As Facebook now boasts 1.23 billion daily active users, it’s important that your business is developing an effective social media presence to attract a slice of this engaged consumer market.

 

If you’re thinking about developing your own business Facebook page to grow your audience, boost sales and drive traffic to your website:

Read 9 steps you can take to ensure your profile is performing effectively

 

Keep branding consistent and campaign-focused

 

The branding on your Facebook page should be professional and consistent. It’s crucial that your profile and header images are in keeping with your logo and branding to ensure people recognise and trust your brand. As you run different campaigns throughout the year you could also update your profile images to focus on this campaign to boost awareness.

 

Give helpful information in your ‘about’ section

 

Keep your ‘about’ section up to date with all the details that someone would need to know about your business. This could include locations, opening times, contact details and website links. Let your audience know exactly who you are and what you do. This information supports your search engine optimisation (SEO) activities by giving more context and detail about your business. This is particularly beneficial for local SEO.

 

Plan your content

 

Don’t get ‘post happy’ and start sharing anything and everything at once. Although regularly updating your business Facebook page is good practice, there is such a thing as posting too much. If you saturate your audience’s timeline with irrelevant or excessive posting you could disengage potential customers. Avoid over-posting by creating a schedule of activity and leaving space for real-time content too.

 

Strike the balance between sales and engaging content

 

Your business Facebook page is not a sales platform. Although social media profiles provides key platforms for promoting your business and driving sales, your primary focus should be on distributing useful, engaging content. Position your business as a thought leader or prominent brand in your field by sharing blogs, photos, videos, top tips and news that will create interest and resonate with your audience. You should aim to post one sales message for every 5 non-sales messages.

 

Target and segment your posts for greater impact

 

Make the most of Facebook’s post targeting options to ensure your messages are reaching the right segment of your audience. You could target your posts by a number of options including gender, relationship status, interests, age, location or language. Although targeting may reduce the number of profiles you reach, narrowing your distribution wisely can attract a more engaged response.

 

Analyse page performance

 

Analysing how well your posts and overall page is performing will allow you to make necessary improvements to your social activity. Consider reviewing the type of content you’re sharing, the times you’re sharing it and how well your audience is engaging with your page. Understanding this data will not only help you to better engage with your existing audience but can help to grow your following. Once you get into the habit of reviewing your performance you can focus your efforts on what is working and change what isn’t.

 

Don’t just rely on text posts

 

There’s a whole host of content that you can share on Facebook and this includes native videos. Facebook videos offer a great way to capture the attention of your audience, particularly with the auto play feature. Ensure your videos appeal to your audience’s emotions or offer them a quick teaser of something helpful or interesting. Keep it quick and engaging as it’s easy for viewers to scroll away. You want to catch and keep their gaze!

 

Be active in the comments

 

It’s important to take the time to respond to comments or questions on your Facebook page as soon as you can. For small businesses, you may only be able to check your profile once or twice a day but you can use this time wisely. Ensure you set aside time each day to review your notifications and ensure you respond to your customers. If your audience sees you responding they are more likely to engage themselves and perceive your business more positively than one that ignores its customers.

 

Try advertising on a budget

 

As you become more confident and proficient in the ways of Facebook for business, you could try your hand at amplifying your content with a small paid-for budget. Start out by using content that you already know works well with your audience as you are more likely to see a good return on investment. Start small with your budget and see how well this advertising platform works for expanding your reach, driving traffic to your page and boosting your sales opportunities. 

 

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