Introduction

Facebook, if used correctly and efficiently, can be a great tool for generating interest, brand awareness and sales in your company. With more than 500 million active users, Facebook offers a huge platform for your business.

As a business, you will use a Facebook Page rather than a personal profile page. This allows you to invite Facebook users as fans and also promote your website and blog posts.

Ideally you want to be posting as regularly as possible, not excessively, but with the intention of updating your fans and keeping them interested in your business.

Before you start posting you should develop a content strategy. If you think of your Facebook page as being similar to a magazine, then your fans are following your page because they are waiting for something interesting to read.

 

 

What should I write about?

  • Give your opinion on a new product or service that you are providing. Giving your opinion will create interest, fans will want to know more about the product or service and this will attract people to your business. Encouraging people to comment on your post is also an important part of this. Interaction is crucial as you want to appear on the “Top News” tab rather than just on the “Most Recent” tab. Facebook will favour pages with higher interaction.
  • Link to a news article that is related to your profession and business. An exciting news article which is related to your business will keep fans interested and eager to read. It will create interest and interaction between your business and the people following you. To search for news stories, go to the Google search engine, click on the “News” tab at the top of the page and type in a keyword or words relevant to your business. For instance, if you are a retail outlet on Oxford Street, search the Google News page for “Oxford Street”. Posting the article, “Oxford Street traffic-free days extended for shopping”, will interest readers and it encourages them to come and shop as there will be no traffic, designed for a nicer shopping experience.
  • Offer promotional deals on products and services. Promotional deals and offers will entice fans and create a buzz around your posts, products and services. It will help increase fans, as people suggest your business to friends.
  • Suggest Tips that are relevant to your business and can help potential customers.
  • Post pictures or videos. Entertaining viral videos can be a great way to promote a brand or product. If people are entertained they will share it with their friends, creating more views and more interest.
  • Links to blog posts. If you have a blog, link your fans to the articles you are posting.
  • Links to events, if for example your business/shop is having a sale, tell your Facebook fans about it and encourage people to come.
  • Create a questionnaire or competition to win a new product. Remember the main goal is to engage the audience.

Promote your Page

There is no point in coming up with great content if you don’t have any fans. The average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events, but most users don’t find pages through Facebook searches, instead they usually learn about a page through sites, noticing the pages that their friends have already signed up to and other promotions. The best way to get an initial fanbase is to use the Facebook tool “Suggest your friends like the page”, which you can do so long as you are an administrator of the page on Facebook. Other ways to promote your page include adding the Facebook icon to your website and also posting your Facebook link (URL) on to all marketing material such as business cards, emails, newsletters, etc.

Areatrade run workshops and can provide more in depth training on how to use social media websites. Contact us for more information on our web design and online marketing services.

 

Share