YOU heard the buzz about Facebook, and you decided to jump into the mix with a business page of your own. But things aren’t going quite as well as you hoped.
Not to worry. We’ve compiled this list of tips to help you take your Facebook presence to the next level, even if you’re just getting started.
1. Know When to Post
This isn’t Twitter, where you want to post dozens of time a day. With Facebook, less is more. It’s important not to spam your audience with constant updates.
Around three posts per day seems to be the sweet spot in terms of overall reach and engagement. Anything less or more than that will not be as effective.
Just as important is the times that you post. Facebook sees the most amount of traffic between normal working hours, from around 8am to 6pm. That means there are tons and tons of stories and updates filling the average feed.
Rather than try to fight against the endless stream of content during this period, you can actually get more engagement by posting before or after these times. The evening, in particular, tends to be a great time to post. Of course, if you’re targeting customers from around the country (or world), you’ll have to account for time zone differences as well.
2. Use These Formats
The format you use when posting can have a huge affect on how well a particular post performs. Taking just a few extra minutes to use the right setup upfront will save you tons of marketing time in the long run.
Keep these things in mind when structuring a post:
Posts with images perform better
People love visuals, so make sure you give it to them. Generally speaking, posts with images will get you more clicks, likes, and comments than posts without them. And if you really want to get the best results, you won’t just use any ol’ stock image.
The images that perform the absolute best are custom graphics designed specifically for your post. When possible, design and customize your own images, rather than using something generic.
Always use link posts
When linking to your site (or someone else’s), you have two main options. You can format the post and insert the url manually, or you can use a link post and let Facebook handle the formatting for you. By simply adding the site address, Facebook will pull an image and a small selection of the site’s text and display it for you.
This may not seem like such a big difference at first glance, but the truth is that these link posts are heavily preferred by both your audience and Facebook. That’s why it’s always in your best interest to use link posts.
Ask questions
People use social media to, well, socialize. That means engaging, connecting, sharing, and communicating. To tap into this market, you want to reach out to them in the same way.
One easy but effective way of doing this is by using your posts to ask questions. It not only serves as a call to action, it lets them know you’re interested in and listening to what they have to say.
3. Choose Your Audience
Many savvy marketers choose to take advantage of paid Facebook ads to get their message in front of as many people as possible. This can be a great idea… but you have to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
This means targeting the right audience, the people who are actually interested in your message and likely to pay for your product or service. If you’re selling to expectant mothers, for instance, every dollar spent on an ad targeted towards single men in their early 20s is a dollar wasted.
You need to understand who you should be targeting, first of all. But from there, Facebook provides a variety of features that let you make sure only specific fans or demographics are seeing your ads. You can even limit it to people who have visited your website in the past.
4. Pay Attention to Your Results
How did we learn all this stuff? Easy – we analyzed our results. And you should too.
Keep track of which posts do the best and which posts do the worst. What are their common elements? What could you have done better? Don’t just throw a post up there and hope for the best.
Note the format, the time, the topic, and every other little tidbit you can. This may seem meticulous, but it will help you find the patterns for what works and what doesn’t. Facebook’s Audience Insights feature makes this way easier, allowing you to even break your followers down into demographics, like age, gender, and location.
If you’re using paid ads, you should definitely be split testing as well. This is when you run multiple ads, all with slight variations. Then you compare which ads did the best. If you do this again and again, you’ll eventually end up with a truly effective advertisement.
5. Use a Post Scheduler
Even when you’re only posting a few times a day, it can be hard to set aside time to post perfect content at the perfect hour, day in and day out.
This is where a post scheduler comes in handy. Simple create your posts, choose a time, and go about your day. The scheduler will make sure you’re sharing what you want, when you want it – without requiring you to be glued to your computer or smartphone 24/7.
It’s a straightforward but invaluable tool for anyone trying to market on Facebook.
Face Facts
There you have it, the basic nuts and bolts of many successful Facebook campaigns to come. Each tip you use will build upon the other, until your brand becomes a veritable social media force.
And as you try them for yourself, you’re certain to learn more about what works and what doesn’t through experience. The only thing left is to get started!
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