Welcome back to our ‘How to use Social Media for your Business’ blog series. As indicated in the blog title, this Blog will provide you with insights and helpful tips to use for your business’s Facebook Page. We’re sure you’ve wondered – why should my business use social media when I have a website with all the information? Well most people – yourself included – don’t read the full contents of any given website as they are looking for a specific product/service. Creating a social media page allows your business to spotlight a few more products/services that people may not be aware of. Another great reason is that your social media page shows your track record of your business’s activity. The saying, “if it’s not on social media, did it really happen?” is particularly true for businesses offering services like training, workshops, events, activations and the likes.
Now how can you use Facebook for your business?
Facebook is about creating a conversation and inviting your target audience to engage with your business. Moreover, Facebook can be used to build a relationship and familiarity with your business.
Where to start?
- Create a weekly/monthly content plan of the topics that you would like to post. A basic structure could be: to inspire/motivate, to sell a product, to educate people about your business.
- Next create an image library of good quality images/videos of your products in a real life setting to accompany your content. Alternatively you can source images from any stock platform like Shutterstock, Stocksy, iStock, Gettyimages etc. Ensure that all the images used are branded to help your customers identify your business.
- Allocate a budget to promote a few posts a month to ensure that your followers get to see your content. Unfortunately Facebook deprioritizes content from business pages so your followers are less likely to see your posts organically.
- Encourage reviews to gain insights of what your customers like or don’t like about your business.
What to avoid:
- ‘Boosting’ your Facebook posts from your Facebook page. There aren’t enough targeting options available from this method and you won’t see any valuable results from it. Rather promote your chosen ad or post using the Facebook manager platform
- Promoting image based content that has more than 20% text on the actual image
- Posting lengthy posts (more than 60 words). Rather create a blog section on your website and share the link onto your Facebook page with a short teaser write up in the post.
These are just a few actionable tips that you can use. You are more than welcome to get more advice over a cappuccino or red latte! And remember it is called Social Media and not Sales Media for a reason. Find fun and interactive ways to encourage your audience to engage with your content!
