Facebook has become a force to be reckoned with and most businesses have taken the opportunity to use this platform to maximize their business’ profitability and maintain and strengthen relationships with existing customers, as well as increase referrals.With over nine hundred million active users and an ever expanding community, small businesses now have the opportunity to connect with their customers in a more cost-effective way. This new paradigm has also made it easier for customers to spread word of mouth about an existing brand that they like and do business with, simply by liking their page or engaging in an online conversation on a company’s Facebook page.
To take advantage of the benefits that Facebook provides for small businesses, it is paramount that a well thought out strategy is in place prior to embarking on a Facebook Marketing campaign.
I would like to eliminate the need to identify a target market, by suggesting that you start with your customers. Why, because you already have a relationship with them, it will be easier to improve customer service, get repeat business, upsell or increase referrals as they become raving fans for your business.
Assuming you already have a Facebook page setup, here are a few tips for implementing a Facebook Marketing strategy that will help you get the most out of your Facebook Marketing.
1.Identify your goals
Avoid the impulse to start using Facebook blindly just because everyone said you should. To ensure that both your time and monetary investment pays off, start with a clear idea of what you hope to accomplish by implementing a Facebook Marketing Strategy. Is it to improve customer service, get repeat sales, up sell new products/services, increase word of mouth, stay top of mind with your customers? Identify your goal and build your strategy around it.
2.Decide on your Facebook Content Strategy
Largely your content strategy will be dependent on your goal. For example, if your goal is to improve customer service, then sharing content that provides additional support to your customers, running polls, asking for feedback and engaging one on one with customers will be a start. As with anything else, there isn’t a hard and fast rule. For optimal results you need to continue to monitor your content and your results over a period of time to see what is working and what’s not and make adjustments accordingly. Other content includes, sharing links, videos, photos and inspirational quotes that may be of value to your community.
3.Get your customers to Like Your Page
Now that you have identified your goals and got your content strategy in place, it is time to get fans to your page. Since you will be focusing on your existing customers, start by adding a call to action on your website to Like your Facebook page, next add it to your email signature, if you send out a newsletter include it in there as well. If you have a storefront, create a sign or poster that encourages your customers to Like Your Page.
4.Humanize your brand
One of the keys to success while using Facebook is to give your page a personality by humanizing it. This is your opportunity to build a stronger connection with your customers by showing them who you are as a company and as individuals. Use your name, post pictures of your office, the company team members, Christmas parties or simply you creating a wow experience for a customer.
5.Be Engaged
A study conducted by SocialBakers found that an astounding 95% of brands are unresponsive on Facebook, don’t be one of them. Monitor your page throughout the day, respond to inquiries or complaints in a timely manner, keep a consistent posting schedule and most importantly, get your customers to stay involved.
6.Use Facebook Insights
Facebook insights located on the left side of your Facebook page is a great tool that provides you with stats to help you gauge your results on Facebook of what is working and what is not working. Stats include number of active fans, gender, age group, interactions per post or overall number of interactions. Access to this information is golden, because it allows you to analyze your campaigns and make improvements in order to maximize results and performance.
Have you launched a Facebook Marketing Strategy, if so what are some of the tactics you are using to get results. Leave your feedback below.