Why does a business need a Facebook page? The answer is quite simple. According to Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg the average American spends about 40 minutes daily on Facebook alone, liking, sharing content resulting in 4.1 million likes on a variety of posts every minute. Moreover, on an average, 1.40 billion people log onto Facebook daily and are considered daily active users, which represents a 14 percent increase year over year.
At a time when advertisers run most of the free apps, with social media and streaming apps going public, Facebook, with its astounding 800 million follower count which is only growing each moment is undoubtedly the most effective for brands to engage and interact with their audience and to market their product. So how exactly do these businesses use a variety of the Facebook tools to promote what they have to offer?
Marketing using Facebook ads is greatly cost-effective as you can reach out to an audience size of 5,000 to 10,000 with a budget as low as 50$ while targeting your audiences based on demographics (age income, sex, location, etc) and psychographics (likes, preferences). Facebook ads help amplify the reach of your content especially when they are shared by influencers, which ultimately exposes a business to a larger audience. Businesses can also use Facebook remarketing for sign-ups, consultations, downloads, etc which has been found to boost engagement rates, threefold. Another great advantage is the Call Now button on Facebook pages which helps skip the hassle of opening a new page by pressing on another link.
If you happen to be a busy entrepreneur yourself or haven’t experimented much in using Facebook ads before you can opt for basic single photo post, single video post or a carousel with text and a combination of the two. Another option is lead ads you get a prospect’s email and name directly on Facebook instead of having to click on an off-site landing page. In an experiment done by AdEspresso, they found lead ads to be extremely effective. Although the cost per lead was slightly higher they had a higher conversion rate too. In-stream videos are mid and pre-roll ads that you can purchase 5-15 second placements for while people are watching Facebook videos. Audience Network building includes ads that will also cover viewers outside of Facebook through their ad networks on other websites, apps and Smart TVs. Ultimately, however, the object of you ad determines what type of advertisement is most suitable. For instance, if you are trying to create awareness or generate new demand, then you can utilize Traffic or Video Views objectives.
Facebook Contest Apps is another way to drive traffic to your Facebook fan page and can boost in-bound marketing as well as the level of engagement with the marketers’ online communities. One can run a contest using their Timeline, Facebook Apps or a few third party apps to make it a lot easier for customers. Some platforms for such ad campaigns include WishPond, ShortStack, AgoraPulse, Easyproms, etc. Furthermore, Facebook Live content has the potential to engage audiences extensively because not only does it notify fans/followers to join the Live video but also since there is no guarantee that the video will be saved and thus requires viewers to check it before they miss out on it.
Facebook marketing can prove to be profoundly beneficial to all types of businesses especially if the content is relevant (to the service offered and the industry), consistent (using the Schedule Post feature which also helps to post at a time when most audiences are online), using Facebook Analytics to collect information on one’s performance and thus determine if there is any scope for improvement, which will all ultimately help increase visibility by building an audience.
