In today’s world, the first place most small businesses start online marketing is Facebook. An active Facebook page is a great avenue for referral generation as well a key tool in your efforts to build brand awareness. There are several things you need to keep in mind when you think you are ready to market your business on Facebook. This is part 1 of 4 in our Facebook Marketing series.
Facebook Marketing is a Commitment
When a potential lead arrives on your Facebook page, they want to see an organization that is active and is engaging their customers. Just like with your website, if they are greeted by incorrect information or an inactive page they are going to question. You really don’t want to start of the relationship with thoughts in their mind like “Obviously they don’t stick with things, look how unused their Facebook page is.” Or worse “I don’t think they are still in business.” Marketing on Facebook is a method which requires a commitment to consistent activity.
Later in this series we’ll give some advice on posting frequency and efficiency. Ultimately however, if you cannot commit someone on your team to spend at least 2 hours to get started and 1/2 hour per week from now on, then you should not start. An inactive Facebook page will do much more harm than good.
Paid Advertising Requirements
Consistent grass-roots growth is a key component of social media. It’s almost always beneficial to augment that growth with a steady stream of paid advertising. We’ll go into more detail later on these topics in the series. If you’re just starting your business though, you may want to boost your audience with a paid ad campaign. For direct to consumer businesses, you can also use Facebook Offers to pursue actual sales as well as boost your Page Likes. A Facebook Offer is essentially on-line coupon, but it’s a great way to garner Likes for your page. Be aware however that to create Offers you first must already have 50 likes on your Page.
Getting Your first 50 LIKEs
Getting those first 50 likes can be a surprising challenge, but here’s a few tips. Start with family and friends, that one should be obvious. Next, send an email to all of your existing customers. Keep it brief and be direct. Three sentences should be enough. Be sure to include a link right to your Facebook Page to make it easy for them. Also, be sure to use your networks. If you’re part of a church, or a local business networking group, send those folks a message as well asking for their support. Lastly, ask those existing supporters to spread the word. A simple “Help us get our first 50 Likes!” post on your Facebook page will often be enough to push you over the edge.
This is part 1 of 4 in our Facebook Marketing series.
Next week we’ll be covering the Basic Techniques of Facebook Marketing, such as frequency, topic ideas, and the importance of using images.