Many businesses rely on social media marketing to increase business. Social media today has become a powerhouse when it comes to businesses generating more brand awareness and gaining loyal customers. As 2019 comes to a close, Facebook is still one of the leading social media platforms for businesses to not only connect but to engage new audiences. For this reason, here are six ways to succeed at Facebook Marketing in 2020 and beyond.
1. Focus Content for Facebook Groups
Many business owners create their business page and begin posting their curated content for their audience to see. While this is a great method to establish credibility and start bringing traffic to your Facebook page, your methods can be better spent focusing on creating a Facebook Group or becoming part of an existing group.
Facebook is focusing its attention away from public pages to private experiences. This is primarily due to the fact that private messaging and small groups are taking over online communities. Many of these private experiences are happening within groups on Facebook. This is why posting within groups needs to be a primary focus for business owners moving forward.
Groups are hyper-focused and tend to bring more engagement. Additionally, the ability to narrow groups down to individuals’ interests allow businesses to create more meaningful social interactions with their customers versus just posting on their business page.
Another benefit of a Facebook group is that it can serve as a valuable tool to track data pertaining to potential customers. Facebook groups are automatically putting your audience into a segment, which can be just as powerful as targeted ads. Along with this, Facebook groups give businesses a real-time view of conversations that their audience is having. These valuable insights make it easier for business owners to make better business decisions and shape the customer experience.
2. Don’t Just Post Links, Respond to People
As a business owner, your first instinct is probably to post a link that leads to your products, services or website. After all, your goal is to run a business successfully and in order to do that, you have to be able to direct potential customers to where you need them to go.
The only problem with this is that many businesses post links and go on with their day. Meanwhile, they are providing little to no engagement with potential customers. It’s important for businesses to actually take the time to respond to those individuals who are engaging with them and inquiring about their business. This lets your audience know that you care about their opinions and want to keep an open line of communication with them.
It’s these steps that will make potential customers click on the links you provide while simultaneously increasing your odds of turning potential customers into loyal ones. Not forgetting to mention, engaging with people on your Facebook page keeps you at the top of their minds, which will give you a competitive advantage in the long run.
3. Add Video & Go Live
People are spending more time watching videos in 2019. In fact, 45% of people watch more than an hour of video on Facebook or YouTube a week. Adding video content to your Facebook marketing strategy is an effective way of increasing that coveted engagement metrics
With that said, going live is one of the best ways that businesses can engage with their audience on Facebook.
Going live gives businesses an opportunity to get more personal with their audience and offer even more transparency. This helps your audience form a better connection with your business. In turn, you will be more likely to turn them into customers. With that said, the more engagement you can create on your page, the better this is for your business when it comes to Facebook’s algorithm.
4. Engage with Customers Through Tools on Facebook
Unfortunately, many businesses underutilize the tools that are available to help promote their business on Facebook. However, the marketing possibilities with Facebook are nearly unmatched when tapping into the right tools. Tools like Facebook Messenger allow businesses to connect with their customers instantly. Whether it be to answer a customer’s query or promote a new product or service, Facebook Messenger can be very influential in connecting you with your ideal customers.
In fact, 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger each month, which makes Facebook Messenger an excellent way to reach more people. Additionally, Facebook Messenger is a better alternative to email marketing, as there is a higher click-through rate.
Even more, when you integrate platforms such as Many Chat, you can create your own chatbot and send newsletters through messenger as a convenient way to keep your customers abreast with what’s going on in the business, including new product or service launch, upcoming sales, and just informing them in general on things pertaining to the company.
5. Be Consistent
If you want to make the most out of your Facebook marketing, then consistency truly is key. However, it’s not just about quantity but consistent quality content. It’s not enough for businesses to make one good post on Facebook and then abandon their accounts. You want to bring awareness to your business, show customers that you are dedicated, and that you are a credible source. The more consistent you are with your content means the more consistent and assertive your brand message is.
In addition to this, your marketing patterns impact the way your audience views your business. For instance, if you post video content on Facebook sporadically, not only will your audience not know when to look for your content, but they will also be less engaged. This is because sporadic content sends a bad message. Your audience will assume you are not invested in your business and that you may not deliver on what you promise.
6. Consider Using Facebook Ads & Boosts
Unfortunately, even with all the techniques mentioned, Facebook’s algorithms currently do not favor organic traffic nearly as much as they used to—and certainly not those who are not yet proficient using these tactics.
So how can you as a business broaden your influence and get in front of a wider and deeper pool of potential clients on Facebook?
Start using Facebook ads and spend some money boosting your posts.
This will help you:
- Compensate for your declining organic reach;
- Reach a wider, but targeted audience; and
- Leverage the platform effectively until your organic game kicks in.