The reigning champ of social media websites is Facebook, which is on the number one spot and is used by friends and family for connecting and sharing online. Facebook is no longer just a meeting place for friends anymore. Instead, it has grown into a platform for businesses for marketing themselves through self-promotion and interaction with customers. This social network has become a powerful marketing tool whether it is a small local business or a large corporation. It is a great venue for developing brand identity, keeping customers informed and broadening your reach. There are several ways through which Facebook can be used for marketing and promoting your business to the target market.
First and foremost, a business needs to create a Facebook page, which can be made for free. With these pages, businesses are able to identify themselves. This is achieved not just by listing the products and services that are offered by the business, but also by sharing images, posts and links on a customizable page, which will eventually give a better sense of the character and personality of the business. You can easily develop your brand identify on the Facebook page and also show your human side. The number of Facebook likes of your page will indicate your popularity.
It is best to share images, videos and links that are connected to the business and should be something that your target audience will be interested in. Businesses should opt for a nice mix of educational resources, humor and posts about the business to keep the target audience enjoying. Apart from that, the social network also offers its own form of advertising to businesses. There are Facebook ads that can be seen on the side columns of the Facebook site. These classic advertisements are usually called Marketplace Ads. An image, a headline with copy and a link to a website or Facebook page makes up this app.
A business’s Facebook marketing strategy can comprise of these ads, which will drive website clicks and also increase the number of Facebook fans of the business. These ads make it possible for a business to take advance of demographic targeting such as advertising according to location, age, interests and education. Running contests and promotions on your Facebook page is also a great way to increase brand awareness and the number of fans. A third-party app may have to be used for organizing the contest and the users have to be directed to the page from there.
Facebook page owners also have the option of using Facebook Promoted Posts features where they have to pay a flat rate for ensuring that a single post will reach a particular number of users. Lucas, a marketing expert from marketing-heaven.com, says “These posts are very helpful in the way that a business will know how many customers have read it. Normal posts might be missed by the users because their news feed is usually swamped with other items or they might not be online at the time the post is made”. This will promote your business directly and have an impact on your audience.
