If you are a business owner or just alive, then you have probably heard the well-meaning advice droning on about how you should be using Facebook to find customers. Seriously, can you stand to see that commercial one more time in which the excited people tell you with earnest expressions about the company that will build you a “Facebook account for FREE,” so people can say, “we found you on Facebook!”
First things First – Nothing is free! If you don’t keep their services, then they walk away with your Facebook page and any followers gained. Wow…that is a bargain right? You have actual ownership of nothing should be a topic in the fine print.
Perhaps you have taken a few of those social media classes that map out the strategy for achieve results in a graphic that looks like a reverse football play diagram for your favorite college team.
Look, it is not that complicated. The truth is that your business can be found on Facebook and you can get customers IF you are willing to put in the time and technique to make it happen. Here’s my 7 awesome tips that I’ve found works that will turn your Facebook page into a traffic gold mine:
Tip 1: Content Rules
Everyone together – collective moan! Yes, creating content is a pain. The truth is most people focus on a putting out more instead of better content. The reality is that your audience will follow your lead when it comes to content. Creating strong content on a schedule helps readers anticipate and participate.
Here is one approach – Take out a monthly calendar and look three months ahead. Ask yourself – What is happening in three months and how does it fit into your sales cycle? Holidays and observances are all a part of your content plan, so start to write on certain days the following types of content (as appropriate to your business): blog, sales/promo, video, quotes/facts/stats, and community messages if you are local. When you see your content calendar develop, you will have deadlines for each of these types of content. Now, assign a topic to each of these types of content. Your content calendar can be as general or specific as you want.
TAKEAWAY: Creating content is not the hard part. You are in control of what goes out from your page. Designing a schedule will keep you on track and help manage content creation.
Tip 2: Time is Everything & MORE.
It is impossible to stress the importance of finding the right time and date for your content. You can create the best content on the planet. If your audience is wrong or your timing is off, then no one will see it or care. For example, a video about your Christmas sale at Halloween is completely off – unless you give it a cute spin and call it a Spooky Good Christmas Sale! 99% of the time, you must focus on expectation of the audience around events and topics that are the most pressing, so it is easier to engage than to divert. This is where your content calendar will help you gauge your reactions to different times, dates, and audience materials. Your insights from your Facebook page will tell you when most of your audience is on Facebook – use that as a guideline – and track how well your content does during that time. You might find out that blogs do better on a certain time or day. If so, tweak that calendar and start to optimize. Content should be all about catching your buyer *repeatedly* in the moment when they want to buy.
TAKEAWAY: Consistent posting is important, but you must find the sweet spot where your Facebook page meets your customer everyday with useful content to the audience.
Tip 3: Engage Your Customer.
We ALL know that one person who does NOTHING but talk about themselves. Be honest – in social media, is that person you? Social media is a dating relationship in which you are courting your customers. If you are always talking about your blogs, your promos, and your videos, then you are too into YOU! The golden rule of business is customer first. This applies in your social media as well. Engage your customers with something they want to talk about – THEMSELVES! Create a survey to ask customers questions about what they like/don’t like. Create graphics that show several selections with A/B/C clearly marked with a post asking which they like best. Highlight a sparkling testimonial or run a contest in which people should give input. These are all ways that you can get people to see themselves using your products or services. In the example below, if you find out that your customers drink soda (your product) with pizza, then you might want to start a partnership with a pizza company and use pizza in your ads.
Bonus – these techniques give you the additional advantage of gaining marketing insight. If you find out more customers like the blue shirt instead of the red shirt – what is the best item to put on sale? The blue shirt! If your survey yields that customer hate to wait on the phone and would prefer to chat with a representative, then you might consider adding a chat feature to your website. If you find out that many of your customers tweet several times a day, then you might consider a class to teach Twitter tactics.
TAKEAWAY: People love to share information about themselves. This is the basis of the growth of social media. Ask them questions and look for patterns in the answers for things that might help your marketing.
Tip 4: Make a Movie.
Yes, I am talking about video and short animation. Before we have that collective groan again – let’s get creative and fun! Social media means that you have all the wiggle room in the world to capture your clients. Using products like Ripl to take a simple quote or sale, add music, links, and pictures gives movement to your marketing. It is instinctive for human being to look at what moves. Creating these animated pieces are easy and people must watch it to decide if they want it – WIN/WIN!
Of course, there are the usual video avenues like client testimonials, product previews, and information sharing. These should be a basis for any video marketing campaign. Did I mention that these videos should also go in your email? Why? Well…here is why….
TAKEAWAY: Using video and short animated marketing pieces can turn your boring old “everyone is doing that” marketing into a dynamic moving train that gathers likes and shares. HINT – don’t forget to add your logo and clickable links!
Tip 5: Convert Fans into Buyers.
Most people think of Facebook fans as a collection of potential buyers without giving them any reason to move into the buying cycle. Posts should always (ALWAYS!) have a CTA or call to action. This is not prom. You are not struggling to get people to like you without asking. Posts with a clear call to action receive the most, well…. action because you tell people what you want them to do. If want buyers to bring a coupon into your store or use a promo code during checkout, then provide Facebook only promos that tell them to do it. If you have a sign in your store that says, “our Facebook fans receive 10% on every purchase,” then get ready for the signups at the register to fan your Facebook page because you have motivated your customers to act.
Does that work online as well? Yes, as in the example above, add a step in your checkout cart or homepage that says, “do you want to save 5% on your purchase today? Join our Facebook for the code.” In this way, you are telling your customers that staying in contact through social media is important to you.
TAKEAWAY: Give customers clear instructions on how to interact in the buying process and the benefits of doing so with every post. By telling the customer how to purchase or giving them a reason to buy, you are building in a benefit they can only get through your social media.
Tip 6: Thrive Tactics.
Most people post for people. No big surprise, right? People read your posts! Reality check – people read your posts if search engines and Facebook algorithms connect them to your posts. If you have a local business, I would remiss in creating an article with tips for Facebook if I did not tell you the tag-formula for a perfect post: tagging, geo-tagging, and hash tagging. You may have noticed that the world of Facebook (and social media at large) revolves around tagging. Given that your post already has an image/video with a link and call-to-action (CTA), the real connection for a post is in creating good hash tagging of important keywords and geo-tagging to share your location (city, state, or business). Keyword hash tagging (#) gives you post search ability by those looking for your product/service by what you provide. Strong geo-tagging (@) helps local people to find your products/services around their location. The combination produces traffic to your door and your store. As in the Oreo example below, good content that informs is mixed with hash tagging and CTA bring increase cookie sales.
TAKEAWAY: Combining good social media posting techniques with strong content increase traffic to businesses and websites.
Tip 7: Virtual Real Estate for Sale.
Whether you are locally or nationally focused, your social media real estate is unlimited and free! Finding good partners that compliment your business offering can double > triple > quadruple your eyes on screen. Promoting another company with offers or special deals available only because of your partnership can grow your following faster than any other method. Like free advertising, sharing community events and business partners gives you credit and visibility, which will lead to high traffic to your business and your site.
Remember that you can share space with your fans. In the Man of Steel instance below, people are encouraged to share their stories about what makes them like Superman to be featured on the page.
TAKEAWAY: Gaining partnerships can catapult your Facebook page using other businesses and their fan base. Don’t forget to share your space (and ask for the same in return).
Of course, there is an almost mandatory reminder about connecting the dots in social media. If you have a website, business card, brochures, flyers, emails, or auto-responders, then you must have your Facebook page prominently displayed with an invitation to join.
Conclusion
Facebook seems crowded with political posts, sponsored ads, and other distractions. It is up to you to reach past the social media blindness to activate your customer’s want to participate and engage. When you engage your customers in the buying cycle, you will tap into the Facebook gold mine of traffic that exists for each business.
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