The effectiveness of promotional giveaways is increased when they’re combined with other marketing resources. In today’s digital age, one of the best tools that small business owners can pair with their events is Facebook. The social network grants entrepreneurs access to a wide audience and advanced advertising features. Below are a few tips on how owners can start their Facebook marketing campaigns.
Develop worthwhile content
The most essential aspect of a successful Facebook presence is compelling content that consumers actually want to interact with, according to Social Media Today. A page that doesn’t include engaging posts will likely be ignored by followers because users access the site to be entertained.
Fortunately, Facebook makes it relatively easy for creative small business owners to develop worthwhile updates that interest followers. The social network allows entrepreneurs to post videos, pictures, text-based messages and links to other pages, all of which can be used to create a multimedia campaign.
The purpose of varying content is to ensure that followers don’t become disinterested in a company’s page. By mixing promotional messages from different media, a small business owner can create a dynamic profile that actively grabs consumers’ interests.
Research the audience
As with all marketing ventures, a Facebook campaign requires a great deal of research to better understand how customers are reacting and interacting with the sponsored messages. Mashable explains that small business owners should measure how followers are responding to content and which messages have the most significant traction. For instance, one company’s photos might be more effective than its videos, but the opposite might be true for another enterprise. What’s important is that entrepreneurs understand what their customers wants and cater to those preferences.
Facebook has streamlined marketing analysis for small business owners. Chad Wittman, founder of EdgeRank Checker, told Mashable that entrepreneurs should frequently access metrics to see what type of content interests followers.
“Dive into Facebook Insights as much as possible. Are your fans consuming content at work, on a mobile device or only responding to video? Do they prefer one or two posts per day?” Wittman said.
Measuring consumer behavior is an integral element of creating a successful Facebook campaign. Without knowing what fans like and how frequently they want it, small business owners will develop content that isn’t designed for their specific audiences. As a result, engagement will decrease and the marketing strategy will need to be overhauled.
Understand new features
Facebook is in a constant state of evolution as the company and its developers don’t want to fall behind other networks, particularly Twitter. The two sites are competing for users and are doing so by regularly debuting new features, many of which are marketing boons for small business owners.
Chief among these recent innovations on Facebook is Instagram video. The social network had purchased the picture-sharing site to increase web presence and create synergy, and now the partnership will likely bear significant fruit. With the new video tool, entrepreneurs can film 15-second clips, 9 seconds longer than what Twitter’s Vine is capable of, that can be shared with entire networks. Further, videos can be edited together so there essentially isn’t a length limit.
Additionally, Facebook recently took a page out of Twitter’s playbook by indexing information with hashtags. Small business owners can use this feature by encouraging followers to use hashtags when interacting with promotional content.
These examples show that Facebook is always updating its resources and that entrepreneurs should always be ready to capitalize on new tools when marketing. By using advanced resources, small business can truly make their Facebook pages stand out from the competition.