What Is Facebook Marketing?

Facebook has been a part of the modern marketer’s lexicon since companies realized its potential to reach key audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing channels. Now that it’s an essential part of any marketing strategy, the challenges that arise when it comes to marketing on Facebook consist of standing out in a crowded space, balancing the need for a Facebook-specific strategy with the limited capacity of cross-channel social teams and weaving in brand consistency that speaks to the channel’s unique audience.

Efficient and effective Facebook marketing is not the easiest code to crack, but the marketers who have done it strengthen their wider marketing strategies. They understand the social network for what it is: a traffic driver, an engagement goldmine and a channel that is constantly evolving. To get started, read the following comprehensive guide on introducing Facebook into your social media marketing strategy.

Set up a Business Account

This is the first (and most important) step for a reason. Without a proper Facebook business page, it won’t be possible to gather account insights, which is essential to implementing your Facebook marketing strategy. The good news is that creating a Facebook business page is extremely easy.

1. Start by navigating to the Pages section on your personal Facebook profile. Select Create New Page from the drop down menu on the left-hand side. Yes, we said your personal profile, but don’t worry, none of your personal account information will be public on your new page.
2. Choose your page type. You’ll be given the option to choose between business or brand and community or public figure. Pick whichever option best describes your page.
3. Enter your business details. This includes filling in your brand description, contact information, operating hours and profile and cover photos. This is also when you can update your @username so it’s easy for users to find you.
4. You want to ensure there are plenty of calls to action for users to take advantage of. Under your cover photo, you can add buttons to your profile that will amplify your e-commerce platform and allow users to shop your brand directly, refer users to your email marketing subscriptions, or to contact you if they need customer service.
   

Now that your page is ready to go, it’s time to get acquainted with your audience, your platform and your post options.

Learn Your Target Audience

The majority of Facebook users fall into the 25-34-year-old range, a sought-after demographic for marketers. It’s difficult for marketers to know ahead of time precisely which touchpoint on the news feed is the one that will inspire click-throughs or purchases, however, if the demographic found on Facebook is the one your brand is trying to retain or tap into, investing in Facebook marketing is a must. This will propel your team forward to not only meet content marketing goals, but also overall company goals.

Know Your Platform 

Although you may be extremely familiar with Facebook from a personal perspective, there are plenty of different ways of posting that you might not know about. 

The most classic forms of posting still exist on your business page. Text posts, photo posts, video posts, live posts, stories and link posts all still play a pivotal role in your Facebook feed. Text posts are an option if you have a simple message with no attachments to share, but we always recommend attaching some sort of media like photo or video if you want to maximize your engagement. Link posts are great if you have a web page, product page, news, or a blog post you want to show your followers. By simply attaching the link to your post, users will be able to see the hero image of the page, as well as a short description of the page’s contents. Be sure to also utilize the extra post additions when applicable, like hosting a watch party, checking in, adding a feeling or activity, or hosting a Q&A.

If you have a post that performed extra well, or you want to garner extra attention? Pin it. By pinning it, it will be “pinned” to the top of your feed for all your page visitors to see until you un-pin it.

With all these different post types, how is there any way to know which you should be using for what? Easy. Facebook has insights built directly into its platform that will help you analyze which posts are performing well and why.

Facebook Marketing: How To Do It Right

Facebook users spend an average of 1.7 seconds on a piece of content before moving on. Younger demographics scroll even quicker than their older counterparts. As marketers have less than two seconds to grab the attention of the people they’re targeting, the types of content being presented need to be top-notch. In particular, the performance of video content across all social channels, including Facebook, has made marketers take notice. Incorporating video alongside static content, as well as engaging and replying in the comments, will set your marketing strategy up for success.

Create a Strategy

Starting a Facebook marketing strategy from scratch can be intimidating, but you are able to use the resources already at your disposal. Begin with repurposing a variety of content from other social channels that have performed well, or tap into any user-generated content your brand has been tagged in. Once that content is in front of your Facebook audience, you’ll quickly know which are your high performers and you can refine your content strategy from there. To learn more about how to launch an omnichannel marketing strategy, be sure to read our e-book.

Analyze and Reproduce 

The best Facebook marketing strategies are flexible and data-backed. As with any other channel, what was successful six months ago, or even a few weeks ago, may not work today. Deciding on your most important metrics and reviewing top performers, reveals what should be reproduced and iterated on. It’s just as important to look at low-performing content to understand what types of posts should be slowed down or eliminated. Something that may have been a mediocre performer on Instagram or Twitter may have struck a chord on Facebook. Gems can be discovered as long as you’re continuously analyzing. These learnings are incredibly valuable and can mean the difference between a marketing strategy that’s stuck in 2015 and a successful one that will propel your marketing team towards your goals.

Dash Hudson’s Facebook Insights

The right insights take your team’s Facebook marketing strategy to the next level. Dash Hudson’s Facebook Insights allows you to see a quick view of your Facebook page health and focus on your most important metrics with our topline stats. Set benchmarks and understand which posts are driving the results you need to reach your goals and which posts should be taken out of the rotation. Focus on specific metrics and date ranges and pull campaign or quarterly reports in seconds, all while easily sharing with your team. No more useless metrics, or manual calculations. Have the info you need to stand out in a crowded market and evolve your Facebook marketing strategy alongside your audience’s tastes.

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