In 2004, Mark Zuckerburg launched Facebook as a means of connecting people to one another. An application which started as a small and exclusive program available only to Harvard students has quickly become available to people and organizations across the globe. Facebook is now highly trusted by the millions of people that use it, which is both interesting and terrifying from an analytical standpoint.
Over the last few years, Facebook has built up a feature on their site called “Pages,” where you can build your very own Facebook Page for your organization, whatever that may be. Your business page must be attached to a personal account, but this information is not displayed to your customer base if you don’t want it to be.
According to Statista, at the end of 2017 Facebook recorded an overwhelming user-base of over 2.2 BILLION users. If your business is not on Facebook yet, it certainly should be!
Why Having a Business Facebook Page is Crucial
1. Lowers Marketing Expenses
Starting a Facebook business page costs you exactly $0. That’s right; creating a Facebook page is free. Sure, you could pay a graphic artist to design a profile picture and cover photo -- but that's not a necessity, especially if you already have a company logo. However, if you feel you need a custom design for your Facebook page, contact the best Boston digital agency to learn more about how they can design your page to attract user engagement.
Simply using photographs you take of your business will work too -- and in some cases, that's better than a creative image from a designer. If you have a home office (can’t post those!) and don’t want to hire a graphic artist, you can always use pexels.com; they have tons of free photos you can use with no strings attached.
Facebook ads are relatively inexpensive when compared to traditional print, radio or TV ads, and are far more targeted to your desired audience. Not sure how to get started? Contact us at SMILE media to learn more about how we can build you a successful social media marketing strategy.
2. Reach Your Target Audience
With Facebook, it is easier than ever to reach your target audience. Let’s say for example you were to run an ad on TV during commercial breaks. How do you know if your ad is reaching ONLY your target audience? TV has its demographics, sure, but people of different ages and sexes can enjoy the same content. If you are trying to target only women above the age of 30, and you choose a channel that is female dominated but there’s still a 15% male user base, you’re wasting a decent chunk of your budget.
On top of that, most TV channels are nationwide. If you’re a local business in New Hampshire or Massachusetts, you’re not going to have someone from California jump on a plane just to come to your medical office or restaurant! Facebook allows you to target people within as little as a 5-mile radius of your business (though we recommend anywhere between 10-30 miles) The ads might cost you more because it’s a niche demographic, but the Likes and potential customers you reach are extremely targeted.
3. Generate More Web Traffic
Smart Facebook page owners use their business pages to drive traffic to their websites. If you don’t have a website yet (GASP!), you should seriously consider getting a website developed for you. According to Forbes, if your website looks bad, then you are losing even more business to competitors who don’t have a website. However, if you have no website, your business is probably generated with pesky cold calling tactics. It’s time to step up your game.
A website is a great way to show off your business and make it look big, even if it’s just a couple of people that run it. Take SportsMogul for example; they are a four-person company but have been insanely successful for the last 20 years selling various baseball and football game simulators.
If all you're doing on Facebook is getting engagement on your posts, then you're just an entertainer -- not a marketer. Give them a call-to-action by using link posts to drive traffic to your website, and watch the inquiries roll into your inbox. Stop the cold calls and make your customers come to you.
4. Generate More Leads & Conversions
Just having people Like your page isn't enough to provide yourself with a long-term, sustainable business. What if for some reason, Facebook just disappears one day? Ask yourself, did your Facebook Business page leave an impact on your followers, enough to continue business with you?
If you’re not using your Facebook Page to gather information about its followers, you’re setting yourself up for failure. What you need is to get their email addresses. You can’t just ask for them in a post, though. You have to make them want to give you their email addresses by offering incentives. You can do this by using contests, newsletters, and giveaways.
Once you obtain their emails, do NOT email them daily trying to sell affiliate products. That’s annoying! Also, Google will begin to consider your emails spam if you do this, meaning that the emails your business auto generates and sends out will never even reach your customers. Don’t get your emails blacklisted by Google. At SMILE media, we can help you generate a Google-Friendly email marketing campaign.
5. Spy On Your Competition
ShareGrab lets you choose Facebook pages that post similar content as you -- and then monitor their posts. The application automatically shows you the most successful posts -- and then rates them so you know what works and what doesn’t. Sounds great, right? It does come at a cost though! It’s as little as $20, but their upper-level plans don’t currently have a set price. That could mean they list a price based on the size of your company. On top of that, you’ll need to know exactly how to track and analyze this data to reach success for your business.
However, once you set it up, you can quickly see the competitor posts that have performed best over the last couple days. You can use this data to your advantage by creating similar posts to your competitors, or even by posting the same ones they do.
6. Facebook Is Mobile Friendly
You would be shocked as to just how many websites out there are not mobile friendly! According to Stone Temple, as of early 2017 mobile users makeup just over 55% of traffic and counting. Recent 2018 data from Google shows around 59-62%. However, Stone Temple also stated that users stay on websites longer when they’re on a desktop.
Don’t let that fool you though; having a mobile-friendly site leaves the user with a good impression of your business, and will likely lead to more visitors returning to your site on their mobile or desktop device in the future.
There are many more reasons why building your Business Facebook Page is highly beneficial; these are just the beginning. If you have not created a Business Page on Facebook, right now would be a good time to start.
A Simple How-To Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Facebook Page:
1. Pictured below, you will see a highlighted down arrow button. You want to click the button to get started.
2. In the bar that drops down, you will see the “Create Page” button, click on that.
3. You will be lead to this page where you choose what kind of business you are. Each type of page has a slightly different layout style
4. Fill in the necessary details such as creating your business category and name of the business.
5. Voila! You’ve created a Page, and Facebook will guide you in building out your Page even further.
Now that you have the basics all set up, it’s time to start marketing the right way so you can start getting customers through your door. If you’re unsure how to build a successful marketing campaign, you can ask the Best Boston Digital Agency to help get you started.
SMILE media is made up of a diverse team of professional Digital Marketers in Boston, MA, Exeter, NH, and Dover, NH. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.
