Facebook Marketing: How To Do Marketing on Facebook?
Millennials! I am sure you don’t need a reminder of just how big Facebook was during our formative years. Back then, everyone had an account. Those who didn’t (and wanted one) either begged their parents to allow them to have one or set one up on the sly. Since its inception as an application for keeping friends and family close, Facebook has come a long way. Not only is Facebook the reigning social media website today, but it is also a powerful tool used by many businesses to market their products and services. Are you a budding entrepreneur or an aspiring digital marketer who wants to learn how to do marketing on Facebook? Read on to know more!
History of Facebook
Harvard students Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes launched TheFacebook.com in 2004. At the time, students from Harvard could use the social networking website for uploading their pictures and class-related details (class schedules and club memberships).
However, in a matter of mere months, its popularity skyrocketed. Soon enough, students from other famous universities such as Yale and Stanford were allowed access. During the same year, MasterCard and other major corporations began to pay Facebook in exchange for exposure.
By the end of 2004, Facebook had one million active users. In 2005, high-school and university students from outside the United States were allowed to join the website. Therefore, by the end of 2005, the service had six million monthly active users.
In 2006, Facebook allowed anyone above the age of 13 years to join the social networking website. Mark Zuckerberg had foretold that advertisers would be able to generate effective relationships with consumers. He was proven true as Procter & Gamble ended up attracting around 14,000 people to a promotional effort. Facebook opened new vistas in direct consumer engagement that were not possible before, and soon enough, an increasing number of businesses began incorporating it in their marketing and advertising strategies.
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Digital Marketing with Facebook
Now, we are going to discuss how to do marketing on Facebook. Facebook is a tremendous sink of opportunities for digital marketers who hope to attract potential customers towards their products and services. Get this: Facebook currently has nearly 1.56 billion active users (the world has 7 billion people; so around one-seventh of the population is on Facebook).
Furthermore, it has been identified that an average user spends about an hour of their time on a social networking website. These statistics only seem to be rising; therefore, Facebook seems an indispensable tool for making it big in the game.
Setting up A Facebook Page
This is the first step any digital marketer should complete if he wants to do marketing on Facebook. Nearly 70 million businesses worldwide already market their products/services through a Facebook page, and there is a good reason why. Essentially, a Facebook page helps businesses showcase their brand. Think of it as a profile page, but for businesses.
These pages enable a company to identify itself through listings of product offerings and services. They also allow companies to project a persona through the sharing of images, links, and posts.
Here, businesses can truly connect with their target customers. They can share multimedia that is related to their product and is also appealing to the viewers.
Oh, and one more important thing: setting up a Facebook page for a business is free.
- Log in to your Facebook account or sign up for one
- Then, head to facebook.com/pages/create
- Here, you are offered two types of pages to create. Select between “Business/brand” and “Community/public figure”
- Assuming you choose “Business/brand,” select the type of business
- Choose a name for the page, and do so wisely!
- Click on “Get started”
- And with that, you will be taken to another page where you can upload a profile photo (this can be your company’s logo) and a cover photo (make sure this is eye-catching while being relevant to your business)
- Then, write a short description of your business, and make sure that it briefly and engagingly conveys a clear idea of the core nature of the company. You can also add your contact and business details, such as the working days and hours
- Now, create a username for your page. Doing so will help other users locate your page more easily. However, be mindful of two things: it cannot exceed 50 characters and it must be unique.
- Include your page in shortcuts to personalize your page and have easy access to it
- You shall now have a basic outline of your Facebook business page. However, before you launch it, there is something that you can do. Assign page roles, i.e., determine which individuals of your companies will have editing access to the business page. To do so, go to “Settings,” select “Page Roles,” and add collaborators as necessary. These roles include admins, editors, moderators, advertisers, analysts, and jobs managers
- Now, customize your notifications to receive alerts about any activity on your page. You can receive alerts for every activity on your page or every 12/24 hours
- Finally, set up a call-to-action (CTA) by clicking “+ Add a Button”, which is present below the cover photo. CTAs can include wanting to learn more, downloading an app, visiting the company webpage, and so on
- Finally, consider adding custom tabs that allow users to navigate through the content on your page. Interestingly, you can create a customized app using the “Facebook Developer” portal as well
- Truly finally (no, really), verify your page. This will help provide an additional layer of authenticity to your profile
There you have it: A Facebook business page up and ready to go! What next? Next, you create content through different types of posts.
Types of Posts
1) Facebook Text Post
This is a simple post, wherein you use text to convey a message. However, be warned: the Facebook algorithm generally does not allow much exposure to these posts in the news feed. Therefore, if you aim to drive traffic towards your page, these may not be the best option at hand.
2) Facebook Images
To do marketing on Facebook, these are a great way to increase reader engagement because pictures speak louder than words do. Did you know that Facebook image posts experience 2.3 times greater engagement than bare-bones posts, and actually account for 87% of all interactions? So, make sure that your images are vibrant, clear, and eye-catching. They may help you make your point better and faster. Furthermore, ensure that your pictures have a consistent style; this builds your brand image.
3) Facebook Video Posts
If pictures speak louder than words do, then videos most definitely speak louder than pictures do! And on Facebook, aspiring marketers can use them as an effective tool for marketing their business. Just think about it: an estimated 100 million hours of Facebook videos are watched by users every single day. Around 54% of the users wish for more video-based content from marketers. A Facebook executive event went so far as to predict that by 2021, Facebook would be an all-video platform.
So, make sure you use this modality to its full advantage. Create artful, engaging videos that deliver your content in a matter of a few seconds to a few minutes. I am not a fan of long marketing videos unless they are exceedingly brilliant, and I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way.
4) Facebook Live Videos
This is a great way to engage with your target consumers in real-time. It allows a unique perspective into your market and helps you identify key issues through user comments. Live videos enable marketers to have a more intimate interaction with their audiences. Marketers can conduct live polls and get invaluable data.
5) Facebook Links
Now, although these don’t attract as much engagement as videos or images do, Facebook links or linked posts are still a credible way to generate reader engagement. Herein, marketers can add a URL to the post, and readers can see a preview of the target website. These URLs could lead to landing pages, or some other pages relevant to the industry and business.
6) Facebook Stories
I’m sure you’ve gone down a rabbit scrolling hell-hole of these strangely addictive posts at least once, only to look at the time and wonder, “Where the hell did all that time go?” Facebook stories are a great way to showcase content quickly and easily. What’s more, they cannot be touched by the Facebook algorithm, so they are guaranteed viewership.
7) Pinned Posts
Just like one would pin an important note to a soft-board, you can pin important posts relevant to your business to the top of your page. This ensures that no matter how old your post is, it will be the first thing viewers see when they visit your page.
8) Facebook Ads
Running an Ads campaign is a great way to boost your content and push it towards the right people. Essentially, you pay for a post to receive exposure. I recommend that aspiring marketers read up on this very effective way while learning about how to do marketing on Facebook.
Now that you know the types of Facebook posts that you can use to market your business, let’s move on to generating an efficient Facebook marketing strategy in our next module on how to do marketing on Facebook.
Facebook Marketing Strategy
Know Your Audience
Needless to say, just like you cannot crack a millennial joke and expect a 90-year-old grandma to get it (unless said grandma is a hip-and-savage internet crawler), you cannot post random content without knowing your audience. The Facebook Audience Insights tool is a free built-in tool that can be used to identify the characteristics of your customers.
It can be used to research data on consumer-specific factors, such as age, education, gender, purchasing activity, language, location, and Facebook usage. You will be able to identify the content that best caters to your target audience, and design posts accordingly.
Using A Calendar To Track Your Marketing Strategy
Imagine two scenarios. In one, you have a desk littered with papers, books, post-it notes, empty coffee mugs, and balled-up papers. In the other, the books are piled on one side by their titles, the important papers are stacked in files by their content, the post-it notes are pinned to a soft board in order of their importance, and a small trash can holds all your balled-up paper trash.
Unless you are someone whose mind thrives in chaos, chances are that you may work better at Desk #2. The point that I am trying to make is that you need to organize your work if you want to get anything done efficiently.
A social media calendar helps Facebook marketers do just that. It is a spreadsheet where they can plan and schedule their posts for specific times. It should include a daily schedule divided into time slots and columns for messages, links, campaign names, and so on.
Say you have finally managed to book a weekend at your favorite restaurant in your favorite holiday location. Would you like to constantly look at your social media and plan and post content even on your hard-earned holiday? No, and that’s why you can schedule posts in advance.
Generate Leads
Before we even get into this, marketers who want to know how to do marketing on Facebook must know the definition of a lead. A lead is a user who is interested in your product and is a potential buyer. How do you know that they are interested? They provide some of their personal information to you on your page, usually through a short form wherein they request a call-back or a demonstration.
To convert these leads to customers, you need to feed them content that maneuvers them to such forms. Such content can include promotional videos, Facebook live events that encourage people to participate in an upcoming webinar or event, and so on. Facebook Lead Ads is a related tool that can smoothen the lead generation process by helping marketers shorten the click-through path. You may have experienced this; you are on an app, and you see a promotional feature. Sometimes, clicking on the call-to-action buttons can transport you out of the app.
The Facebook Lead Ads Tool helps prevent this: users can access offers without being transported from the Facebook app. Furthermore, Facebook bots (AI-based chatbots) are also a great way of generating leads. A bot is a program that communicates with users and automates simple tasks and obtains information from them. Businesses have used this technology to their advantage; about 47% of users have admitted being interested in buying from a bot.
Using Facebook’s Page Insights Tool
Now that you have read on how to do marketing on Facebook, you should know that the only way to determine whether your marketing strategy is successful is by measuring its results. To do so, you can use the Page Insights Tool by Facebook. This tool can be accessed by clicking on the “Insights” tab that is found in the menu at the top of your Facebook page. This opens an “overview” of your most relevant 7-day activity. On the left side, a list of tabs helps you keep track of your page metrics.
Likes
This option helps you track the number of likes you received or lost every single day. You can also adjust the settings to view your performance over time.
Reach
This presents the number of people (in terms of paid and organic traffic) that your posts reached.
- Page Views
This helps you determine the number of people who visit your page and where they move from it. You can also determine what exactly drives traffic towards your Page and use this information to your advantage.
- Posts
This will show you the times your “fans” are online. Of course, this is an important metric and can help you manage your social media calendar. You can schedule posts for when your followers usually browse Facebook and ensure that you gain sufficient viewership. You can also identify a well-performing un-paid post using “Engagement Rate,” and monetize it. Ideally, an engagement rate of more than 1% is good.
- Reactions
With this feature, those who want to do marketing on Facebook can understand how the audience responds to their content. If the reactions are good, marketers can continue to put out content that they already are. However, if the reactions are negative, marketers can realign their content accordingly.
Finally, here are a few marketing courses that you can consider if you require professional guidance on how to do marketing on Facebook.
Top Institutes
IIM SKILLS
The Digital Marketing Course by IIM Skills provides students with hands-on experience through its digital marketing classes. Students receive comprehensive guidance on web development, search engine optimization, email marketing, and social media marketing. Thus, students not only learn how to do marketing on Facebook but on other social media platforms as well.
Udemy
Through its course on Facebook Ads and marketing, aspiring marketers can become experts in Facebook Ads.
Coursera
Coursera also offers a certificate course called the “Facebook Social Media Marketing” course. Here, students can become experts in advertising through Facebook.
You can also explore the Top OnlineFacebook Marketing Courses
In conclusion, I hope this short write-up on how to do marketing on Facebook was useful to you. Aspiring marketers, grab your Facebook accounts and get marketing!
Frequently Asked Questions
1) How to do marketing on Facebook for free and easily?
Answer: Of course! You can create an account, a Facebook page, and posts for free.
2) Is Facebook Ads relevant in 2021?
Answer: Absolutely. In fact, with the growing shift to all things internet in this era of the Covid-19 pandemic, Facebook Ads can serve as a powerful tool for digital marketers.
3) Can I earn money through my business’s Facebook page?
Answer: Yep. If your content meets Facebook’s policies on partner monetization, you can earn money from your Facebook Pages.
Other professional training programs at IIM SKILLS
Conclusion:
So these are some of the easy steps that I have mentioned to answer the question “ how to do marketing on Facebook?” and I hope this article can put an end to your search for “ how to do marketing on Facebook? ”
Very informative ?