A limited budget is one of the main factors that limit the growth of small businesses. It prevents you from taking certain measures that might be necessary to drive more sales, maximize profits, and sustain smooth operations in the long run.
Startup owners are always looking for cost-effective marketing ideas because they cannot normally avail the benefits of paid advertisements on different online platforms. While big companies can easily pay huge sums to attract more traffic to their websites, small businesses are forced to focus on increasing their reach organically.
This is where Facebook marketing can prove to be a game-changer.
With more than 2 billion monthly active users, it’s quite obvious why promoting your small-scale business on Facebook should be your go-to marketing strategy. It requires little to no investment and still has the potential to yield great results.
However, knowing where to start can prove to be a rather difficult task especially if you are doing it for the first time.
Take a look at this handy guide to Facebook marketing to master the basic skills needed, and make the most of your marketing campaign.
Read on to learn more.
1. Create and Optimize Your Facebook Business Page
Needless to say, the first step is to create a Facebook page for your business. The process is quite simple and straightforward but if you still face any difficulties, you can watch an online tutorial that takes you through the whole procedure step-by-step.
Make sure to mention all the relevant business details on the page as well. This includes adding your business address, telephone number, website link, and other information such as office timings and the likes.
This is important because it establishes your credibility and enables visitors to get in touch easily when needed.
2. Post Meaningful Content
You might try your best to promote your business, but it will hardly have the desired result for one simple reason: customers are not interested in knowing how good your ‘business’ is. What they want to know is how your goods and services can fulfill their needs and improve the quality of their life.
Promotional content is strewn all over social media sites. So, if you too are posting overtly promotional stories and trying too hard to market your goods, don’t be surprised when it doesn’t work.
What you need to do is take an indirect approach instead. Think about what the potential customer is seeking, and then focus on how your product can provide them with the same.
3. Make the Most of Facebook’s Default Settings
Be it through links, redirects, shared posts, etc, people will eventually land on your page. But how do you make sure that they stay on your page?
The answer is: through your cover photo.
Remember the age-old saying ‘the first impression is the last impression?’
Well, it’s indeed very true. So, post an impressive cover photo that instantly makes the viewers go ‘wow.’ This is because if you can pique their interest within the first few seconds using your cover photo only, they are guaranteed to check out what the page is all about and thus, interact with your brand.
Moreover, if you recall, Facebook’s default settings show your cover photo updates on all your friends’ timelines.
In the case of a business page, the cover photo updates are automatically posted on the timelines of users who are friends with people who are a fan of your page.
In simple words, merely changing your cover photo can increase your visibility and attract more visitors to your Facebook page. According to a study, images get 53% more likes, 84% more click-through, and about 100% more comments.
This should serve as enough motivation for you to work hard at featuring a killer cover photo.
4. Turn on the Reviews and Recommendations Feature
Online customers trust other online customers. A lot!
So while you try to market your small-scale business on Facebook, make sure to turn on the ratings and reviews feature. Encourage your customers to provide their feedback and leave a recommendation on your Facebook page regardless of whether they shopped online or offline.
Positive reviews boost your credibility and make people more confident in buying your goods and services.
5. Get a Scheduling App
For small businesses taking a more aggressive approach to Facebook marketing by publishing multiple posts on a daily basis, things tend to get jumbled up.
To manage it all effortlessly without making any mistakes like double posting the same content, use a productivity tool such as Sprout Social or the Buffer app.
These social media scheduling apps let you stay active on the required platform without actually being tied to a desk or mobile device all day long.
6. Go Live
If you want to connect with your audience on a closer and friendlier level, going live on Facebook can be a great way to go about it. The main advantage of live streaming is that it can drive real results real fast.
You can take your viewers behind the scenes and give them a sneak peek into your business activities. For example, if you run a restaurant, recording a live video of your kitchen can excite viewers to dine in at your place soon. Or you can show them around your office space, or explore any other interesting place relevant to your niche.
Similarly, you can make a how-to video or perform a live interview with a renowned personality in your industry that your fans might be interested in learning more about.
Just remember to pick a title for your live video carefully because that is what your fans will see in their notification center and hence, decide whether to view it or not.
Recording a live video doesn’t require many tools other than a high-resolution camera and a good quality mic – both of which you probably already have on your smartphone. So, go live to earn significant profits without incurring any extra costs.
For more cost-effective marketing ideas, check out this article on the importance of web design and how a great web layout can drive up your online sales.
