Using Facebook Marketing to Increase Your Company’s Exposure

Online marketing is all about getting your service or product offering in front of the right people at the right time so that they are more likely to make a purchase. An effective website is the first step to building a brand, but they don’t drive traffic naturally. Social media platforms are designed for communities and naturally reach a larger audience. Facebook is an extremely powerful social media platform for businesses and should be the place that you focus your efforts first, especially when just starting out.

So why Facebook marketing?

Facebook has over 1.6 BILLION users as of 2020 and that number continues to grow. They are a global community that allows highly-targeted, groups of people to socialize together. Facebook Groups and Pages make it simple for people with the same interests to get together… think dog owners or a high school class reunion page.

Besides being able to communicate directly with people anywhere in the world, Facebook also has the ability to specifically target groups of people with certain interests or demographics using ads. When done correctly, Facebook ads can be an extremely effective tool to get your message in front of people who are most likely to become your customer.

As a business owner looking to generate more sales and get more clients, Facebook should be where you focus a good amount of your attention to quickly get the traction you need.

Not sure where to start? Here’s a few tips and tricks.

First, set up your Facebook Page.

Your Business Facebook Page is the hub of everything related to your business on Facebook. It is free to create and serves as a community where you can interact with your customers and share new information with them.

Get started by clicking “Pages” on the left side of your Facebook profile. Then click “Create Page” in the top right corner.

Follow the prompts to complete the creation of your Facebook Business Page, starting with naming it the same as your business.

After that, the most important pieces are to upload images for your profile and cover photos. These are the two areas that people will see first when they visit your Facebook Page, so make they eye catching.

Let’s go through the important pieces to set up.

1. Profile Picture:

This should be your logo or headshot that helps to identify you to the community. It will show up in the newsfeed and other areas across Facebook. Keep it professional and clean looking to represent your business well.

2. Cover Photo:

This is the large image that is at the top of your Facebook Page and serves to catch your visitors attention and inform them what your business is all about. Use this space to make a good impression and improve your branding but you don’t have to go overboard with self-promotion.

3. Page @Username:

This is the slug and username that people will be able to use to find you on Facebook in the search box. It is also used in the URL of your Facebook Page in the format of facebook.com/username. If your business name is available, that is a good choice, otherwise keep it short and descriptive to your business.

4. About Section:

This should be where you describe your business, the services or products you offer, and how to get in touch with you. Make sure to take the time to set this up fully, otherwise it will be harder for people to find you and they won’t know what value you are offering them.

If you are a brick-and-mortar business, don’t forget to add your business address and phone number. Keep this consistent with your other online listings to get the best results in search engines.

5. Call to Action (CTA) Button:

Facebook allows you to create a CTA button on your Page to help get visitors to take an action. This can be to send them to your website or to download a lead magnet. This is often the easiest way for people to find your website, so be sure to set it up appropriately.

6. Messenger Autoresponder:

Visitors have the ability to send an instant message to your Facebook page as a way to ask questions and get in touch more easily. While this can be a great way to build trust with potential customers, it can also hurt your reputation if it takes days to respond to a question. To make it easier, set up an autoresponder to let your visitors know that you will get back to them as soon as possible. More advanced configuration will also route the visitors to the most relevant information right away.

Next, create compelling content to share.

Once you have your Page set up, it’s time to start creating high-quality content to share on it to grow your audience. The ultimate goal should be to grow a group of targeted followers who like, share, comment on, and interact with your page on regular basis.

The only way to do this effectively is to share content that people get real value from and are excited to interact with.

Content can come in multiple forms and it is always best to vary the formats you used to keep your fan’s attention. For example, sharing an informative article or blog post is an excellent way to build trust and position yourself as an expert, if you published the article yourself.

However, you can get great response by changing it up periodically and using different formats.

Types of content to create:

• Blog post or article
• Branded image (logo, slogan, or colors along with a short caption)
• Infographic (explain something with pictures)
• Video (tutorial, interview, or about us)
• Funny memes or quotes
• Other websites or resources related to your niche

The key to building a consistent audience is that you continue to generate quality content regularly so that followers are excited to check back in to see what’s going on. The most active and competitive companies have teams that post unique content multiple times per day. For most companies, aim for posting content a few times per week.

When you’re looking for growth but have limited time and resources, try to post once or twice per week. Schedule at least one day a week to sit down and create some content. Get it posted on your Facebook Page as soon as it is ready. For example, if you have an extra hour on Mondays, use it to right a new blog post and then share it with your fans.

Build out your sales funnel.

Over time, this will build trust with your audience and you will notice that more and more people view and interact with your page.

Tip: One word of caution is that your content should not be overly salesy and try to avoid overtly selling to your audience. Most people are on Facebook to catch up with friends and family, so they are not specifically looking to buy something. By providing a large amount of value with minimal “selling”, you’ll be able to more effectively build a relationship and eventually convert your fans to customers.

As you get more content, think about what action you want your visitors to take after reading or watching your videos. Using a thought-out sales funnel will warm your leads and increase sales.

The general flow should be something like:

1. Organic or paid traffic
2. Your engaging and informative content (videos, articles, whitepapers)
3. Squeeze page to ask for contact information (email or phone)
4. Follow-up sequence to warm those leads
5. Sale after the leads become familiar with your company

Always thinks about the purpose of your content and what you ultimately want to guide your visitors to do.

Finally, use paid ads to increase your reach.

Once you have your Page set up and a few images and article posted, it’s time to increase the number of people who see your page. Organic growth on Facebook is possible, but it can take a long time and requires a large amount of effort. You have to post in related Groups and reach out to people who might be interested in your page.

The easier and more effective way to get more followers is to use Facebook Ads. Yes, that means you have to spend some money. Paid ads can be a very effective way of generating leads and customers, when done correctly.

Be seen by a wider audience.

Facebook Ads get you in front of the people who are more likely to be interested in your company. There are hundreds of targeting options that range from location to demographics to interests to job titles.

Select the audience that most closely matches your customer profile as you build your ad. Targeting dramatically increases the probability of visitors being interested in your offer.

For example, a financial advisor may know that their target client is:

• Newly-married couples
• Just starting their financial planning
• Age 25 to 35 with 30+ years of saving before retirement
• Top 25% of income and are high-earners
• Located within 50 miles of their city

In this case, you can use Facebook’s ad targeting to reach exactly that group of people.

Example Facebook Ad Placements:

Another benefit of using Facebook Ads is that they can show ads in many different areas on their platform. That includes Instagram, the Facebook Newsfeed, mobile ads, and the right-hand side.

Create relationships on Facebook

Facebook marketing can be an extremely effective way to generate interest in your company while building relationships. Sales marketing is all about building trust with potential buyers and increasing the number of interactions with them.

Facebook marketing can do exactly that by positioning your company as an expert in the field and providing solutions to their problems in a way that they can trust. Even if they don’t need your service now, they will remember you later.

And that, is how you ultimately grow your customer base.