Doing social media right can be hard. Not only are you competing with other businesses, you’re competing with every adorable baby picture, celebrity clickbait article, and vacation snapshot from each user’s friends and family. Seems a little crowded, doesn’t it?
What can you do to stand out from the crowd and get your messages heard? You have a strategy.
Lockdown your objectives
The first step executing any awesome idea is to have a plan. You think we became back-to-back World War champs by just winging it? Of course not. While the stakes are a little less intense on Facebook, the thought process is still valid.
First, ask yourself why your organization is on Facebook. Is it to generate sales leads? Raise awareness? Entertain people? Whatever it may be, identifying your main objective is critical to your success.
Once you have that identified, set intermediate goals that aren’t directly tied to your main objective. For example, set benchmarks for Post Reach, Likes, and Shares for certain posts. While these may not be generating leads or raising awareness directly, it shows you’re engaging with your following. From there, everything else will follow.
Get your house in order
Now that you have your goals, it’s time to do a little housekeeping. 98% of the time, your Facebook marketing strategy will hinge on driving users to your website and following up with potential leads. That means you need to have the right things in place.
We’ll start with the most basic: your website. It’s imperative that your website is well-designed, easy-to-use, and viewable on all devices. Remember, your website is the de facto hub of all your marketing material. In many cases, it’s the first place people go to learn about you. Make sure it represents your company well. You want to make a good impression, right?
Next, make sure your Facebook Page is fully complete with your company description, location, hours, etc. An incomplete Page is devalued by the Facebook algorithms and is less likely to show up in the News Feed.
Lastly, make sure you can easily follow up with potential leads. Get yourself an email marketing tool that can hit all of these potential customers easily and effectively. If you want to learn how to email market like a champ, download our free ebook here.
Do your homework
I know, homework is a dirty word. I guess I’m just edgy like that. Unlike that math homework you truthfully never needed to know, this is actually important for your success. Start by identifying who you want to talk to. Look at your main customer demographics and see where they spend their time on Facebook. You can learn more about identifying your target audience here.
Once you know who you want to talk to, it’s time to do a little stalking. Not creepy-guy-with-binoculars-in-a-rusty-van stalking. The socially acceptable, internet stalking. Take the time to research your competition and other Facebook marketers. See who’s doing a great job and try to replicate some of their successful habits.
Create incentives
People are pretty selfish. Earth shattering news, I know. That’s ok, we can use it to our advantage. A key part of your Facebook marketing strategy should be to incentivize your network to take the actions you want. Mainly, visit your website.
You can do this in a number of different ways. Some common strategies are to create content on your website that will be valuable to your following – something they’d be willing to click a link to access. Another common incentive is a discounted price or rate. Brick and mortar retailers have been doing this since the invention of money, but there’s no reason you can’t get in on the action. Giving exclusive discounts will drive immediate action and make your Facebook audience feel special for getting it. Win-win.
Build a posting schedule
The last step in your Facebook marketing strategy is to build out your posting schedule. Having a clear plan for what you’re going to post when takes the guesswork out of managing your social accounts. Even if you don’t know exactly what you’re going to post, just having an idea of the type of content you should be posting as well as the frequency of those posts will go a long way.
Don’t forget to schedule out time to interact as well. Remember, social media is a two-way street. You need to Like, Comment, and Share other people’s content to keep your engagement strong.
There you go. Now you have the keys to making a killer Facebook marketing strategy for your business. What you do next is up to you.
