Facebook is a great way to market your small business

Businesses of all types are successfully using Facebook to market their companies. In September 2016, there were 60 million business pages on Facebook, one-third more than a year prior.

Depending on your demographic, Facebook can be a powerful marketing tool. Age 25 to 34, at 22% of users, is the most common age demographic. (Source: comScore) What this means for you: This is the prime target demographic for many businesses’ marketing efforts, and you have the chance to engage these key consumers on Facebook. Here are some important things to keep in mind when defining your Facebook strategy:

Post Consistently. Spend some time working out what frequency you can commit to and dig into your analytics to find out when your audience is most likely to be online – this will maximize your reach. However, don’t let your page “go dark” for any extended period of time.

Include Both Text and Images. Images have stopping power in a way that words never will. Facebook posts that include images tend to get wider distribution than those that are text only. But once someone focuses on your post, you need text to keep them engaged and tell them what you want them to do next.

Be Yourself. Facebook is a personal medium. Treat it that way. Ask questions, post responses, express preferences. Give fans a peek into your operation. Introduce your staff. And always make your posts conversational.

Vary Your Posts.  Social media is all about engaging the end user–and nothing disengages people more than selling all the time. That’s not to say that you can never sell, you just need to earn the right by posting other non-sales content.

• Customer photos almost always drive tremendous engagement.
• How-to tips establish your company’s expertise, and give fans a reason to keep coming back to your page.
• Videos, always powerful, are especially attention-getting on Facebook since they auto-play. Facebook’s algorithm favors native video – not outside links to places like YouTube or Vimeo – allowing for a better opportunity for more people to see your content.
• Product photos are especially appealing when you create a lifestyle image. Still product shots on white backgrounds are great for your eCommerce store, but can be boring on Facebook. Style your products on a background that conveys the lifestyle of the target demographic. Model shots are also engaging and they don’t need to be professionally done.
• Contests can create engagement and generate lots of new fans.

Increase Visibility of Important Posts. This is a simple tip, but many people aren’t aware that posts can be “pinned” to the top of a Facebook Timeline. It’s frustrating when a post describing an important announcement or special offer disappears down your page.

Use Facebook Ads. I cannot express how important it is to consider using Facebook ads or boosts to increase the reach of your content. Without ads, Facebook has said that organic content (on average) will be shown to 6% or less of your fan base.

Messenger for Business. Just recently, Facebook officially launched Messenger for Business to let users chat directly with the companies. This is a great tool to have a personal, real-time conversation with customers. Many companies are using this to replace email as a customer service tool, including real-time order confirmations and shipping notices.

Of course, the overarching objective of Facebook is to stimulate engagement and produce valuable and exciting content. Therefore, tailor your post content to your audience, be personal and conversational, and use fresh and simple wording. Executing these optimization tips will improve your Facebook Business Page visibility and user experience, both of which are crucial for your success.

See Valerie Gosset’s marketing ideas for the Garden Industry at Evergreen Marketing