Facebook can give you the tools you need to become successful nearly overnight. However, it can be tough to make full use of Facebook (or to even know where to start) when you don't have much of a budget for advertising. Here are five things you can do to get the word out about your business, even if your advertising budget is zero.
Determine Post Success
Facebook's insights page can help you understand which of your posts are most popular. This tool can help you understand better how to arrange your content. It can give you solid information about likes, shares, comments and more.
By using the insights tool, you'll be able to distinguish patterns of activity with your most successful posts. You should pay attention to things like:
- Subject matter - What was the post about?
- Images - Were the popular posts image-based? If so, which types of images attract the most attention?
- Comment sections - How much activity is your post generating in the comments section?
- Comment content - What are commenters saying, and can you use it to improve future posts?
All of these points can be gathered and analyzed to determine which types of posts are most popular, and which generate the most activity.
Craft Great Content
It's a big mistake to post content that's less than desirable. Keyword stuffing simply no longer works. There are lots of entrepreneurs who are aware of this, but still post content that looks more like a mash-up of keywords than actual, useful content.
Your job is to create new content that is useful, catchy, and most of all, sharable. This ensures that your posts will reach beyond your target audience. Look at your past successes and then consider:
- Conversation starters - Which parts of your posts were responsible for the most discussion and excitement?
- Current trends - What's currently popular in your field, and what's trending?
- Post value - What's the best way to ensure your posts contain useful, important information?
These questions will help you further analyze your past successes and build on them to create outstanding content.
Create Intentional Targets
Targeted posts are one of the most useful aspects of Facebook when it comes to marketing. Once your page garners one hundred or more followers, you can post targeted content based on a number of metrics, including:
- Level of education
- Relationship status
- Age
- Gender
- Geographic location
In order to create organically-targeted posts, select the correct privacy option that allows you to target your posts. Once you've selected this option, a small icon will appear in the bottom corner of your publisher. You'll be able to target posts to some users, while leaving them hidden for other users.
Time it Right
Research your target audience to determine the best times for posting your content. Typically, the most popular time to post is in the early morning or during the evening. Most people aren't working or sleeping during these times, meaning more users will see your posts in their newsfeed.
Tie Posts into Marketing Emails
Include links to new content in marketing emails. This gives your readers easy access to new posts. This will effectively wed your email marketing and Facebook marketing, as well as giving both a greater reach.
Using Facebook Effectively
Facebook is a platform that boasts over a billion users every month. If you can find and correctly target your audience on Facebook, you have a very good chance of getting your business off the ground or improve existing sales. Facebook doesn't require a huge marketing budget. It only requires an understanding of available tools, and the ability to use those tools effectively.