Facebook for Your Small Business
Facebook- It’s definitely still worth using
The words ‘I have tried Facebook and it doesn’t really work’ frequently roll off the tongue of many a small business owner. It is understood that Facebook doesn’t attract any attention from target audiences, and that the returns are minimal and infrequent, but why is this?
Well, with so many shifts in algorithm preferences it does make sense that it may be too much like hard work for small business owners. Let’s be honest, who wants to sit chasing likes and shares all day just to get ahead organically? I’ll tell you who… me.
I’m not going in for the hard sell here; I can’t stand that shit.
Instead I’m going to tell you why I love Facebook, because I really do. I love using it for both B2B and B2C marketing. I love that there are over sixty million business pages on Facebook, and I love that there are more being added every day. If Facebook really is a complete waste of time then how are so many people using it successfully?
Well, there are a few reasons why that may be, but if you want to find out more about how you should be using Facebook and other social media channels for your business you can check out my blog, Social Media isn’t Just for Big Businesses, for further information.
Facebook is an amazing tool to raise awareness of your brand.
Okay, so initial thoughts may be that the market is so saturated that your voice will never be heard. Good news is that it isn’t about how loud you shout on Facebook that gets you noticed, it’s about who you talk to.
In my experience, business owners are reluctant to use Facebook because they believe that their target audience isn’t there, i.e. other business owners. This just isn’t the case, most of us have a personal Facebook account… even business owners, so technically you’re actually targeting your audience indirectly if you do it well.
Whether you’re the CEO of a company, or on work experience, you still look at an organisation’s reviews on Facebook before you choose to buy from them.
Facebook boosts your website’s SEO
A website without social media driving traffic to it is like having a leaflet printed and putting it in a free paper. Yes, it’s there, but not many people are flicking through its pages.
Keeping a steady stream of traffic going to your website drastically improves your SEO, and Facebook is perfect for this. With the tools and analytics available on your Facebook platform, you can keep track of how your campaigns are being received by your audience, and successfully direct traffic to your website from the platform itself.
From sharing your blogs, through to something as simple as having a link to your website on your about page, Facebook provides a platform that facilitates a relationship between your customers and your website.
Don’t forget, search engines love an active web address!
Facebook is perfect for promoting your products and services.
As we all know, people like people, and by promoting your business on Facebook you really get to demonstrate the human side of your brand.
Unlike other social media platforms that are associated with business marketing, Facebook is a relaxed space where you can share images, videos, live streams, product reviews and more with your audience. By thinking outside of the box and mixing things up a little you can get a great percentage of engagement without having to spend a fortune reaching masses of people.
Getting high engagement rates every time with a smaller audience is far more effective than going viral once and then dropping off the radar. The aim is to build trust and a rapport with your customers, if you have an office dog be sure to put their wet sniffer on there too; it works!
Now, let’s not forget about Facebook Ads.
By using the dedicated Ads Manager, you can evaluate the success of your call to actions, and don’t even get me started on that Facebook Pixel; it’s genius.
So, as you can tell, I use Facebook a lot.
I use it for my own businesses, I use it for my client’s businesses, and I use it on a personal level too. Facebook is such a great platform for giving your customers what they want, even if that’s only obtaining your email address or sending your business page a message directly, that I cannot recommend it enough.
Yes, it is a little tricky to begin with, but hopefully you will begin to understand that Facebook is so much more than an annoyance that pushes your services in front of people. Done correctly it can have such a positive impact on your brand that you will begin to wonder why you didn’t dip your toe again a little earlier.
Fancy joining me in the water? Let’s make it happen.
Written by Keeley Sawdon-Molloy