Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Marketing

Knowing how to effectively promote your company through specific social media channels can be a challenge. What’s even tougher is knowing what to post and when to post it on each of the major social outlets. In 2015, you can expect to see a drastic shift in the marketing practices on Facebook, as well as Twitter, Pinterest, and even SnapChat. Facebook, specifically, has become pay-to-play marketing platform if you want to get the right kind of engagement from your social marketing efforts. Like any marketing campaign, it is important to set specific goals for your campaign. Whether you’re looking to get more likes on your page or click-throughs to your website, making sure you are directing your messaging to the right audience is the first step.

Expanding Your Audience

The typical organic audience for a small- to medium-sized business Facebook page is usually comprised of current clients and friends & family of the employees. Depending on your product or service, promoting your company and/or services will only go so far. Current clients can only buy so many air conditioners, and your family and friends can only budget for so many haircuts. To combat this issue, there is one of two approaches that you may take. First, you can provide discounts and promotions. Current clients may decide to take you up on the offer(s) and decide that they really do need that new set of tires since the deal is too good to pass up. They may also share the discounts with family & friends of their own; however, this form of Facebook marketing will only go so far. Depending on the size of your Facebook following, it may get unintentionally ignored or lost within the ever-growing newsfeed. Sponsoring, or boosting, posts will combat this problem and promote your business to the public.

Sponsoring Your Posts

After making the decision to delve into the paid marketing world, Facebook gives you two options initially: promote your Facebook page to get more likes, or boost a specific post, picture, or link. If your ultimate goal is sell your product or service, promoting a specific post will be the best avenue to take. This puts the promotion, link to the website, and/or sales pitch right in front of the consumer and into their newsfeed. When preparing to boost a post, Facebook will give you another two options: to promote it to the people who like your page and their friends, or to select an entire new target market. While boosting the post to your followers & their Facebook friends will give you good credibility in the community, more times than not, it is more beneficial to hand select your target on Facebook. From determining something as simple as their gender and age group, to psychographic information as complex as their specific interests, you will gain a new and attentive audience.

Facebook Marketing in 2015

Determining your goals at the beginning of your social media campaign will help you easily determine whether or not you need to pay for Facebook marketing. Based on your target market and reason for posting, organic Facebook posts still have the ability to attract an audience and produce a desired result. 2015 is the year of sponsored ads for Facebook, but it will also be the year users will be able to take control of their newsfeed, with the option to “hide” sponsored posts. This may sound like it could be a bad thing, but as a marketer, you are paying per click or per impression. This could actually end up in your favor, because users are essentially self-filtering your chosen target market, giving your budget more room to reach future customers.

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