Small Biz in A Digital Age: Facebook Marketing

Monday, December 08, 2014

GoLocalProv Business Team

 

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The world of business is moving faster -- hyper fast. Small businesses face the challenge of trying to keep up and innovate their business to create an advantage.

This week, GoLocal brings you a look at how to incorporate Facebook marketing techniques into your existing strategies for your small business. This series is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island - but know they have no editorial review or control. The goal is to help small businesses compete and grow in a period of tremendous change.

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Content Marketing

Marketing your business on social media platforms is becoming easier than ever. But any business can use it incorrectly and your business’s message can be easily missed by consumers if it is not engaging or relevant. 

“It is important to publish content that teaches people something valuable, entertains them and makes them think creatively,” says Brian Boland from the Ads Product Marketing Team at Facebook.

Simply put, platforms like Facebook are marketing outlets that thrive on user engagement. “Likes” and shares by your customers on Facebook could mean the difference between your marketing message reaching others organically and not gaining you any new business at all. 

The Numbers

According to Small Business Trends post “engagement” - which is monitored through comments and shares - has increased by 16 percent each year and 40 percent each quarter.  

Engagement is a big part of making your online marketing strategy work for you and requires businesses to constantly create posts for their viewers since the average user is only on the website for about 30-60 minutes. The sporadic use of Facebook creates a need for small businesses especially to ensure that they will be seen and that they are engaging these potential customers throughout their day by posting multiple times a day - this can be done in the form of promoting new deals, products or simply asking for customer feedback. 

Anything you can do to get the attention of other users and will only get more eyes on your message and that will make it more likely for your content to become organically shared and engaged with. 

How do I engage my customers online?

The key to creating engaging content on Facebook is to elicit conversation. Facebook is about community and discussion - so model your campaign after this. 

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Think of your own Facebook use and what you would like to see: something eye-catching that does not break away from the thoughts and updates your friends may be posting throughout the day. Update your customers on what’s going on with your business that they may find exciting or would be inclined to comment on.

The best way for a busy small business owner to go about creating content throughout the day is to  set a schedule for posts. You can even use Page Insights to figure out which posts are more successful so that you can replicate that model.

Do Facebook users tend to share more posts about those new designer dresses or artisan jewelry pieces you carry? Make sure you discuss them more and maybe consider offering a deal on them to get your customers in the door.

Facebook even has resources that specifically point out how to make your business’ content timely, insightful, and discoverable among clients. Check out Facebook for Business for more tips and advice on how to get your business notices in the digital age.

 

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