With all that’s been happening in the world, if you’re curious about how you can grow your business in 2020 and beyond, the next 15 minutes are very crucial for you.

You probably already know that mastering Facebook marketing is a must for any brand that hopes to succeed.

We also don’t need to tell you that Facebook has a huge user base. A whopping 2.4 billion people use it every month.

But maybe you didn’t know how often people are using Facebook to interact with businesses of all sizes. For example, two-thirds of Facebook users say they visit a local business Facebook Page at least once a week.

Studies show that due to the following reasons, some businesses that were initially doing very well, eventually failed:

  • No presence on Facebook
  • Limited use of Facebook marketing
  • Limited knowledge of Facebook marketing

This article will address all of these issues and discuss them in detail. So, if you’ve not been using Facebook marketing adequately, this article will blow your mind.

Potential customers are already searching for businesses like yours on Facebook. A detailed, focused Facebook marketing strategy is the only way to tap into this existing audience. As Facebook itself says, your Business Page is the cornerstone of your online identity.

By following these tips and tricks, you can grow your business by 40%. 

Table of Contents

Step-by-step guide to use Facebook to skyrocket your business

Setting up a Facebook Page can be done free of cost. Once you’ve created your Page, you can also use it to publish content, link to your website, and engage with followers for free.

This makes your Facebook Page a very important tool for any digital marketer.

You also need to create a Facebook Business Page before you can start using paid marketing strategies on Facebook, including Facebook ads. So, the first step of using Facebook to boost your business is to create a Facebook Page.

Here’s how:

1. Create your Facebook Business Page to to tap into 95% new audience

  • Go over to facebook.com/pages/create. You should be logged into a Facebook personal account to get started, but your personal information will not appear on your new business page.
  • Choose your page type
  • Enter your business details.

2. Adding brand images is essential to standing out in users’ newsfeed

Upload your profile and cover photos. Make sure to use the optimum image sizes for Facebook so they look their best.

3. Complete your Page info to build a solid profile

Businesses have been reported to lose 30% in potential revenue because of failing to complete their page info.  To avoid this, click Edit Page Info and fill in the following sections:

  • Description
  • Contact information
  • Extra options

4. Create a unique identity with a Facebook username 

Your username helps people find you on Facebook. Click Create Page @Username to make one. It can be up to 50 characters long.

  • Choose a search-friendly Page name. In most cases, this will be the same as your brand name.
  • If possible, use a consistent username across all social networks.

5. Add a call-to-action button to increase sales by 30%

A call-to-action button gives people a convenient way to reach out to you, buy your products, or otherwise engage with your business. Click Add a Button under your cover photo to set one up.

6. Review your Facebook Page settings to ensure there are no errors

Your Facebook Page settings give you custom control over who sees what on your page. Take a look to make sure you understand the privacy and security settings in particular.

That’s it! We’ve equipped you with all the basic knowledge about why Facebook is integral to business success and how you can get started with it.

Digital marketers stand by the fact that just a superficial understanding of Facebook gets you nowhere. To truly use Facebook to increase business revenue by as much as 60%, you need to be familiar with how it works. 

If you’re one of those people who want to unlock this additional 60% revenue, this next section is for you.

Different types of Facebook posts

Now that you’ve created your Facebook Page, you need to think about what kind of content to post.

Here’s a list of the different post types you can use to engage with your followers. For inspiration, we’ve included some top performing Facebook marketing case studies.

A Facebook text post can get you started 

This is the most basic type of Facebook post. It is literally nothing but text: No photos, no videos, not even a link.

A text-only post on its own can’t direct traffic to your website or increase conversions, but it can be used to spark engagement on your Page. Asking a question can be a great way to get people involved, like Kylie Jenner often does: Her simple questions bring in more than 2,000 comments.

Not only this, but it brought in loads of customer feedback that Kylie can now use to create Social Media  content that she knows rings close to the fans. Asking your follower base about their wants can be a great way to figure out what kind of content to create. 

Facebook photo post can give you better engagement

Similar to a text post, a photo post is used to create awareness or spark engagement. In general, photo posts see much higher engagement than text posts.

Photo posts are a great way to showcase your products, especially if you’re going for a high visual appeal, or if your product is something people need to see in use to understand better.

Facebook video posts provide the best engagement

A short video post can be useful if your product has strong visual appeal. Since videos start automatically in the News Feed, even a clip that’s just a few seconds long can be a great way to catch someone’s eye. 

Long video posts are a better strategy for ongoing series or sharing memories. If you’re using video to tell a story, Facebook recommends taking at least one minute, and ideally three minutes or more.

Video posts can be an essential way to connect with followers. They generate even better engagement rates than photo posts do.

Facebook Live video post to connect with your followers

Facebook Live video is a method to video broadcast live on Facebook. It can be a great way to connect with followers by giving them a behind-the-scenes look at your company, your product, or the people behind your brand.

People love it: Since the launch of live in 2016, more than two billion people have watched a Facebook Live video.

Linked content post can increase website traffic

A linked content post is exactly what the name suggests, a post that links to content outside of Facebook.

These kinds of posts get more engagement than status posts, but less than photo or video posts.

Link posts are extremely easy to create. All you need to do is copy and paste a link into the status box and Facebook will automatically populate the meta description and photo. That means you get a great-looking post with very little effort.

Make sure to add some extra text to tell readers what benefit they would receive by clicking the link. While most of your link posts should be related to your own content or link to your own products, you could also share content from other industry leaders.

Facebook poll post can tell you what your audience is thinking

Earlier, we mentioned that asking a question can help get your Facebook audience engaged. A Facebook poll takes this concept up a notch.

A poll offers followers the chance to vote for one of the options. Results become public once voting is over.

This kind of a Facebook marketing strategy can help build brand awareness.

Facebook Stories are another great way to connect with followers

Facebook Stories are photos or short video posts that disappear after 24 hours. They are shown at the top of the News Feed. Photos appear for five seconds, and videos can be up to 20 seconds long.

More than half a billion people view Facebook Stories every day. When you’re thinking about how to use Facebook for business in 2020, Stories can offer a great way to connect with fans. And since Stories appear at the top of News Feed, they’re safe from the Facebook algorithm

Pinned post can serve multiple purposes

A pinned post is simply a regular post that is “pinned” to the top of your Facebook Page.

It’s always the first thing people see when they visit your Page.

Make a decision on what to pin? Maybe you have one piece of content that is better than the rest. Something that really captures your brand and shows potential followers exactly why they should follow your Page.

You can also use this space to:

  • share important updates
  • display an amazing video
  • create awareness about a current campaign

You can use it for anything that will get people to engage with your brand. And you can change your pinned post as much as you like.

How to choose the perfect type of post to grow your brand

So with all this information, how can you figure out exactly what type of post to use for your business?

One way to understand what might resonate with your audience is to engage in social listening. This can help you learn:

  • What exactly do existing customers like about your company or your products?
  • What problems are people facing that you know your product could solve?
  • How can you differentiate yourself from the competition?

You can start by posting content that’s performing well on other channels. Have you uploaded a video on YouTube that’s getting a great response? Share it on Facebook and Twitter, too. 

Of course, if you’re really curious about what your audience wants to see, you can always ask them directly.

How to create a Facebook marketing strategy that will crush your competition

Now that you’re familiar with the different kinds of Facebook posts, let’s look at some Facebook marketing ideas to help you build a solid strategy for this ultra-powerful platform.

1. Identify your audience properly if you want to succeed

To engage your audience effectively, you have to first understand who your target audience is.

Research the following questions:

  • How old are your target followers?
  • Where do they live?
  • What kind of jobs do they have?
  • What are their challenges and pain points?
  • How and when do they use Facebook?

Use Audience Insights to deep dive into the minute details about potential customers. You can use this tool to find information on factors such as:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Education
  • Location
  • Language
  • Facebook usage
  • Past purchasing activity

This is one of the key Facebook marketing tips for using the platform successfully: Always have a clear idea of exactly who you are trying to reach.

2. Set targets to motivate your team

It can be tempting to focus on superficial metrics, like increasing post or page Likes. But unless those Likes are part of a broader marketing plan, they’re not going to provide a monetary return.

For your Facebook marketing strategy to be effective, you need to have clear targets tied to measurable business objectives.

The targets will vary for every business, but they should all focus on actions that have a real impact. For example:

  • generating leads
  • increasing traffic to your website
  • improving conversions percentage

Furthermore, keep in mind that you need to make your goals much more specific and measurable. Here, we recommend using the S.M.A.R.T. goals  framework.

Everything you engage in on Facebook, every post, every comment, every ad, should work to support your targets. To keep things on track, it’s a good idea to deconstruct your strategy into a Facebook mission statement for your brand.

By having clearly outlined goals will also help you create an effective Facebook style guide for your brand. This will ensure you maintain a consistent brand voice that works to support your targets.

3. Plan your content mix to maximize Return on Investment

Once you’ve established your targets, you need to create a plan for how to achieve them.

A major part of that plan is coming up with the right content mix. We recommend starting with either the 80-20 rule or the social media rule of thirds.

If you follow the 80-20 rule:

  • use 80% of your Facebook posts to inform, educate, and entertain
  • use the other 20% to promote your brand

Remember that using Facebook for business is all about creating and maintaining relationships, and only self-promotion is not a great way to do that. But if you provide enough value, your followers will be open to learning about your products and services in the 20 percent of posts that are more sales-focused.

The social media rule of thirds also prescribes a good mix of valuable content vs. promotional posts:

  • one-third of your content should share ideas and stories
  • one-third should involve personal interactions with your followers
  • the remaining third can promote your business

The goal is to provide more value than self-promotional material to keep followers engaged.

Facebook’s algorithm will always penalize brands that focus solely on sales. Facebook wants its users’ news feeds to be full of content they want to actually engage with.

As a digital marketer, you should want that too. All those Likes and shares help extend your reach and put your brand in front of new people.

It’s important to post consistently. Create a content calendar to help balance your mix of content types and keep your posting schedule on track. 

4. Optimize your Page for maximizing engagement

In order to achieve the Facebook marketing targets you set in Step no. 2, you need to make it easy for people to land on your Facebook Page. And you need to compel them to Like your Page once they get there.

Next, it’s time to get those views, Likes, and Follows coming in.

First, make it easy for people you already interact with on other platforms to find your Facebook Page:

  • Link to your Page in your email signature, newsletter, and other social platforms
  • Incorporate Facebook Like and share buttons on your website and blog to make it easy for people to find, follow, and share your Page in one click

Of course, if you want people to share your content, you need to make sure the content you post to Facebook has real value. Creating valuable and entertaining content that followers will be happy to share with their connections is the best way to expand your organic reach.

Facebook is a social network. If you’re not engaged with your Page, why should your followers be? Followers who find themselves talking to a wall will abandon your Page for more responsive brands.

Your mantra should be reply, reply, reply. Reply to every message and comment. Answer questions.

Finally, make sure your Page is updated. Schedule consistent checks of your Facebook Page to check for and remove outdated content. Make sure your About section is accurate, up-to-date, and on-brand.

5. Consider using other Facebook tools to capture the market

Once you’ve started to build up your following, you may want to consider adding some extra tools to your marketing plan.

Facebook Groups can offer valuable insights

With 1.4 billion people using Facebook Groups every month, it’s an audience too large to ignore. Think of Groups as the online equivalent of your favorite restaurant or coffee shop. They are a place for people to connect, share information and ideas.

Facebook Groups can also be used to showcase your expertise and provide added value to your followers. This is a great way to build trust and credibility.

Sometimes fans will create their own Facebook Group with a focus on your brand (search Facebook Groups for FitBit to see this in action). It’s a good idea to join these groups to make sure that the conversation is positive and factual.

For now, Facebook Groups are all about organic interaction, but eMarketer predicts ads will come to Groups in 2021.

Facebook chatbot grew by 5.6 times in 2018 alone.

Facebook users exchange 20 billion messages with businesses every month. Facebook’s own research shows users expect a business to respond almost immediately. One surveyed Facebook user said he would only wait 10 minutes for a response before moving on to another brand.

Hence chatbots on Messenger may be the answer to this need for quick replies. This can be the reason why the number of bots grew 5.6 times in 2018 alone.

Facebook Business Manager

Once you’re familiar with the basics of your Facebook Page, it’s a good idea to set up Facebook Business Manager. Facebook calls it “a one-stop shop to manage business tools, business assets and employee access to these assets.”

It’s a central dashboard to manage your organic and paid Facebook posts. It also allows you to work effectively with team members and outside contractors and agencies.

6. Incorporate Facebook ads and the Facebook pixel for effective monitoring

Just because you post something on your Facebook Page, that doesn’t mean all your followers will see it. In fact, you might be surprised by the percentage of followers your organic posts will likely reach:

  • For Pages with fewer than 10,000 followers: 8.2% organic reach
  • For Pages with more than 10,000 followers: 3% organic reach

This is because the Facebook algorithm prioritizes posts from users’ friends and family.

Fortunately, you can extend your reach without breaking the bank using Facebook Ads.

Like other advertisements, a Facebook ad is content you pay to share with a specific, targeted audience. It’s all about getting your brand in front of the right audience and achieving your conversion milestones.

A Facebook pixel is a simple piece of code that you place on your website to:

  • track conversions
  • remarket to people who have already visited your website
  • build targeted custom audiences for future ads

7. Track, measure, and refine to succeed 

Facebook marketing is not a do-it-one-time-and-forget strategy. You’ve got to track and measure performance so you can see what worked and what didn’t. This will reveal how you can improve in the future.

Facebook offers built-in audience engagement tracking through Facebook Insights. You can measure:

  • likes
  • reach (how many people saw your posts)
  • engagement (how many people liked, clicked, shared, or commented)
  • which of your posts result in people unliking your Page

Facebook Insights will also help you understand which post types work best for your Page and which types do not. 

Beyond tracking your success, it’s important to use the information about what’s working and what’s not to make adjustments to your Facebook marketing strategy. The data will show you what you should keep doing, and which tactics you need to tweak.

Through a continuous strategy of target-formulation, measuring results, and tweaking your strategy, you can improve your performance over time.