We all know that Facebook is King and all else simply pales in comparison, right? Let’s face it – of all the social media outlets, Facebook continues to grow its strength and loyalty for - and from - its users on a daily basis. But that’s not exactly a bad thing either, especially if you’re a small business trying to grow your name, services, and products.

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By understanding the basic principles of how to grow your business on Facebook, you’ll not only be able to reach more people but stay connected and ENGAGE with them as well. You already know where your customers are spending their free time; now learn the 4 ways to grab their attention with your growing brand.

Understand WHO Your Customer Is

We know you THINK you know who your target client or audience is, but unless you’ve actually done your market research and made an avatar for this person, you’re kind of still spinning your wheels. It’s crucial for a business to define their target audience down to the industry they likely work in, their likes, dislikes and what makes them tick.

If you don’t know who you’re trying to engage with or what they like to do in their free time, how would you be able to write compelling social media posts or Facebook ads (we’ll get to that in a minute) that speak to them? It’s starting to make sense, isn’t it? And once you have successfully created one, consider making 1 or 2 more depending on your product or services. Remember, what works for one client, may not work for another. This does take time, practice and your due diligence, but the results that stem from truly understanding who it is you’re trying to reach will be worth the effort.

Facebook Ads

Now that you’ve taken the time to get to know your target client – we’ll call her Susie – it’s time to speak straight to her heart, using Facebook ads. We want Susie to feel compelled to stop scrolling and wonder how you were reading her mind when she sees one of your posts or ads on her news feed.

And say you took the time to create not only Susie but Jimmy John’s profile too; well, this is exactly when we would suggest split testing your Facebook ads. Create 2 ads, both with the same base, and then finely tweak the verbiage to appeal to both Susie and Jimmy John. Now, as these two ads are running, you will be able to compare the success of them to determine which avatar and ad you’ve created resonates better with your followers.

Quality Over Quantity

Unfortunately, you kind of need both –quality and quantity – to stay relevant on Facebook, but in a toss up, we’d take quality any day of the week. Your content is your way of communicating with your community, guests, customers, and clients when you aren’t face to face with them. What you post throughout the day acts as a glimpse into your business, so make it count.

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Always go for engaging and valuable content that will only help your customers – and not waste their time. By providing this kind of daily content, through sharing informational resources, jumping on LIVE to give your “top 3 tricks” or sharing a photo that drives home the purpose of something positive or expresses your value, you are showing your followers that coming to your page, and engaging on it, is worthwhile.

Share the Space

We understand that it would make sense that your business page be about just that – your business – but the truth is, sharing is caring in the social media space and there are certain rules to follow. The generally accepted rule of thumb for sharing content is actually a whopping 80/ 20 share ratio, where you share 80% of other people’s posts, information and content and 20% your own.

This may seem irrational or bad for business, but it’s all in the way you approach it. Again, you want to offer your followers as much quality content as possible, and if another business has a phenomenal post regarding X topic, then share it with the world. The concept is two-fold: for one, you aren’t typically sharing DIRECT competitors, i.e.: you’re both the only small, Mom and Pop Italian pizzeria in town – that wouldn’t be wise. It’s more of people in a likeminded space, i.e.: a marketing team here in Texas (wink wink) sharing a marketing blog post from a team in Alaska. Same industry? Yep. Direct or local competitors? Nope. Secondly, the assumption is that there’s enough room for everyone and sharing quality content from other people is only helping everyone involved – most especially your customers and clients.

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Did you ever stop to think about how much of your TV show airtime is actual show… and how much is really scattered commercials? Sure, it says it has a runtime of 60 minutes, but if you think you’re sitting there, soaking up all the sexy drama for a full hour, you my friend, have another thing coming. Ads are everywhere, from TV, to radio, to magazines- and definitely, more than ever, on our computer screens. The marketing industry is moving and shaking like never before and your business needs it NOW to stay toe-to-toe with your competitors. If it’s not YOUR ad that someone is reading- and sharing- it will be another business that is soaking up the glorified spotlight. But with the circus that is running a business, one more To-Do may simply be your breaking point. So pass the torch to 2ten Marketing and let us help you get your business in front of current- and potential- customers today! 

Previously Published June 29, 2017