Facebook is a spider web. Think about that and visualize a large spider web in your mind. Your current customers/followers are in the circle that is closest to you (the spider at the center of its web). They may read your Facebook posts pretty regularly, but that is not your goal. They need to share your posts, and those with whom they share need to share your posts, and so on, until you have this huge web completely active with readers/followers. The other thing to always remember - no one shares content that does not really "strike a chord," that is not really fun, or that does not offer something of value. Given these two concepts, you need to learn how to use social media for marketing. It really is all about getting your content shared, so here are some content marketing tips that will achieve the sharing you want to grow your business.
- Always, always use media - photos, images, videos, and infographics - Make it your goal to have some kind of media on every post. You'll engage far more readers, and if the images are striking, humorous, entertaining, or hold great information, they will be shared.
- Ask for feedback and opinions often, check for that feedback within a few hours of the post, and respond - this is how you engage your readers and begin to establish those important relationships. Always keep in mind your audience as your promotion should be targeted in a proper way.
- Use the Facebook Questions app to post intriguing questions or ask for readers to fill in a blank. These will often be shared. In fact, anything you can do to make your post interactive will increase shares.
- Give "exclusive" things, like special sale information, or some freebie like an e-book or a coupon. Of course, readers need to link to your site to get these things and, if your landing page is set up correctly, you can get an email address.
- Post very consistently - As you gain followers, they will look for your posts - don't disappoint them. On the other hand, do not just post for the sake of posting. If your posts are not engaging, you will lose followers quite quickly. This is a very common content marketing mistake following the link you can learn more about how to avoid them!
- Keep the text part of your post short - maybe 200-250 characters (that's characters, not words) - if you want your readers/followers to access longer text, provide a link. Post "teasers" to something great on your blog or site - not the whole message. The entire post can then be on your site or site blog, and it should have great, compelling and entertaining. Here is some guide to creating viral longposts.
- Utilize all of the features of Facebook Insights - this is one of the best social media marketing tools that allows you to see which of your posts are getting more shares. This information is valuable, because you can format future posts to imitate the types that are most popular. You can also see when most of your followers are online and time your posts to be published during those times. Remember, too, that weekends are always good times to post, because more people are on Facebook on those days.
- Put "calls to action" in your posts. Things like, "Please comment below," "Watch this video for more information," "Click here to get your free e-book," etc.
- Surveys and polls are always great things to post, and research says they are shared, particularly when results are automatic. We've all seen the posts that read like, "Which 80's song best fits you?" When you click to take the quiz and get your answer, you are directed to a page which is also advertising product(s) or services. And, once you take the quiz and get your answer, you are asked to share it. Huge numbers of people do share these "quizzes."
- Use emoticons. While you may think that these are getting a bit overused, the research says they are not. People are drawn in by that emoticon and want to see what the post is all about that has that particular emotion tied to it.