It is a fantastic, low-cost way to market your business and to target your avatar (your specified, ideal target customer). Whether you are a roofing company, holistic nurse, photographer, or hairstylist, Facebook will enhance business for you if used correctly.
But “Why?”, you may ask, and “How?”
Many of you may have jumped on the Facebook Bandwagon because you knew you should, but do you really know what you’re doing when it comes to using Facebook to promote your business? In this blog post, we will outline the key aspects you should address to ensure that your business has a strong presence on Facebook.
Facebook for Business 101:
First and foremost, you must define your avatar. Who is your ideal customer? Who exactly needs your product or service? What kind of person is currently searching the Internet to find you? You need to get a specific as possible when determining your avatar, because this is the person who will ultimately be giving you money. This is the person who will need your business, and if you cannot define who this person is, you will not know who or how to market to them.
Once your avatar is identified, you should give your Facebook page a personality. It is imperative to understand that people will be doing business with you, and if they don’t feel like they can connect to you as a person first, they won’t want to commit to a business relationship with you either. In order to help facilitate this connection, put your picture on your Facebook page, preferably in the upper left-hand corner. Since we habitually read from left to right, it is a natural tendency for people to automatically look at the upper left-hand corner first. Also, make sure your ‘About’ section not only explains what type of product or service you offer, but also says a little bit about who you are. This section should be short, sweet, and to the point, but offering up a little personal information will enhance the chances that people will be able to forge a connection with you. You can also include a link back to your business website in this section to help generate traffic to your website.
An important thing to keep in mind in regards to Facebook, is that content is key. While you can absolutely promote your business via Facebook, it is better to do so in less obvious ways. In other words, rather than posting advertisements promoting yourself as a hairstylist, telling people to come to you for their next haircut all the time, it is better to create posts that get people thinking about you. For example, provide free information to your Facebook fans and encourage them to share it with others – this could be anything from tips to keep your hair from frizzing in the snow, or your favorite shampoo to use on colored hair. Whatever it is, don’t be afraid that giving away information will prevent people from ultimately hiring you, because it is just the opposite. If people think you are knowledgeable and an expert, they are more likely to want to do business with you. And providing such information to your Facebook fans on a consistent basis will keep the traffic coming to your Facebook page.
Which is another key aspect to creating a strong presence on Facebook: be consistent. It is very rare that people in this world are consistent, and if you can be, others will notice. So be consistent with your posts: create the same number of posts, at the same times every week. It is best to post away from normal business hours, since people are not usually on Facebook while they are at work. So to increase the chances that your posts are seen, it is best to post during lunch hours, around 12:00pm, or after 4:00pm during the weekdays.
In addition, when posting a status update, always keep in mind what gets your attention. While it is simplest to type in text, what catches your eye when you are scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed? Large pictures are the number one posts that tend to really get peoples attention. So rather then just creating a post about your business and calling it good, you can say that same thing, and just by adding a picture, the chances that people will pay attention to you on their newsfeed increases tremendously. We also encourage you to ask people questions that coincide with the picture. This will get people to interact with your Facebook page and make them more invested in you. For instance, as a photographer, you could post two different options of a picture side by side and ask your Facebook fans which one they prefer? This is a simple question that will attract your fans to engage with you and will help get your post in more news feeds.
Another simple way to ensure that your business has a strong presence on Facebook is to network, network, network! Facebook is an amazing forum that allows you to connect to hundreds of thousands of people so take advantage! We recommend that you “Like” similar pages to yours and leave them a comment along the lines of “Hey, I’m _______. Great page! Would love for you to stop by and say hi sometime!”. This will help your business because not only will you be connecting with others in your field and expand your network, but also it increases the chance that your avatar will find you when searching for someone in your profession. Also, it is very beneficial to interact with fans on Facebook. Like we said above, don’t just shove ads in their face. Leave your favorite clients a “Happy Birthday!” post, or like your Fans’ pictures and statuses. All you need to do is forge a connection and get people thinking about you, and when they finally need your product or service, they will choose you over someone else.
These are some key steps that you can take to generate a strong presence on Facebook for your business and ultimately increase your customer-base. We hope that you found this blog post helpful. Please feel free to leave your thoughts and any questions you may have below and share this information with others who would find it helpful.