How to Grow Your Business With Facebook

Facebook is the biggest social networking site. It is still one of the most used sites even though there are many alternatives available. Though it wasn’t the first site that connected people online, it grew to be the most used one and also has the largest active user base presently. Everyone knows how to use it. But do you know how to grow your business on Facebook?

When there are a huge number of people present, it is automatically an amazing opportunity for marketers to?promote their business. It hasn’t only helped people get in touch with each other after years but also has bridged the gap between customers and businesses and brought them closer.

However, Facebook is a huge network, so getting started can seem a bit daunting. You can?buy Facebook likes?from several sites as it does help in increasing engagement on Facebook. But if you want to do it organically, you have come to the right place.

In this article, we will discuss nine basic tips that you can use as a beginner to grow your business here:

1. Optimise Your?Business Page

If you want to have a solid and professional Facebook presence, you need to create a separate?page for your business?– your personal Facebook profile won't cut it. A page is like a regular profile, but it's for brands and businesses. Also, instead of asking to "friend" someone, users must "like" or follow a page to see its posts.

• Sign up:?You will need to either use your personal Facebook page, or you can create a page from scratch. Visit?https://www.facebook.com/pages/create, and select the type of page you wish to create. Fill in the page name, category, and description; then click Create Page.
• Add photos:?It's important to add a profile and cover photos that reflect what your business does. Given that these pictures will be providing your clients with your first impression, use high-quality images that portray your business in a positive light. Select the images and hit Save.
• Create a username:?Also known as a vanity URL, your username is how your customers will find you on Facebook. Your username should be the same or as close to the name of your business as possible to avoid confusion. Once you've completed step two, you'll see "create @username" under your page name. Click here to create and save your page name.
• Enter your information:?When you set up your Facebook page, you'll notice there are a lot of options to customize it. Add as much information about your business as possible, including your business name, address, contact information, website, business hours, products, etc. You will also need to create a description of what your business entails. You can add additional categories to ensure your company is included in all relevant searches on the site. As you add information, use strategic keywords throughout that indicate to both readers and to Facebook what your page is about.
• Tell your story:?Although you have already entered information about your business, you will find that you can expound on the story behind your company or brand. In this section, talk about why and how your business was created, what makes your brand unique, the services and products you offer, and anything else you think will be relevant to a customer.
• Create your first post:?Before you can invite people to like your page, add some content to it. Your very first post can be a simple "Welcome to our page!" Or you can post a deal or coupon, a picture, video, link, or whatever you think would be a good introduction to your brand.
• Publish and then invite followers:?Once you have filled in all the details, it's time to expand your audience! Invite people to like your page once all the information is completed.

2. Post Regularly on Your Facebook Page.

To use Facebook to promote your business, you need to do more than?setting up a Facebook page – you need to use it and post regularly.

"Post as frequently as you can … at a minimum, once per day," said Katie Campbell, social media manager at?Fundera. "Your audience and customers want to feel like they know your business and can relate to you."

While it's important to post regularly, it's just as important to post quality content. Campbell suggests posts that share behind-the-scenes information and photos about your employees and that show off your products or services. This shows your dedication to transparency and quality.

If you're unsure what your customers want to see, experiment. You can use Facebook's poll features to ask what they want to see or take a look at Facebook Page Insights, which helps take the guesswork out of sharing.

Facebook Insights?is free for every business page and shows valuable information, such as how many people engage with each post and how many people it reaches.

If you're concerned that posting on Facebook will take up too much of your time, consider using Facebook's publishing tools to schedule posts in advance. This can help you streamline the posting process – it also ensures that posting doesn't slip your mind.

3. Engage With Your Followers.

Facebook algorithms make it so that the longer a post stays without interaction, the less likely it is to make it to prominence. The key then is making sure all posts are highly engaging in order to be noticed and shared.

If you're using social media as a marketing channel, getting seen is precisely what you want. Engaging your followers to reply, like and repost can help skyrocket a post to the top of others' feeds. These 15 contributors to?Forbes Agency Council?explain how to craft social media posts that engage followers and, as a result, remain at the top of their feeds for a longer time.

The key to engagement is posting quality content. For best results, try to be friendly and conversational. Keep updated timely, and respond to comments and private messages.?

4. Make Creative Facebook Ads.

Since Facebook is no longer just a place to interact with people but a great business place too, one must utilize it to the fullest by making creative ads. Browsing through social media is a common thing in today’s time. It’s like opening a newspaper of the present tech-addicted generation. So, your ad should be something different if you want people to stop browsing their feed and focus on your product/service.

Facebook's tools are very effective and make it easy to target a specific audience. You can target people who like your page or by location, age, gender, and interests. Because Facebook collects user data, it can target your advertisement to those who are most likely to be interested in your product or service.

Try to?use videos for your ads?instead of images. We all love good visuals and things that explain themselves instead of having to read them. Even Facebook supports video ads more.

5. Provide Relevant Content for Your Facebook Audience.

While creating content for your Facebook business page, try to stay as relevant as possible. Include any recent events or anything that would bring your business to notice and people would also find it relatable.

• Posting a variety of content.?By posting an array of content, such as photos, videos, gifs, press releases, blogs, articles, etc., you are much more likely to entertain and engage your audience.
• Ending every post with a question.?One great way to create amazing, engaging content is by posing a question at the end of each post. This can help boost your engagement levels and make your page more interactive overall.
• Using contests in moderation.?Creating contests and allowing your customers to win prizes, discounts, etc., makes your page more engaging and can boost sales.

6. Leverage Friends of Fans.

People are most likely to try something if their friends already use it.

When customers interact with your page, their friends will see the activity in their newsfeeds. You can also foster more interactions using polls and asking questions followers want to answer.

"Social media is the new 'word of mouth.' You want people to be able to tag your business when they're talking about you," said Cat Smith, owner of?getting Social with Cat. "Your customers are your best advocates."

Encourage customers to check in to your business on Facebook when they visit by offering a small discount for anyone who does. Checking allows users to notify their friends where they are.?Host a contest or sweepstakes?and encourage users to post about your business.

You can also create special events and limited-time promotions and invite your followers, who can invite their friends in turn.

7. Generate engagement via Facebook groups.

There is a Facebook group for literally anything and everything if you look around. (In fact, there’s plenty dedicated to helping you learn how to grow your business on Facebook.) These groups have huge members from across the world. So, find the group that deals with your niche or has people who are interested in the same and post your content there.

Building community around your product, service or brand can be an excellent way to connect with customers on a one-on-one level. These groups can be immediately related to your business, they can be adjacent to your business, or they can help organize people around a cause relevant to your business. For example, a marketing agency may want to create a Facebook group centered around answering small business marketing questions, or a woman-owned business may want to create a group designed to share content with other female founders.

8. Focus on a Targeted Audience.

You need to be clear about the message you want to send your audience. For that, you should have a proper understanding of the niche you are working in as it will help in narrowing the audience you wish to target.

Using a targeted approach has helped businesses better as it is easier to understand customer behavior and provide better service. Facebook can be quite helpful with this regard too as Facebook ads can be tailored as per your needs and target people based on several demographic factors that you want to focus on.

9. Focus on Good Customer Service

The customer is the king of any business. So, while you are looking for ways how to grow your business on Facebook, this should top the list. Facebook is a great platform for customers to leave reviews and connect with you for business purposes, so you need to ensure their needs are met properly.

10. Go for paid marketing

One of the best things about Facebook marketing is that it reaches quite a huge number of people without spending a lot of money on it. That’s right, you can easily start with a small amount and increase your budget later if you want to.

The good thing about paid marketing is that it gets better reach as compared to you simply trying to market your products with your content. Promoted content always works in the favor of the advertiser

11. Use all Facebook features, not just Pages.

New Facebook features are rolled out regularly. As of 2020, consider utilizing tools like Facebook Live, Facebook Video, and Facebook Stories to help promote your business.

• Facebook Live: Go live on the air to engage with your audience in real-time. Your followers will receive a notification that you're going live and can tune in to watch. The recording is made available for playback so followers can watch later if they are unable to tune in. You could interview a guest, demonstrate how a product is used, or showcase an event where you may be exhibiting.
• Facebook Video: Video consumption – especially mobile video consumption – is on the rise. Utilize Facebook Video to get that video content in front of your Facebook audience. With 85% of businesses utilizing video content as a marketing tool, you're not just jumping on the bandwagon, you're using a growing, in-demand medium.
• Facebook Stories: Use the Stories feature to post content that will appear on users' feeds for 24 hours. (Stories expire after 24 hours.) This tool is great to help boost your business's organic reach, which is getting more difficult to achieve on Facebook as the platform continues to grow.

12. Do giveaways

It is hard to get people interested in new businesses. The initial investment is required to keep the business afloat. Hosting contests can get people interested and will also help in?creating engagement on your Facebook page.

These contests can be anything that you feel might interest your audience, do some research about what’s floating at the moment. But also keep your creative shoes on. If someone wins the contest, do some giveaways. This helps in forming a healthy relationship with customers and keeps you in their good books.

13. Create a plan.

Deciding what and when to post on Facebook should be part of an overall strategy that complements your other marketing, sales, and public relations activities. Organize these materials in a?content calendar, which you or your staff can use to plan and track content that's published on Facebook and other marketing platforms and channels. Use this content calendar to make sure that important holidays are recognized, sales are announced, company announcements are shared to your Facebook page, and much more.

Conclusion

Facebook is a great platform to get the attention of people if you do things strategically. And knowing how to grow your business on Facebook is critical in this digital age. Most businesses pay special attention to how their social media feeds perform as it has become the performance indicator in today’s digital world.

So, do follow the tips and use them to your advantage as it’ll help you in?growing your business on Facebook?in the long run.