As the leading social media platform in terms of active users, marketers love Facebook for a good reason. Though primarily used for connecting and sharing with friends, the social giant presents a ripe opportunity for businesses to market themselves, generate new leads, interact with customers, as well as close more sales. Here’s what you need to know about becoming a Facebook marketer.
Statista projects a progressive rise in Facebook users over the coming years, meaning marketers have every reason to continue strategizing and leveraging marketing on the platform. Actually, a recent rating shows the site tops the list of the most important platforms for marketers worldwide.
Even LinkedIn, which is the best social platform for B2B businesses, cannot compete against the success of Facebook, which leads the pack at a staggering 67%, while the former comes second at 12%.
Numbers also play a huge role in the high return on investment (ROI) of Facebook marketing. Research found that 70% of users visit the platform daily, which is way ahead of other popular options (Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) As a result, Facebook ads reach more than 60% of Americans aged 13 and above.
Quite impressive, right?
As you prepare to venture deeper into Facebook marketing, allow us to give you a pack of ten things you (Facebook marketer) need to know. These include;
- Optimizing Your Facebook Page
- Experimenting With Various Post Types
- Setting Clear Goals
- Creating A Content Calendar
- Setting Up Meta Pixel
- Posting at Optimal Hours
- Optimizing Ad Copy
- Creating Lookalike Audiences
- Nurturing Relationships
- Tracking Performance
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10 Things You Need to Know as a Facebook Marketer
1. Optimizing Facebook Page
An optimized page is essential to your success as a Facebook marketer. Among other benefits, an optimized page allows new followers to understand what your business is about at a glance.
In addition to socializing, users also visit Facebook to discover things that matter. Letting followers know what value they stand to gain by interacting with your brand is a good strategy for captivating and winning their interest.
In other words, an optimized Facebook page is an effective lead magnet.
At the very basic, a Facebook marketer needs to have an optimized profile picture (preferably the business logo) as well as a cover photo with more brand information. When creating your profile and cover photos (or any other brand image you share online), you should employ high-quality graphics and customize them to the right sizes.
Other equally vital essentials include;
- Using your business name as your username
- Adding your website address
- Crafting a catchy description that highlights – your company overview, brand story, contact information, as well as a brief list of your products and services.
According to Convince and Convert, you should also select a template that suits your business and an appropriate CTA. At the same time, you should enable reviews to allow customers to provide feedback. Lastly but not least, post regularly and engage actively with followers.
2. Experimenting With Various Post Types
There are different Facebook post categories, and followers engage with them differently. Experimenting with each category allows you to maximize your engagement by reaching audiences using their preferred formats. For instance, there’s the usual status (text) post, video post, photo post, link post, Facebook stories, live video, etc.
However, as you experiment with the different post categories, you, as a Facebook Marketer should consider the social media rule of thirds – sharing, promoting, interacting. This allows you to enrich your audience with valuable information, humanize your brand by engaging with the followers while doing what you’re in business for (promoting your products and services.)
On the same note, you need to include a mix of content types to avoid boring your audience and risk losing their interest. Sprout Social has written an article on the post ideas likely to increase engagement. Some of them include;
- Behind-the-Scenes
- Trending topics
- Branded graphics
- Videos
- Product photos
- Infographics
- Blog post links
- Industry tips
- Contests and giveaways
- Discounts and sales
At the same time, you can draw your followers to your website by sharing links to webinars, case studies, as well as other user-generated content.
Finally, you need to keep tracking the metrics (reach, engagement, impressions) to find the best-performing posts and focus on them.
3. Setting Clear Goals
Every marketing strategy should have clear goals, and Facebook marketing is no different. First, a Facebook marketer should be cautious not to be blinded by likes and comments. Okay, they are a good indication of engagement, but they’re simply vanity metrics without clear goals.
In essence, you should have clear marketing goals and focus on them. These may include;
- Generating leads and conversions
- Driving website traffic
- Building brand awareness
- Improving customer service, etc.
Once you set the goals, you can take advantage of the tools available to measure performance as well as optimize your strategies for better results.
4. Creating Content Calendar
A content calendar is a crucial tool in marketing. It helps organize the content creation process to guarantee consistent sharing, thus connecting with your audience better.
According to Facebook, the calendar should include;
- Post publishing date
- The theme of the post
- Short visual description of the post image/video
- Post format (image, video, or both)
- The platform where you will publish the post (Facebook or Instagram)
You can also create the calendar from scratch or use an existing template. For instance, CoSchedule offers a social media content calendar template that you can download for free. Alternatively, you can download their entire Facebook marketing templates bundle, which is also free, to enjoy the full benefits. The bundle contains;
- Social media content calendar
- Facebook marketing strategy template
- Facebook video marketing strategy guide
- Infographic on the best posting times on social media
- Social media report template
- Social media ROI report template
5. Setting Up Meta Pixel
Meta pixel (previously Facebook pixel) is a handy tool for Facebook marketers. It helps optimize marketing efforts in amazing ways.
Ideally, a meta pixel is a code snippet you place on your website to track visitor activity while interacting with your brand. This also allows you to retarget them with relevant product/service offers they would be interested in based on their completed or abandoned activity.
In other words, the tool ensures leads who interact with your brand don’t slip through your fingers. Instead, you can track them around the web and entice them to return to your site. In doing so, you get to nurture prospects to conversion or cross-sell and upsell to converted customers. Overall, the benefits of applying the meta pixel include optimizing ad delivery, increasing Facebook ad spend ROI, tracking conversion, creating lookalike audiences, etc.
Ideally, the meta pixel collects a range of data. Examples of visitor activities you could track include when a customer;
- Views content on your website
- Contacts you
- Signs up for a trial
- Adds an item to the shopping cart
- Provides a payment information
- Initiates a checkout
- Completes a purchase
6. Posting at Optimal Hours
Indeed, every social media platform has optimal posting times where engagement is at the highest. Facebook has peak hours too. Knowing the peak hours for your business is essential as it helps compete favorably with other posts delivered to your followers’ Feeds.
This only asserts the importance of creating engaging content as well as tracking its performance keenly. According to Facebook, Feed shows the most meaningful stories to a user. They determine this based on, e.g., how frequently the user interacts with the poster, the content format they prefer most (video, link, photo, etc.), interactions (likes, comments, shares) on the post, etc.
That said, a Sprout Social study found that the most optimal posting times are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., while Saturday is the worst day. However, these are the overall optimal times across all industries. Different industries may have their unique times. Check out the report for specific details.
Generally, there’s no carved-in-stone optimal time as various studies uncover different times. For instance, Buffer reports that the best time is between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. during the weekdays and Saturdays, while HubSpot recommends the same times on Thursday and Friday. On the other hand, CoSchedule found the best time is between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. during the week and weekends.
In a nutshell, as a Facebook marketer, the best way to know the ideal times for your brand is to experiment with the different times reported by the studies. You may also test how you fare during the off-peak hours to discover the unique behaviors of your audience. Consequently, you can optimize your posting hours for the best engagement rates.
7. Optimizing Ad Copy
Ideally, ad copy has different optimization objectives, such as brand awareness, traffic, reach, engagement, lead generation, conversions, etc. Once you create objective-specific copy, you should target the ads based on age, location, gender, interests, languages, education, as well as other demographics to maximize your ad reach to the ideal audience.
Luckily, Facebook has an ad copy cheat sheet that can guide you further in creating optimized posts. Highlighted essentials include;
- Tie your text to your visual
- Create different ads for different people
- Speak to your audience
- Be recognizable
- Keep it short and sweet
- Stick to one call-to-action
- Mention price (when possible)
- Include a timeframe
As a Facebook marketer, it’s also essential to test different ad copies across your various audiences and campaigns to find the ideal copy formats (video, image, carousel, instant experience, etc.)
8. Creating a Lookalike Audience
The Facebook Lookalike Audience is a brilliant tool that makes marketing a fascinating experience for a Facebook marketer. Perhaps that’s why more than 90% use Facebook for marketing.
Essentially, lookalike audiences are people who have similar characteristics to your existing customers and are likely to be interested in your business. The tool also enables you to select your target prospects based on defined qualities, as explained here.
Once you have identified the audiences, you can target ads to them to meet your various objectives.
9. Nurturing Relationships
Automating and optimizing your Facebook marketing efforts are just pieces of the puzzle. A Facebook marketer needs to nurture customer relationships to benefit from efforts. One way of accomplishing this is by sharing valuable content and actively interacting with the audience.
Even better, you can create a close-knit community around your brand by starting a customers-only Facebook group. According to Social Media Examiner, this is an excellent customer retention strategy. Their recommended 5-step strategy includes;
- Making the Facebook group easily discoverable by customers
- Restricting group access to customers only
- Sharing customer journey-enhancing content
- Using the group as a customer service channel
- Encouraging customer feedback to help improve the products and services
In addition, you should regularly offer rewards and incentives to encourage engagement. Also, recognizing customers by sharing user-generated content helps foster good relationships.
10. Tracking Performance
Tracking performance is an essential part of marketing optimization. Among other things, it enables you to identify your strengths versus wasteful efforts that do not add value to the business.
For instance, you could sift through the results to find your most engaging posts, analyze what makes them effective and duplicate that in future posts. You could also discover when engagement is at the highest across different audience segments and optimize your posting times.
Generally, tracking performance saves your time and money by providing valuable data that you can use to optimize your marketing. Some of the metrics you should track include;
- Engagement metrics
- Ad metrics (CTR, CPC & CPM, CPA)
- Facebook referral traffic
- Facebook video engagement
- Follower demographics
- Post impressions
- Page likes and followers
- Post reach
- Top contributors
Let Us Help You Optimize Your Facebook Marketing Through Proven Strategies
Facebook continues to hold the top spot on the most popular social media marketing platforms. In addition, the site is still projected to post an increasing growth rate in active users, which is a key determinant in marketing success. No wonder most internet marketers use Facebook marketing more than other platforms.
As you step up your social media marketing, we hope these ten Facebook marketing tips will thrust you closer to your goals. Remember, at Digital Delane, we have your back.
Our team is committed to helping businesses like yours connect with your audiences through shared interactions. As branding and social media marketing experts, you can count on us for help with;
- Analytics and reporting
- Content development and production
- Creative campaigns
- Influencer engagement operational planning
- Listening and engagement
- Social selling
- Strategy, insights, and more.
Should you need a hand with your Facebook marketing, contact us for a free consultation.