Facebook can be a tricky game. The algorithms change frequently and sporadically. If it isn’t something you spend your entire day understanding, it’s nearly impossible to keep up. Luckily for you, that’s what we do.
Here are our best tips for navigating Facebook for Business. For now anyway…
DOs:
Go LIVE!
Live video is not only getting reach, but it is getting fast reach. Mark Z calls Facebook video a mega trend and Facebook LIVE is hottest of all!
Boost your best content!
Organic (free) reach is not dead, but it won’t give you enough energy to change your business. Strongly consider a Facebook ad budget and when you do, you’ll want to focus on boosting Video for biggest ROI (reach on investment).
Use your Facebook page to collect data!
In the early days of Facebook it was believed that Facebook was used for data collection and email was used to convert. More and more users are converting sales, or transactions directly inside Facebook, but we still believe targeted data collection is the greatest gift Facebook can give small business. Use these emails to drive custom audiences and also spread your message outside of Facebook.
Promote links to your website!
We see many brands posting things on Facebook linking every place under the sun except their on website. It is ok to share articles, but think about the limited attention span of our fans, and make sure that you use that valuable attention you have of theirs to promote your own branded links.
DON’Ts:
Post flyers on your Facebook page.
Facebook isn’t as strict against text on images as they once were but you will not see the reach you need using images with text. Focus on video!
Post nothing but offers and promotions.
When businesses or brands do this, they risk losing the audience they have built forever. Once they become un-engaged ,it is very hard to get them back. Focus on a nice mixture of great content, video, offers, and images….balance is key to maintaining a great relationship with your fans.
Be careful not to promote your posts to an audience which is too large.
Often times we see local restaurant promoting their menu for the night to their fans and their friends… including friends who live in other states. This is not a great strategy. Yes, you will get more visibility, but does someone in Arkansas really have an impact on your restaurant in Orlando? Instead, focus on the smaller more target audience closer to your business. For local businesses, we like 3-5 mile radius targeting. For a larger brand with a nationwide audience, it is still important to find a very targeted audience to maintain ad efficiency. So a company that sells Coconut oil for example would focus on fans and friends of friends who like coconut oil products instead of simply targeting all friends of friends.