Facebook for Business Beginners Guide

 As of today, Facebook is the #1 social media platform for different types of businesses. Topping it off is the fact that it’s the second-most trafficked site in the world. With over 1.55 billion monthly active users it’s the most popular social network in the world for multiple reasons.

Why not connect with potential clients at this increasingly-popular social hangout today?

Business owners need to focus on effectively engaging their target audience to drive positive ROI. It’s best to test out if Facebook is worth investing in – for your company.

If the answer is ‘YES’, go right ahead and create a Facebook page!

Here is a compilation of start-to-finish FB marketing strategies for budding businesses:

1. Get Started

When it comes to online marketing, Facebook is one of the most powerful social media channels to consider, as it can help you kick-start your business and improve exposure. Take a look at the following points to get your business page rolling:

Set up a Business Page: Start by setting up a business account on Facebook. This can be set up under a Facebook profile, and kept completely separate from it.

No one can view your personal information or the admin’s name, as it is a one-way page. Anyone who likes your page can see all your page updates in their news feed, but you will not see their updates in your news feed.

Follow these steps to set up your Facebook page:

1. Log into Facebook
2. Go to facebook.com/pages/create.php
3. Choose a main business category from the drop-down menu
4. Name your page carefully
5. Put in page details, add your website link and select your unique FB URL
6. Add your profile picture
7. Set preferred page audience based on location, age, gender, interest

Add a Vanity URL: Also known as your Facebook page URL, this is basically the web address for your page, for example – www.facebook.com/yourbusiness.

Keep the following pointers in mind:

• Personal URL: It’s best to change your default URL which includes random numbers, to one that refers to your business name or page.
• Minimum Requirements: You need a minimum of 25 likes to obtain a vanity URL, and make yourself visible on Google and Facebook searches.

Optimize Page Images: Your profile picture and cover are the first thing visitors will look at. Hence you should ensure that your images are of professional quality, and reflect the essence of your brand.

Size Requirements:

• Cover Photos: 851 x 315 pixels (width by height)
• Profile Photos: 160 x 160 pixels (width by height)

If you don’t know how to design, give Canva a try. This is a free design software that’s easy to use, and can be used to resize images for creating professional cover and profile photos.

Personalize your Page: Making your business page feel personal is necessary to gain engagement from your fans. Your posts need to reach out to people and forge a connection with them, as this is what eventually leads to action. Work in the following tips to connect with your audience:

• Create Relevant Posts: Everything from photos, videos, status updates and longer columns needs to feel personal to your fans. Ask conversation-starting questions to get them to express their viewpoints.
• Put Out Positive Posts: Studies have shown that people share posts which have positive undertones and make them look good. That’s why inspirational quotes get a lot of shares on FB.
• Mix up Content: Want to get shares, likes, views and comments your posts? Keep experimenting with new posts with or without videos and images.

Make it a point to display ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage to your audience, and convey your team’s unique story!

2. Attract Followers & Enhance Engagement

Social media marketing will only work for you if you have followers, and it’s important to focus on increasing their number. The trick? Do what people are attracted to! The following pointers can help you actively engage with others:

Be Humorous & Quality Oriented: People on Facebook want to be entertained, look at humorous pictures and videos, and connect with their old school and college friends. Hence it comes as a no-brainer that being serious and businesslike on FB just won’t work. At the same time, it’s also important to focus on the quality of the content you’re posting.

As Mark Zuckerberg once said, “There’s more competition for what they (users) see, so only the highest-quality content is actually going to get through and get shown to those people.”

Remember that:

• True Fans = More Engagement = Extensive Reach, and
• Extensive Reach = More Page Traffic

 Entertain your audiences by giving them what they want!  

Participate in/Start Industry Related Groups: By engaging with other groups within the industry, you can effectively establish yourself as a business leader by boosting traffic. Providing useful advice and handy tips helps you become a reliable group member, which in turn helps your business. Keep in mind the following pointers:

• Be open to asking honest questions to ignite conversations
• Storytelling should be relevant and focused on how you want your audience to feel

Establishing interest-related groups can help you start conversations about relevant topics and participate in areas of interest!

Use Social Proof: Ensure that fans of your products/services can share their experience with others on FB. People tend to trust the opinions of their friends and observe their reviews closely.

Doing this will enable your fans to reach out to their friends and make their opinions known.

 Focus on:

• Highlighting Fans on your page to maximize engagement rates and reach
• Winning over audience’s trust and encouraging content promotion

Increase Organic Reach: Did you know that “Of the 1,500+ stories a person might see whenever they log onto Facebook, News Feed displays approximately 300.” according to Facebook.

But here are a few ways to increase your Organic reach on Facebook.

• Evergreen Content: The lifespan of the post on Facebook depend on its usefulness, an evergreen content is a type of content that is useful still past its publication. (Eg, an content on the concept of SEO is an evergreen content and it is not anything specific that will gone outdated the next year.)
• Post Quality Content & not Quantity: We live in an era where there is an overwhelming amount of information, aim to produce content that make an impact and shareable. 
• Post at Off-peak Hours: During times when fewer people are sharing content on Facebook, your chances of getting noticed are higher

Make it Shareable: Highly-shared posts have many different functions. Surveys have shown that they can be focused on:

• Giving
• Advising
• Warning
• Amusing
• Inspiring
• Amazing, and
• Uniting

The share-ability of a post is determined by its emotional connect with its audiences, which makes them want to share it with others.

3. Master FB Advertising

The number of businesses that claim Facebook is critical or important to their business has now reached 75%. (State of Inbound Marketing, 2012). Here are some quick tips to get you ahead of the bunch:

Boost Post Visibility: Falling FB reach is caused by 2 factors – content volume shared every day and the popularity of your posts. Thus, it is important to use to boost your post using the paid option.

• Videos: Videos are one of the most engaging content in Facebook. Facebook has also recently rolled out a 360-degree video feature. Make most use of it and boost its reach even more if you have videos.
• Page Insights: Your page Insights can help determine what kind of content and post formats are engaging to your audience. Use that insight to know the type of post to boost.

Fix Posting Time & Frequency: Research shows that posting on certain days of the week leads to increased engagement. The best posting times can vary, however:

• 1pm and 3pm are known to be ideal starting points
• As per research, Thursdays and Fridays are best for increased engagement

It’s recommended to look at your Facebook Insights to determine the best posting time and frequency range for your particular needs.

Buffer suggests –“Strike the balance between informative and annoying,” which is ideal. This can range from 5-10 posts each week for a brand. Some businesses put out posts once a day, and others thrice a week – it all really depends on your company type as well as brand.

Perfect the Ad Practice: Reach your objective quickly and efficiently by following the top practices for Facebook ads:

• Target Audiences: Advertising without targeting is useless. By making the effort to promote a post from your page, you can accomplish your goals more quickly. Behavior targeting options, in particular, are highly effective.
• Important Content First: Users are likely to view content that’s placed at the very beginning of an ad. Hence, it’s best to start off with your main content or call to action.
• Keep Rotating Frequently: It’s necessary to change your ad’s image as well as copy once a week or fortnightly. If you want your ad to get noticed and clicked on, keep it fresh.
• Utilize Conversion Pixels: Those purchasing many ads will benefit from conversion pixels. These are many conversion types used to create a pixel, such as checkouts, leads, page views, etc. For more help visit Facebook’s Business Help Page.

Facebook can help you discover as well as engage with your target audience. Using it will open up a world of opportunities for increased traffic, reach, as well as conversions. The above-mentioned practices for social media strategy can help you benefit in numerous ways!