“There are 2.41 billion monthly active users on Facebook as of June 30, 2019.”

“93% of social media advertisers use Facebook ads.”

“78% of American consumers claim to have discovered products on Facebook.”

What Is Facebook Marketing?

Facebook marketing refers to the process of creating and using Facebook as a communications channel to attract and connect with a targeted audience. The growing popularity of Facebook has made it the perfect platform for brands to surface themselves to the network’s vast user space. It can be a powerful tool in digital marketing that businesses strive to maximize for discoverability. After all, creating meaningful interactions with prospects and customers is one of the purest ways to link them to your brand.

Types of Facebook Marketing Ads

Formatting your ads to meet the needs and interests of your audience is vital in Facebook marketing. There are a ton of formats and ad types that allow marketers to showcase their content creatively to their list of followers. However, the only way this could impact your market effectively is if your campaigns remain targeted to specific groups and goals. Before you get started with the design process, it’s essential to know which Facebook Ads to employ to keep your campaign strategies on track.

Lead Form Ads: One smart approach to building a mailing list for your email marketing tactics is the application of lead ad units. These are ads that help generate leads for your business by directing users to a form that they could fill up for you to gather valuable data from your audience. When people click on your Facebook Ad, they are immediately directed to a page that contains fields of information relevant to your campaign objectives. What makes a Facebook ad unit so convenient to both prospects and marketers is how it auto-populates most of the fields to spare users from the hassle. That way, there’s a greater chance that visitors would want to complete the form for whatever benefit it brings them.Dynamic Ads: Formerly known as Dynamic Product Ads, Dynamic Ads help promote your products to customers who might have shown interest in your business through your website, app, or elsewhere on the internet. So if someone starts browsing through the products in your shopping app and then goes on Facebook to do something else, they are likely to come across an ad that features the same set of products they previously had their eye on. This makes a product even more desirable in the eyes of customers in an attempt to further encourage a sale. Carousel Ads on Facebook are often used to showcase these items in a clean, interactive manner.Abandoned Cart Ads: More than half of the people who visit your online store leave empty-handed. Shoppers don’t complete the purchase for a number of reasons, whether it’s due to the price of the item or the sense of indecisiveness. But abandoned carts aren’t always a bad thing for your business, as there’s still a ray of hope that could lead them to the end of the sales funnel. All you need to do is to run a highly personalized Facebook Ad to retarget your audience. Your campaign should aim to make shoppers reconsider their options and finish what they’ve started. You can also provide special incentives with limited-time offers that customers can avail of if they respond immediately to the Facebook Ad.Thank-You Ads: Your efforts as a marketer shouldn’t stop at the sales line. Professional marketers have found how much easier it is to turn first-time customers into repeat consumers than to turn cold calls into first-time customers. The amount of money it costs to carry prospects through the sales cycle is another factor that might convince you to be more appreciative of your existing buyers. Running thank-you ads might seem like an odd way to express your gratitude to customers, but it’s a common approach that marketers use to build brand loyalty and increase customer satisfaction.New Product Ads: Once you have gained the trust of your market, repeat customers are bound to spend more than your newer audience. So when it’s time to roll out a new product to the public, letting your existing customers be the first ones to know is a no-brainer. Hence, the first Facebook Ad you run for these items should be an announcement that targets your current consumer base.Traffic Generation Ads: Just because retargeting is a favorable option to take doesn’t mean you can abandon all efforts to expand your reach. It’s always a good idea to design a Facebook Ad that aims to draw potential new customers to your store in the most creative way possible. It’s probably the first time a person has heard of your business, so be sure to make an impression that counts.

How to Optimize Facebook Marketing

Although there are many alternative channels that handle brand advertisements effectively, Facebook still dominates the market with the largest number of personal accounts and Facebook Business Pages. The exposure a business can get by simply sharing relevant content to reach customers is something that every marketer needs to stay on the leaderboard. Thus, knowing what you can do to raise your market presence and boost lead conversions is essential to obtaining social media marketing success.

Step 1) Create a Facebook Page.

First things first: You need to have an account to even be on the network. Businesses who go on Facebook to market their brand are better off with a Facebook Page than a personal profile. This enables you to promote your products and services with the help of unique tools and features that only those who run a Facebook Page can optimize. Managing your account would also be a lot easier when the platform is tailored to your exact needs. And to make your Page more shareable and easy to find, it’s best to create a personalized URL in your Facebook settings.

Step 2) Customize Your Profile.

Your Facebook profile picture and cover photo don’t only add to the visual aesthetic of your Page, but they also make a good first impression on who you are. It’s one of the first things that visitors encounter when they come across your business Page on Facebook Search or on a sponsored post, so you best believe that users will care about what they see. Be sure to choose photos that meet the standard image dimensions of the network, for both mobile and desktop computers, to get a good display of images. You can even choose from a collection of social media templates to get a head start in the process. By doing so, visitors and followers can easily recognize your business for continuous engagement.

Step 3) Fill the “About” Section of Your Page.

Startups and small businesses have yet to make themselves known in the market. Thus, people who visit your page will likely look for your “About” tab over anything else. This should contain an overview of who you are and what you do to give visitors a sense of what they can expect from your Page before they decide to connect with you. A brief yet descriptive copy for this section should make it easy to convert visitors to actual followers of your business.

Step 4) Choose a CTA Button.

It’s only been a few years since Facebook introduced a handy feature that many advertisers are thankful for — the call-to-action button. Adding a CTA button at the top of your Facebook Page is one of the best ways to get people to stay in touch. Business users can choose from the seven pre-made button options (“Shop Now,” “Contact Us,” “Sign Up,” “Book Now,” “Watch Video,” “Use App,” and “Play Game”) that will direct visitors to any homepage, landing page, or platform you are aligned with.

Step 5) Start Posting Compelling Content.

If you want your name to appear on a person’s News Feed, you have to begin planning and publishing your content. Along with text, social media experts suggest maximizing the use of photos and videos for higher engagement. Using visuals to attract and engross readers can help elevate your Facebook strategy and establish share-worthy content. This is one of the reasons why many businesses have found success in creating relevant How-Tos, tutorials, video compilations, and infographics to connect with their Facebook market.

The Dos and Don’ts of Facebook Marketing

Using Facebook to grow your business is a modernized approach that has helped many companies establish their presence online. With over a billion Facebook users on the web and Facebook app, breaking boundaries is not a step you can conquer so easily. Maximizing your marketing potential on this social network must be strategically done for you to start seeing the desired results.

The Dos

1. Do speak to your audience. 

The number of likes you get on your Facebook Page might be a good sign, but it won’t be enough to measure your success. Connecting with your audience on a personal level is one way to nurture engagement. Targetting potential shoppers and creating content that they can relate to is far more critical than gaining likes. The key is to make a good impression with first-time visitors to prompt further interaction and generate leads.

2. To communicate with images. 

Posts that include photos almost always receive higher response rates than those without them. Visual content is essential in online marketing in terms of capturing one’s attention in a dense market. Some marketers even use infographics to replace blocks of text from their content and to strengthen their hold on readers. It doesn’t have to be shots from a professional shoot, but it does pay to bring your fans on a behind-the-scenes journey of your marketing campaigns.

3. To interact with customers. 

Facebook is an online platform that people use to interact with one another in real-time. This means users expect you to be responsive to comments and questions, without a lengthy span in between their inquiry and your reply. It’s only natural for shoppers to expect the best from your customer service efforts, so the least you can is to stay on top of things to avoid an angry follow-up. If there are queries that are difficult to reply to at the moment, you can buy time by empathizing with the poster and letting them know you’ll get back to them once everything has settled.

4. Do commit to consistency. 

Social media marketing is all about staying committed. One way to boost recognition is by posting consistently on your Page. It doesn’t have to scream “Sell Sell Sell,” but it does have to remind your audience that you do exist and that you aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Pinning posts to the top of your profile is another way to emphasize specific content. These posts may contain links to your product landing pages or company newsroom to drive more traffic. It’s important to provide people with enough reasons to follow your Page for upcoming posts.

5. Do use hashtags strategically. 

Before you start stuffing your Facebook posts with random hashtags, do consider how the keyword may boost your rank on specific search engines. Social media search can be a challenge for most marketers due to how people fail to use the right hashtags. The truth is you don’t have to use a ton of hashtags to boost exposure, as this will only lessen the engagement that the post receives. A rule of thumb is to limit the use of hashtags to a maximum of two to find out what will work and what won’t work for your business.

The Don’ts

1. Don’t use a dummy account. 

Facebook has strict policies against the use of dummy accounts. Not only does it violate Facebook’s terms and conditions, but it’s also a massive waste of time and effort to pursue. You can always assess your published posts before they go live by changing the settings on your Page. A common approach is to put your posts on private and to have them scheduled to see whether they suit the rest of your content.

2. Don’t cause arguments in public.

Some people tend to express their sentiments online to gain sympathy from others. Negative comments are impossible to avoid, but the last thing you want to do is fuel a public dispute and make yourself look bad in the eyes of customers. Public complaints must be addressed privately via Facebook messenger, email, or telephone. Expressing your desires to deal with matters offline will also show other customers how much you value professionalism despite the circumstances.

3. Don’t post too often. 

Rather than investing in a series of posts per day, focus on maintaining a regular posting schedule that will help you garner better interactions. The worse you could do is overwhelm your Facebook followers with mediocre posts that don’t even capture the interests of your target audience. Keep in mind that context plays a crucial role in content marketing. Annoying your fans with irrelevant posts will only drive them to click the unfollow button before you even get the chance to redeem yourself.

4. Don’t ignore the numbers. 

Over the years, Facebook Ad Manager continues to improve its settings to help advertisers monitor their posts. Tracking Facebook engagement in terms of likes, comments, shares, and views will offer you valuable insights on low- and high-performing posts. This will help you identify the types of posts that produce the most activity for you to duplicate and prioritize on your next marketing campaign.

5. Don’t make assumptions.

When it comes to marketing, a one-size-fits-all mentality won’t cut it. You don’t want to lose your originality to the rest of the clutter on the average customer’s News Feed. Just because a strategy garnered favorable results for one business doesn’t mean you’ll get the same outcomes with yours. It won’t hurt to test your assumptions gradually to see what works and what doesn’t. Setting yourself apart from competitors should be one of your primary objectives when crafting a Facebook marketing plan for your business.

In a sea of over a billion active users, standing out is a must to market on Facebook successfully. Fortunately, Facebook offers a ton of tools that cater to the average marketer in building authentic relationships with a consumer audience. Understanding how you can make the most out of these features to increase your market segment and engage with shoppers is bound to generate satisfying results for your business.