Facebook marketing strategy

Facebook has 2.70 billions active users who log into the social network every month. It was born to connect with old friends and to find new ones and it has evolved to a lot more. This platform is a great tool for brands.

Thanks to the business pages, you can interact with your customers and you will find new ones. Having a profile dedicated to your company is like having a colorful, business card: it’s a great marketing tool to ensure your customer remembers you. As long as you take advantage of all the features and tools, your Facebook marketing strategy will be successful.
The Facebook business statistics

How effective is a promotional campaign on Facebook?

• Focus your energy on mobile, since 94 percent of Facebook Ad revenue is from smartphones
• How much is a cost per click? On average, it’s $1.72
• The average price for ads has decreased by 6 percent in 2019
• Videos generate more engagement than images
• Mobile-friendly videos generate more engagement than any type of content
• In 2019, the amount of ad impressions increased by 33 percent
• On average, every Facebook user clicks on 11 ads monthly
• On average, a Facebook post has an organic reach of 5.5 percent
• The engagement rate per post is at 3.6 percent

Tips for a business Facebook marketing strategy

After you’ve created your Business page, how can you make the most and the best out of it? Here’s a step by step guide to improve your online visibility through your Facebook marketing strategy.

Work on the aesthetic of your company’s page. Choose a style and a color palette and stick with that choice. Choose a few keywords that portray your brand and your product. You have to make sure that, when a potential customer visits your Facebook business page, he know what you are about.

Work on your thumbnails. This image is the one your followers and customers will see first. It’s the promotional version of your video posts. It’s almost your poster, so your thumbnail should reflect your values and your business. Choose original thumbnails that make sense for your customer interests.

Promote your page on every channel. Make sure you have the little Facebook icon on your website and that your followers and subscribers know how to find your Business page. Include a clickable image or gif in your emails, to direct customers to your account. In the end, you want to promote engagement to all your networks.

Use the Stories tools. Just like their Instagram sibling, these video features last up to 24 hours. The content is short, so you should make it snappy and colorful. You can add stickers, emojis, and music to make the Stories catchier. This is a way to share original content with your customers and to show them the everyday life of your brand. Take it and use it wisely.

Use the video features. This is the content users enjoy the most. Research has revealed that customers focus on the first three seconds of the post and they often watch with sound off. People on Facebook also prefer live content and Stories. This is useful information for your brand. It means that you should incorporate videos in your marketing strategy to build your best plan.

Look what’s working for everyone else. Social media platforms are great for inspiration. You can find ideas and discover new trends. Look at other businesses in your niche and see what’s working (and what’s not) for them. Learning from your competition is fair game. Copying them isn’t. Add your twist to truly showcase the colors of your brand.

If you are using video posts for your Facebook marketing strategy (which you should), make sure you add captions and perhaps translations. Since most users watch videos without the sound, having text on your content will reach and attract new customers.

Add a Call To Action (CTA) on all your Facebook content. Your company image posts should always have a link that takes customers to your website. And your videos should have a CTA to invite users to know more and do more. Ultimately, engagement on all your online platforms is your business goal.

Make sure your content is phone-friendly. Most Facebook users log in the app via their smartphones. For your video posts, make sure people can watch it vertically (or you can add the square shape option). The same applies to images. Make sure you crop them to fit the tiny screen of a mobile device.

Facebook is a useful social media for your marketing plan. Having a clear path and strategy will help you reach new customers with your original posts.

How to create a Facebook marketing plan

The social media platform offers tools and features to business pages. Using them to your advantage will set you apart from the competition.

The best way to build your marketing is to make sure you have a plan before you start. Decide what type of posts you want to share and when you want to publish your content. If you are creating a series or if you are following a theme, make sure you stick to it. Your audiences want to see consistency.

Have an editorial calendar. You don’t need to create anything fancy, just something that works. If you have weekly appointments for your customers, they will log in to watch your latest updates. For example, you can decide that every Tuesday you will answer questions from your customers. Or every Friday, you will post a fun video from your brand. Whatever you decide, make sure your target audience is clear on your weekly appointments.

Schedule. Facebook has a “schedule” option which allows you to plan your posts in advance. To make your marketing plan even easier, you can download the free Business Suite app for social media. This application allows you to schedule your content in advance and to follow up with any questions and comments. It’s also an easy way to check your company’s Messenger, to always be in contact with your users.

Once you’ve started with your marketing plan, make sure you check the analytics of your Facebook business page. You can access it through your page or you can download the free Facebook Analytics app. Thanks to this tool, you will find out what posts work better with your target audience and the results of your ads campaign. Checking the analytics will give you a clear idea of your engagement rate.

Always add relevant links. Make sure you have clickable links to all your Facebook content. Add them. To your images, to your videos, and to your posts. Direct customers to your website and to the relevant pages of your company. Or send people to Messenger, so they will be in direct contact with you.

Finally, exploit Facebook advertising. Using ads with your marketing strategy will allow you to reach your target audience and give you useful insights of their interests. Since you have many options and features for your ads, you can be as fun and original as you want.

Having a Facebook marketing strategy isn’t enough if you don’t have a plan. Once you are organized and focused, you will reach your business goals.

Deep dive into Facebook Advertising

What are the ads features and tools? And what are the types of advertisement campaigns that you can implement on Facebook?

Standard video and image ads. The video posts can last up to 120 minutes and you can add up to 90 characters of text. The image feature can include a brief description to make your ad more interesting.

Promoting any type of content from your Business page post. Simply put, once you have posted something on your Facebook profile, you can select the “promote” option. You are advertising on your page but you can also target an audience who doesn’t know your brand. Beware that the maximum file size for videos is 4 GB.

Carousel ads. Think of them as slideshows that can include both images and video content. It’s a sequence of posts that can showcase your products and your brand. Note that you can upload up to ten videos, so mix them up with images.

Canvas ads. This ad format is interactive and fun to play with. It’s almost like a trailer for your business. There are a lot of visuals and a lot moving and creative content. Users will be engaged and you will be able to show them the spirit of your company. Canvas ads are available only for mobile devices, so make sure they are vertical. Add the link to your website so users will know where to find your company.

Ads on Stories. Facebook users love watching Stories because they are fast and straightforward content. You should target your audience and make sure you have ads on the Story. They are full screen images or posts. You can add a CTA to make sure viewers add to your Facebook business page. Stories create engagement, so why not exploit them?

In-stream ads. These videos can last up to 15 seconds and users can’t skip them. They don’t have the option to skip, but they have the option to log off and watch something else. To make these ads appealing, focus on color and music. Make sure users aren’t pushed to get out of the ad. They are like a TV commercial break, so boring isn’t allowed.

How to create an advertisement campaign on Facebook

Creating your own promotional campaign is easy and only one click away. It begins from your business page. These are the steps to get you started.

Select the Facebook Ads Manager section of your brand’s profile. From there, you can build the best plan for your customers and for all types of audiences.

You can set the goal of your plan. The objectives include raising engagement to your page or website, raise brand awareness, or generate more traffic to your content or page.

You can give a name to your campaign, although it’s not necessary. Having it named might help you in tracking your campaigns and their results. It’s the best way to manage your promotions.

Time to select your target audience. You can pick your customers based on their location, on their interests, and on their demographics. Having a clear idea of who you want to reach before you set your campaign, will help you with the process.

Time for the placements, aka where you’d like your Facebook ads to appear. You can select only Stories or you can decide to promote one of the posts of your business page. Your decision depends on the niche of your target audiences.

Select your budget for the advertisement and the schedule. You can build your budget depending on how many people you’d like to reach (Facebook will give you a rough idea) and the length. Finally, schedule your marketing strategy to decide when it starts and when it ends.

Finally, you can incorporate the Facebook Pixel tool to manage your ads and to see how they perform on your website. Through Facebook Events Manager you can access the pixel code and then insert it on your website. This tool focuses on your video ads and how they perform with your website.

Bonus tip: you can download the Facebook Ads Manager app for smartphones. You won’t need to access your business page to create and plan your campaign. You will enter your app and there, you will have all the useful information, features, and tools. It’s a great app to give you insights into your plan.

Linking Facebook and Instagram

When the two social media platforms connected and linked, so did the business pages. Your two networks are linked and that gives you better management for your ads as well as for your analytics. The best marketing strategy is the one that incorporates both.

The benefits of linking them include:

When you promote a post on your Facebook page, you can decide to share it on Instagram too. The platforms will also show you the final look.

If you are planning to have an Instagram shopping page for your products, then you need to have a Facebook business profile. Through Facebook, you can share your work on Instagram.

It’s easier for payments. You can advertise on both social media networks and you will have one payment method. This makes it easier to manage your budget and ads. You also will have all the insights on one page.

Synch the contacts for your brand. You will have coherent and up-to-date information for your followers and customers. You can share your latest news with both audiences.

Your Facebook marketing strategy should be organized, clear, and coherent. Your content should be the same. When your business page and your promotional posts make sense, you will attract your target audience. Your niche is on social media and that’s where you should showcase your products.

Using the available free apps, features, and ads will ensure your brand will succeed. It might take time to see the first results, but it’s worth the wait. Once you have reached your first business goals, your road will be paved. You just have to stick with it.