Data collected has already proven that Facebook is the most recognized social network for marketing activities. As a business owner, no doubt you’ve already realized how vital your online presence is for connecting to your regular clients, targeting potential customers and marketing new products and services. With Facebook’s over a billion monthly active users, it would be a shame to miss out on this level of exposure to potential customers.
Because entrepreneurs are competitive enough, it shouldn’t take a lot to convince them that Facebook marketing is no longer viewed as an innovative way to market but the new norm. New businesses are even opting to skip the expenses of hiring professionals to build them a website that can take months and go straight to rolling out Facebook business pages within minutes for free.
With most companies relying on Facebook to enhance their marketing efforts, the question of how to make your business page better than your competitors’ is important. Because Facebook’s customization is very limited, what can business owners do to get the most out of their Facebook page?
Here are some of the most standard and simple practices that should be used to optimize your Facebook business page and make sure that you are better than your competitors.
1. Choosing the right name
Whether it came to you in a dream or you spent hours, maybe even days conceptualizing it, take pride in your company name. Be proud and stand behind that name because once you’ve chosen it as your Facebook page title, you’re stuck with it forever. Facebook will allow you to make edits in your profile but your business name is permanent.
Your Facebook page name sits prominently at the top of your profile and may be the first thing your potential customers will read when they visit your page. It will also be all they see when they start to search for your page on Facebook.
Once you’ve decided on your Facebook page name, don’t forget to claim your vanity URL. When you first create a Facebook business page, your URL is quite long with a combination of text and numbers which aren’t exactly pretty. It certainly isn’t easy to remember.
Luckily, you have the option to claim a customizable URL referred to as vanity URLs that Facebook calls usernames. Your business page name can be your vanity URL, making it easier for you and your customers to remember and for you to promote your Facebook presence.
2. Fill out your profile completely.
When you fail to provide your audience with all the information they need to make an inquiry, chances are they will move on. Leaving sections like your contact number, operating hours, and location may cause a potential customer to lose interest.
This section is your stage to introduce yourself to the market. With the About button placed prominently on your Facebook page, this section may be the first click for potential customers visiting your Facebook business page for the first time. Make the content engaging and descriptive.
Tell everyone about your business; your humble beginnings, awards and achievements, what makes you different, or your company mission. What are your services, products, menus, and directions? Feature your website, opening hours and contact information.
3. Your cover and profile photo
Your cover photo has the most visibility on your Facebook page covering almost a third of your screen on both mobile and desktop. Think of the Facebook business page cover photo as your billboard. Your cover photo could be your best-selling product, top performing employee, a graphic that expresses the company’s mission, or even your storefront.
While your cover photo should be an appealing image that you can change as often as you want, your profile picture should be your company logo. Unlike your personal Facebook page, it is best to keep a fixed profile picture of your logo on your business page; unless, of course, your logo gets a redesign.
4. Call-to-action buttons
You have the option to include call-to-action buttons on your business page that best apply to your line of business. You can choose from Book Now, Call Now, Contact Us, Send Message, Use App, Play Game, Shop Now, Sign Up, Watch Video, Send Email, Learn More, and Request Appointment.
These buttons allow your customers to interact with your business page easily. Because interaction is a significant determining factor in the success of your business, best you utilize call-to-action buttons to give your customers the best platform to contact you, order your products, submit inquiries and schedule your services.
5. Pin relevant posts to the top of the page
There was a time when important content got lost in the feed because posts could only be displayed in chronological order. But with the option to pin posts to the top, your favorite posts get the spotlight. Make sure that you have the most important piece of content pinned to the top of your page so that you are sure your visitors will see it.
6. Timeline of company milestones
Sharing your business’s history allows your customers to get to know your brand. Milestones could include when you made your very first sale, opened your flagship storefront, product launch dates and other historical events related to your brand. Share a photo captioned with a brief story of the historical event to bring your milestone post to life.
7. Tabs
Each Facebook page already has tabs like About, Events, and Photos displayed, by default. Because your cover photo already spans close to half the page, your visitors eyes will most likely wander straight to your visible tabs. It’s super important that the tabs you choose be captivating and engaging.
8. Cool images and creative captions
You could fill your Facebook business page with the most descriptive, creative statuses every day and still not get any attention from consumers. The human mind reacts to images much faster than text. When you see an ad, are you more likely to remember that the picture was a red ball or the caption that read “actual product is blue”?
Are you more likely to order from the bakery that has an image of a beautifully decorated chocolate cake captioned with “The Chocolate Sin is a moist dark chocolate chiffon cake with luscious hazelnut frosting, topped with malted milk balls”? Or will you order from the shop that offers you no visual, only the promise that their chocolate cake is simply the best?
Another social media giant, Instagram, is also being used by businesses because they’ve identified the market’s demand for stimulating images coupled with engaging text. By default, Instagram is set up to share to your personal Facebook profile. But with a few clicks on Instagram’s settings, you can link your account to your business’s Facebook page.
9. Apps
There are preinstalled applications that you can use completely free of charge. But if you’re looking for specific functionality and willing to spend, there are also Premium services that may require an additional fee by the owner of the app.
Apps for Facebook business pages were designed to maximize marketing efforts by gathering email addresses to build mailing lists, pages for ticket purchase, creating complex e-commerce shops and running contests.
Businesses are using social media like Facebook to run contests that drive attention straight to their business page. It is as easy as posting contest mechanics on your timeline and getting your existing audience to spread the word for you.
To join, participants must share your original post on their timelines and tag friends who might be interested in joining as well. Those who land on your page after being tagged can only participate in the giveaway if they like your page first. Without spending a dime, you’ve just increased your number of followers. A bigger following means a larger audience for future posts of your products and services.
Conclusion
The best part about creating a Facebook business page is that it is entirely free. Choosing to open a Facebook business page can even lower your marketing expenses, when comparing to traditional marketing methods. It isn’t until you start paying for ads or boosting posts that you’ll start to pay for anything.
Despite the costs of running Facebook Sponsored Stories or promoting your page to gain more followers, social media marketing is still considered inexpensive compared to traditional marketing in print, TV, and radio. Once you’ve optimized your Facebook business page, you’re ready to establish brand loyalty.
Putting your business on Facebook isn’t just about creating your page then walking away, expecting it to work for you. The beauty of a Facebook business page is that it allows you to engage with your customers. Your followers are more likely to do business with you when they see that your page is responsive to inquiries, quick to reply to comments and active in posting fresh content.
It takes real work to run your Facebook business page; from answering queries to updating statuses to posting exciting visuals with intriguing text. Unfortunately, if you don’t have the time to do the work, and without interacting with your audience, your Facebook business page might as well be an ad in the phone book. Let me know what you have done to optimize your own page and get results from your business. As always I am happy to chat about Facebook or anything marketing related that comes up. You can find us here
Jason Gordon, Founder – Strong Social
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