Facebook has been an internet powerhouse since it came on the scene in the early 2000s. It continues to dominate the digital space in the United States and comes in second as the most used social media platform (trailing behind YouTube). Facebook’s base spans multiple generations, genders, and political alignments, making for a diverse population of regular users. It is a logical social platform to consider when marketing online.
Pages
One feature businesses and organizations can use is the Facebook Page. This is something you can set up and manage from your personal Facebook profile. While creating a business-related page from your personal profile may not sound totally appealing to everyone, there are some benefits.
One major benefit is that Facebook can do a better job at making sure that you are a human and not a bot programmed to spam other users with questionable content. Another benefit is that it allows you to see updates about your company’s page even after working hours. Most businesses operate somewhere in the 8 am to 5 pm window, but social media is up 24-7. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you choose to respond to messages and comments after you clock out for the day. It can still be helpful to be notified about them.
Facebook pages allow you to list other points of contact, like your website, phone number, and physical address. Pages give you a space to share updates, blog posts, photos, and other content you want your audience to know about. There’s a spot for customer reviews, so others can see how you run your business and feel safe using your products or services. You can also conduct giveaways from your Facebook page, which is a great way for new people to hear about your business. (Facebook does have some rules about giveaways you should be aware of.)
Facebook Live
Among its other posting capabilities, Facebook offers the opportunity to do live videos. Live videos can be a fun way to engage your audience in real time conversations. You can use live videos for Q&A sessions, interviews, company updates, or even to share a little nugget of wisdom from your area of expertise. Live videos will convert into regular videos once you’re done with broadcasting, and users can re-watch your video if they missed watching it live.
Stories
You may be familiar with the Stories feature if you’ve used Snapchat or Instagram. Stories are short bursts of either videos or photos that stay on your page for up to 24 hours. Because Facebook and Instagram are both connected through Meta, you can share the same story to both platforms. This is another good place for those nuggets of wisdom. You can also use it to announce time-sensitive information, like special sales or holiday deals.
Paid Advertising
Facebook also offers paid advertising. If you have a business page, you will see the option to “boost” posts when you share them. This is one way to use paid advertising. You can also use the Meta Business Suite to write ads and choose who Facebook should show your ads to. This is handy if you’re trying to reach one group of people, like everyone in a 20 mile radius, or people from a certain age range. Facebook has pretty flexible pricing available and, depending on the settings you choose, can show your post to several thousand people in the span of a few days.
Time to Market
Facebook is a good place to market your business. It’s mostly free (unless you use paid advertising) and generally only takes the time you invest in creating posts. You can reach a broad audience and you can reach them regularly. If you’re interested in marketing on Facebook, but don’t want to take on managing it, contact us. At Bold River Marketing, we offer services in managing social media. We’d love to help you create quality content and post it on your behalf so you can focus on running your business.