In the era before Instagram and TikTok, teens used to visit Facebook on their laptops or PCs to connect with their friends and family members. It continues to be one of the most popular platforms to date, with nearly 3 billion users in 2023. Today, apart from being a time capsule of the early 2000s lifestyle and a communication medium, Facebook is a super powerful marketing tool for businesses of all kinds, regardless of their scale.
Facebook has approximately 1.56 billion daily active users, which is more than the combined number of citizens of a densely populated country like China. That number of traffic alone is mind-blowing, but it’s not the only reason Facebook marketing services are so effective (the most effective, perhaps). Below are some of the awesome advantages of incorporating a Facebook marketing strategy into your business plan:
- Create word-of-mouth engagement: Once you’ve built your online presence, your business page will be widely shared and talked about by your followers and potential audiences.
- Expand your online reach and visibility: As the largest social network, Facebook enables your page to reach a massive number of people that would be difficult to reach through conventional methods, bringing in new customers to your business.
- Target specific demographics: One of the greatest features of Facebook is its ability to target specific audiences based on age, location, and even their interests. Clearly, this means you can focus your marketing efforts on the exact group of people most likely to be interested in your business.
7 Facebook Marketing Strategies that Have Been Proven to Work
Nail Down Your Goals
Here is the very first thing you need to do before anything else. This might sound like a no-brainer, but in reality, this Facebook marketing strategy is a critical starting point for you. Sure, you want to grow your followers, but maybe we can do more. Ask yourself if you want to establish a killer online presence for your brand or assemble a massive army of loyal customers? And what if you get large numbers of followers but your sales remain stagnant?
Let’s get down to business. Here are some examples of goals you can have for your Facebook page:
- Boosting sales quality: Better sales start with better targeting. With a well-thought-out Facebook marketing strategy, you can reach your target audience more effectively. Test out different targeting options to find out which ones give you the best results.
- Adding value to your company: Facebook can be a goldmine for nurturing customers, increasing awareness, and providing valuable resources to your audience. Make Facebook your go-to source of information, almost like having another website. Add all the important details about your business, set up your social media store, and so forth.
- Staying ahead of the game in your industry: Are your competitors always one step ahead? Well, not anymore now that your biz is on Facebook. With the help of social media listening tools, you can track, listen, and report on all the social conversations happening around you, your competitors, or the whole industry.
Get to Know (and Understand) Your Audience
Alright, now that we’ve thought through our goal in the first step of Facebook marketing strategy, we’ll move on to the next question: who are you trying to reach?
Understanding your target audience is all about figuring out who you’re hoping to reach, plain and simple. Once you’ve got that sorted, it’s time to tap into Facebook’s Audience Insights tool. This feature will give you the most valuable marketing data: info about your current followers and those who are most likely to engage with your Facebook page(s). It is your job now to know your Facebook followers like the back of your hand. This will enable you to serve up the right kind of content that will, hopefully, get them hooked.
Produce Captivating Content
First thing first, to create a kickass feed with some seriously interesting content, you must know a few social media content rules. Let’s start with the rule of thirds in social media marketing, which breaks up your social media time in these three groovy ways: 1) listening to customers to better understand what they want or need, 2) engaging with your customers to build rapport, and 3) leading them to your awesome content, products, or services. Next, we humbly recommend checking out the 80/20 rule, which suggests that 80% of your posts should be educational or informative, while the remaining 20% could be marketing-related.
Step two in crafting an awesome feed is to put together a killer mix of content that’ll make your feed anything but boring and predictable. You can spice things up by letting your fans shoot you a direct message, tagging products in your aesthetic photos (so they can click on the tagged images and make a purchase right then and there), and adding some fun to the mix by inserting some hilarious GIFs into your posts (trust us, everyone loves a good laugh).
Now, let’s check out 6 common types of Facebook posts and Facebook marketing strategy for your engaging contents:
Text
Let’s start with the most basic: plain old text posts. Nothing fancy, just good ol’ words on the screen.
Text posts may not include links, so they’re not meant to drive traffic, but guess what? They can actually do wonders for growing your page’s audience. Believe it or not, text posts have the highest average engagement rate at a whopping 0.13%. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a well-crafted text post!
Photo
Next up are photos. These posts rank second in correlation, averaging 0.11%. A photo-post can be any image you like, whether it’s a cool image, an eye-catching infographic, or stunning artwork.
You can add as many photos as you like to any post, but here’s a little trick: if you’re planning on sharing some photos, consider creating an album instead. This will keep things neat and organised.
No matter what industry you are in, you can post some seriously amazing photos to showcase your latest collection, give your audience a tour of your office, store or office, or even blow their minds with some of your impressive data visualisations. And if you want to go further, another cool idea is showing your customers’ pictures to give a unique perspective on your products. This will engage your audience and give them a special shout-out as a plus.
Live Video
The key to success of Facebook marketing strategy here is to grab and hold your audience’s attention in real time.
One awesome format for live videos, especially for business-to-business companies, is, surprisingly, the common Q&A session. It’s a fantastic way to engage with your audience and answer their burning questions. And hey, it works for both B2B and B2C businesses. Another idea is to showcase demo videos, giving your audience a first-hand look at how to use your product. Show your customers some hidden tricks or lesser-known use cases.
A great example of successful live video comes from Lenovo. They engaged their audience by letting them vote on ways to destroy a laptop. The electronics company carried out those crazy ideas live to prove just how tough their computer is.
Stories
Instagram is the first app in the Meta’s family with this feature. Currently, it is reported that Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram users post over one billion stories each day.
Facebook Stories give you a familiar vertical format, and you have options to add texts, links, stickers, and more. You can use either images or videos to make interesting Stories. For those of you who’ve never tried this awesome function (you must have been living under a rock though), images show for 5 seconds, while videos can be up to 20 seconds per story. Remember, all Facebook Stories disappear after 24 hours. Poof!
By utilising this media in your Facebook marketing strategy, you can go for organic Stories or even create Facebook Stories ads. Remember to keep it simple, less text, more visuals.
Pinned Post
This is where you can set a specific post on your Facebook Page to always be at the top. It’s like a VIP spot for your important stuff.
You can use a pinned post for a warm welcome message, links to relevant pages or customer support contacts, or anything you’re currently promoting. It’s super handy, and the best part is, you can change your pinned post anytime you want.
Take a look at KFC, for example. They’re always changing things up. They frequently update their pinned post to showcase their latest promotions. At the moment, their top post is about that yummy discount on their signature burger.
Know When to Post
With an astounding 87% of consumers on the platform, Facebook remains a perplexing puzzle for many business owners. Now, be glad you are here today, because we’re about to reveal the secret sauce for a successful post. This is crucial when comes to Facebook marketing strategy.
Updating your feed may seem as simple as clicking the ‘Post’ button, but hold on to that thought before you rush to share your new promos or whatever you have in mind. Timing is key, people. Choosing the right moment to update your social media can have a significant impact on your business that you may have never even realised. Below is our guide on the dos and don’ts of posting on Facebook:
Do: Post on weekdays, specifically Monday to Friday, around 3 AM (Eastern). Additionally, Tuesdays are golden times to share your updates, especially at 10 AM and noon (Eastern).
Do: Focus on posting updates for your brand from Tuesday to Friday. These days tend to have higher engagement from Facebook users.
Don’t: Update your page on Saturdays is a terrible idea. People are generally less active and engaged on Facebook during all hours of that day.
Create a Content Schedule
Setting up a content schedule is essential for a Facebook page. If you go for days, weeks, or even months without sharing an update, chances are your posts will no longer show up in your followers’ news feeds, at least under the current algorithm. On the flip side, if you try to post everything in real-time, you’ll be chained to your Facebook marketing strategy and won’t have time for anything else. And that’s where releasing content in batches comes in handy.
This is our nifty little trick to help you stay organised with your Facebook updates. You can plan ahead and schedule your content, as well as specific contests or giveaways for your followers on a physical calendar or a virtual calendar, whichever is more convenient for you. Now, when it comes to scheduling Facebook content online, you can go for the free options or choose paid ones. Additionally, you might find Facebook’s Page Control useful as it lets users schedule their posts right from their own page.
Interact with Your Audience Consistently
Consistency and engagement are key factors in running a successful Facebook page, regardless of the business or brand you represent. In case you didn’t know, Facebook actually rewards those who actively engage with their personal and business pages. This means that if you (yourself) are more engaged, your posts are more likely to show up in your followers’ news feeds.
Now, don’t get confused. But engaging and interacting with your followers is not the only way to please Facebook’s internal algorithm. But it’s one of the most authentic ways to build a positive relationship between you and your followers/customers online. You can start by giving their posts a like or even using Facebook Messenger to connect with your customers and build meaningful relationships.
The best way to explain this Facebook marketing strategy is to give an example. Check out Bath & Body Works. They make it a point to respond to comments on their Facebook posts, and even go the extra mile by offering product recommendations. This kind of interaction is a fantastic way to boost engagement. The post we’re talking about here has 207 comments so far.
Let Facebook Ads Help
In all honesty, it’s tough to avoid spending some cash on brand exposure on your Facebook marketing strategy. We mean, in the event you want to reach more than a measly 6% of your followers, there is no exception. This standard also applies to those who have been on the platform for a long time. Our suggestion here is, if you’ve got some extra cash lying around, consider using Facebook Ads to boost your online visibility and target any specific audience you have in mind. The good news is, the price is reasonable to a certain extent, and you have full control to customise it. You can choose the cost per view or per click based on your budget.
Note: Before diving into Facebook Ads, make sure you set a budget for each campaign so you can keep track of your return on investment (ROI).
Final Thoughts
Facebook marketing is seriously a game-changer of the decade. The platform is so potent that experts claim you can’t survive in the business world without owning a Facebook page. After all the fascinating info we’ve shared with you, we hope it’s got you itching to try one Facebook marketing strategy or more real soon. The guide we’ve dished out today is based on Facebook’s current features, but you better believe there’s a whole lot more in store (like the virtual reality stuff that MetaVerse’s bigwigs keep talking about). Stay tuned for more updates!
