Did you know Facebook is the second most visited website in the world? After Google of course!

By the end of 2013, Facebook was being used by 1.23 billion people worldwide, adding 170 million in just one year (Kiss, 2014). Therefore it is fair to say that social media represents a revolutionary new trend that should be of interest to companies operating in online space – or any space, for that matter (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). I bet you’re wondering why you aren’t taking advantage of Facebook to grow your business now!

Here are the most important aspects to consider when marketing yourself on Facebook:

1. Make friends! Be active. Don’t wait for friends to find you – Facebook is about connecting with people and building relationships. Invite people who might be interested in what you do to ‘like’ your pages promoting your products or services and encourage people to pass the message on!
2. Build a sense of community. Connect with your fans and friends by regularly keeping up with their posts, questions and even complaints and encourage them to interact by posting their own content. Any activity that the users engage with on your pages may then appear in the news feed of the user’s friends, effortlessly spreading marketing messages across social networks (Freeman et al, 2014).
3. Turn friends into customers. Regularly post things that will genuinely interest your fans and provide a unique service that they cannot get anywhere else.
4. Make them feel special. Thank them for being loyal customers by providing discounts and competitions they can enter, for example with a chance to win a variety of products from your range or an extra special service.

“Fans can come to the brand through many different pathways. Fans can be earned – through good content, good media or both. Or fans can be bought through discounts, points, miles, or other ex-brand value drivers” (LaPointe, 2012).

What’s not effective?

• A big no no in Facebook marketing is clogging up the feed of your fans with hundreds of posts daily, they won’t end up being your friend for long!
• Don’t be too formal when writing posts or comments, people feel more comfortable when you’re less business-like.
• Don’t ignore complaints on your page because it will give you a bad reputation and other fans will see you haven’t bothered to acknowledge them.

Taking all of this into account will help you to increase your online Facebook presence and ultimately your customer base and sense of community online.

But don’t forget…

…to integrate your Facebook page with all elements of your digital marketing strategy, for example link your Facebook page to your website, blog, encourage traffic to your Facebook page through your email marketing and other social media marketing strategies. Here is a helpful link to a guide for small businesses on how to use social media http://www.sage.co.uk/documents/guides/discover-guide-social-media.pdf 

References

Freeman, B. Kelly, B. Baur, L. Chapman, K. Chapman, S. Gill, T. & King, L. (2014). Digital Junk: Food and Beverage Marketing on Facebook. American Journal of Public Health, 104 (12), pp. 56-64.

Kaplan, A. & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons. 53 (1), pp. 59-68.

Kiss, J. (2014). Facebook’s 10th birthday: from college dorm to 1.23 billion users. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/04/facebook-10-years-mark-zuckerberg. Last accessed 13th April 2015.

LaPointe, P. (2012). Measuring Facebook’s Impact on Marketing. Journal of Advertising Research. pp. 286-287.