in the roundpen with Storm soon. What will you do?