Facebook Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide for Local Businesses

Are you wondering why your local business may not be doing as well as some of your competitors?

Are you confused about why they may be taking over your share of the local market?

Many small business owners are struggling to get more people through their doors, but they’re still scratching their heads trying to figure out how to do it effectively. Unfortunately, many of them tend to overlook one of the most powerful tools available to them: that’s online marketing. (Watch the video below!)

Online marketing has become more than a trend; it’s a necessity today. Companies all over the globe are taking advantage of this method to grow their business and, more importantly, to connect with more potential customers and clients in their target markets.

In most cases, companies struggle to get new customers because people don’t know about their business. The Internet has grown tremendously in over the last 15 years as more and more people have become regular Internet users. This is why you need to take your business to the online world. By using online marketing, you can reach out to more potential customers and ultimately, get more foot traffic through your doors.

One of the biggest changes to the Internet is social media. Social networking has made a huge impact on the marketing and advertising arena; it has also transformed the way companies across the globe connect with their target audiences.

The largest and most popular social networking site amongst consumers and businesses alike is Facebook.

As a business owner, Facebook is a fantastic way to bring more awareness to your business. With over one billion active users today, it’s no wonder businesses are taking advantage of this heavily-populated network to reel in new customers.

In this report, you will learn why Facebook is a great marketing platform to help you generate more leads and sales.

What Is Facebook?

Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is basically an online social media network that allows users to connect with others, post comments, send messages, play games, create groups for events and so much more.

Once a private and exclusive social media network for college students, Facebook has now expanded to allow everyone to join; more people are using it to socialize, keep in touch with family members and old friends, and stay connected with their favorite businesses. In fact, today, there are approximately 1.3 BILLION monthly active users on Facebook.

Many businesses that use Facebook as an online network to connect with their current and prospective clients are seeing success. By using Facebook as an online marketing platform, they are building valuable customer relationships, bringing more attention to their brands, and establishing authority and credibility in their niche.

With a Facebook business page, you can effectively grow your business with its tools and features by:

* Adding photos of your business and products

* Sharing helpful, engaging, relevant content with your fans

* Offering promotions and discounts on your products or services

* Updating your fans on the latest news in your industry

* Getting feedback from your customers

* … and so much more

Think of Facebook as an online “word of mouth” type of marketing; you’re communicating online with your Facebook fans (your customers and potential customers) and they, in turn, can share your business page and content with others. With over one million links shared every 20 minutes on Facebook, news travels fast.

In fact, half of all adult Facebook users have more than 200 friends in their network. When you have awesome content on your Facebook business page, your fans will definitely want to share what you have to offer to others – all at no additional cost to you.

Facebook Usage Statistics

Let’s take a deeper look at some statistics to help you understand just how powerful and popular Facebook truly is:

* As mentioned earlier, there are approximately 1.3 BILLION monthly active users on Facebook.

* 64% of Facebook users visit the site on a daily basis.

* 40% of Facebook users check Facebook multiple times per day.

* Approximately 1 BILLION mobile users log into Facebook. This allows you to reach the massive mobile audience just by having a Facebook business page.

* There are approximately 53% of females and 47% of males on Facebook, which means you’ll reach both genders in your target market.

* The average time spent on Facebook is 18 minutes.

* Every 20 minutes on Facebook: 1 million links are shared, 2 million friends are requested, 3 million messages are sent.

* Every Minute on Facebook: 510 comments are posted, 293,000 status updates are made, and 136,000 photos are uploaded.

* About half of Facebook users are in the 18 to 34 age group, which gives you an idea of how many engaged users may fit your target market.

As you can see by these numbers, Facebook usage is massive. Therefore, it’s a great place for businesses to tap into their target audience, get more exposure, and ultimately increase revenue.

Benefits of Using Facebook for Your Business

1. Increases Exposure – as you’ve probably noticed, just about everyone is using Facebook these days; including your existing and potential customers. Having a Facebook business page will give them 24/7 access to your company.

2. Reduces Marketing Costs – a Facebook fan page is free and Facebook ads cost just pennies on the dollar compared to traditional marketing methods. The local audience you can reach via this massive network is far more than any print circulation can deliver at just a fraction of the cost.

3. Generates Leads – with the tools and sharing features in Facebook, you can reach more leads than you ever could by only having a website.

4. Effective Targeted Marketing – when you have local consumers as Facebook fans, all of your marketing messages are extremely targeted to your audience. In addition, Facebook ads let you really put your market demographic information to use in crafting a narrowly targeted ad campaign.

5. Increases Website Traffic – your Facebook business page will send more traffic to your company website; and vice versa. The two should be integrated and used in conjunction with each other for the best results.

6. Better Search Engine Rankings – Social media has become a major influence on how well websites rank in the search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Of course, the better your ranking, the more sales you can get as a result.

7. Increases Foot Traffic – by simply offering your Facebook fans an occasional promotional offer, you can effortlessly increase foot traffic coming into your doors.

8. Increases Customer Loyalty – instead of just letting customers come in, make a purchase, and walk out the door, a business page allows you to build a relationship with them. As your business takes on a real personality through Facebook interactions, people will naturally become more loyal to you.

9. Competitive Advantage – by using Facebook, you can gain an edge over local competitors who are not using it yet. If people are talking about you online, you are getting more attention than those competitors who are not.

10. Multiple Marketing Tools – not only does Facebook have business “Pages” that can be used by businesses. But they also have “Groups” and “Ads.” Facebook Groups can be used as a place to discuss any topic you want in detail with your audience. Facebook Ads is a paid marketing platform that can help you reach your customers based on specific demographics. These are just a couple of features that can take your marketing efforts to other levels.

How To Set Up A Facebook Business Page

One of the main features that Facebook provides for businesses is a Fan page. A Facebook “page” is different from a “profile” in that it is used more by businesses, organizations, brands and celebrities.

With the Facebook page, people will “Like” your page instead of requesting you as a friend; having one will also allow you to keep a professional appearance and use Facebook advertisements if needed.

A regular Facebook profile doesn’t allow you to promote your business properly, so it’s important to set up a business page because it:

* Gives you a way to track views on your page and posts

* Allows you to include more than one person to be your Facebook page admin, which is convenient if you plan to have multiple people handling your Facebook page

* Ability to promote any posts you deem to be important or want to give more awareness

* Allows you to brand your business effectively with its added features

* … and so much more.

Steps to Setup a Facebook Business Page

To get started with your Facebook business page, here is a step-by-step guide to help you through this journey:

1. Before you create a Facebook page, register for a personal Facebook account if you don’t already have one. Then, go to “Create A Page” and choose the “Local Business Or Place” option.

2. When you click on the “Local Business Or Place” option, you’ll see an area where you can choose the category your business is in and fill in your business details.

Tip: Make sure that you include your business information, especially your address, so that local prospects can find you more easily.

3. You’ll be redirected to a different page where you have to fill out more detailed information about your business. Take the time to go through each step of this process so that you can have a complete Facebook business page.

In this set-up wizard, you’ll be asked to:

* Select a category to put your for your business

* Add a small yet appealing description about your business

* Enter your business website if you have one

* Answer if your page is associated with a school, organization or the government

After entering the details for the first part, click “Save Info.”

4. The second part of the set-up wizard will ask you to upload a profile picture; here, you can use a picture of your physical establishment or your company’s logo/name. Since this is a Facebook business page, you want it to represent your business completely.

Depending upon the nature of your business, you can also simply use a professional headshot of yourself. Make sure to click “Save Photo” after you have uploaded it successfully.

5. The third part of the set-up wizard is where you can put your page under the “Favorites” menu option on the left-hand side of your Facebook Home screen. You can do this now or skip this step.

6. The fourth and last step of the set-up wizard is called “Reach More People,” and this is where you can set up a payment method for any future advertising you plan to do on Facebook. This step is just to prepare yourself for advertising, but you can skip it in the beginning if you’d like.

7. After completing the page set-up, you’ll be redirected to your Admin panel called “Page Manager.” This is where you’ll see all your messages, new Facebook fans, etc. You will also be able to edit your page here. Underneath the Page Manager, you’ll see your page, which also has features for you to directly edit it.

Here are a few ways for you to personalize your business page:

* Where it says “Add a Cover,” you can add a bigger picture to represent your brand. Cover images should be at least 815×315 pixels. You can use that area to add a picture of your business’ logo, slogan or even a picture of your business team to personalize your page.

* You can upload photos by clicking on the “Photos” button, which will also help personalize your business page.

* On your Facebook Timeline, you will find a place to post a status, upload a photo or video and even create an event or milestone, which is just a way for you to add more about your company.

* Use the “Invite Friends” option on the Page Manager to invite existing customers, friends, associates, and family members to “Like” your business page.

* Click on the box underneath your profile where your short description that you created in the first part of the set-up wizard should be. You’ll be taken to a page where you can edit your business information and write a longer business description for your “About” section.

After creating your page, you can edit it as much as you want until you’re happy with it. Remember, this is your Facebook business page, so it’s crucial to take the time to enhance it.

The more you put into your Facebook business page, the more you’ll attract interest from prospective customers and encourage your existing customers to spread the word about your business.

Now that you’ve finished setting up your Facebook business page, you’re ready to start connecting with local fans and start building your page into a community.

Ways to Get More Facebook Fans

The purpose of a Facebook page goes far beyond just creating a presence on the platform. However, many business owners tend to hit a brick wall when it comes to getting fans for their pages.

As a local business owner, your customer base is within your area, so focus on getting more people in your area to join your Facebook page network. In other words, you want them to “Like” your page.

Don’t know what a “Like” is?

The famous “Like” feature on Facebook is a way for people to show that they support a comment, status and, in this case, a Facebook page. If someone wants to support a small business in their area, they will “Like” that page and stay connected with them. The “Like” button on Facebook looks like this:

Your goal is to get as many people in your target market to “Like” your page as possible. Here are some ways to accomplish that:

1. Use Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are fantastic when it comes to getting letting your target market know that you’re out there. Facebook ads produce high-quality leads for your business and are well worth the investment.

If you go to your Page Manager, you’ll notice a blue button on the top right-hand corner that says “Ads Manager,” which looks like this:

You’ll then be taken to the ad campaigns page where you can create your first ad. At this point, you get to customize your ad and budget. Facebook has several ads you can choose from, such as promoted post ads, event ads and sponsored story ads.

Unlike many other types of online advertising, Facebook ads can be customized so that only your target market or people in your local area see your ad. As a result, you can expect to get right in front of the people you want to connect with the most.

2. Tell Your Current Customers or Clients About Your Page

They already do business with you. They already like you. Therefore, most of them would love to stay connected with you on Facebook. Although it’s important to focus on getting new customers, its equally important to keep your existing customers coming back.

One way to let your existing customers know about your Facebook business page is to put up a sign that simply says “Join Us on Facebook” inside of your establishment.

You can also put this on your business cards, flyers, posters, and other printed marketing materials along with the link to your page.

Do you use coupons? Put a call-to-action there as well.

Do you send out email newsletters to your customers? Be sure to tell them about your new Facebook page along with the link.

As you can see, you should let your customers know about your Facebook page any way you can for the best results.

3. Put an Image Link on Your Website

It’s a very good idea to put a link to your Facebook page on your website. This way, all of your website visitors will know you have a Facebook page and will likely check it out. Putting a link on your site makes it super easy for them to connect with you.

Facebook also has a feature that allows viewers to Like/Comment/Share your blog posts, so you if you have a company blog, be sure to use this feature whenever possible.

In fact, you can also link people to your Facebook page via video sharing sites, presentation sharing sites, and many other online properties.

Facebook has a variety of plugins available to make all of this possible.

4. Create Content That is Shareable

“Sharing” is a viral type of marketing, and it can be very effective. When people share your content, you’re exposed to even more people. For instance, when you post something on your Facebook page, one person can share it on their Facebook account with their friends.

Shareable content includes tips, photos/pictures, videos, inspirational quote images, or any other content that fits your type of business. Just be sure it’s relevant and keep it professional.

How to Engage with Your Fans

Since Facebook is a social media network, its main purpose is to give people a way to socialize and connect with each other. With your business page, not only do you want to connect with them, but you want to build relationships with them – this is what will keep them around.

Many businesses make the mistake of setting up a page, getting fans and then do nothing more with their page. Ultimately, this is a waste of time.

After setting up your page and getting fans, it’s important to keep them engaged with great content and information. Engaging with your Facebook audience also involves encouraging them to Like, Share or Comment on posts that you create on your Facebook page.

Here are a few effective techniques to keep your fans loyal:

* Offer discounts and deals on your products or services. People love a great deal or money-saving offer. So it’s beneficial for you to occasionally offer a discount on your products and services.

If you have a popular item, offering a discount for it can attract more buyers to your business. So not only are your fans happy, but you will be happy too with the additional income.

Furthermore, these discounts can reach outside your current fan-base because people love to share great deals with others in their network.

Just be careful NOT to bombard your fans with offers every single day as this hard-selling tactic will be a turn-off and cause people to unlike your page.

* Give them helpful tips and advice. Your fans will appreciate any small tidbits of information you give to them related to your industry. This will help you build authority status, as well as trust.

For instance, if you own an auto repair shop, provide tips on how to maintain their vehicles. This will go a long way in keeping you at the forefront of their minds should they need your services.

* Talk to your fans. If your fans comment on your page or on your posts, make sure that you talk back to them so that they know that you are listening and care enough to respond. You should also answer messages and questions promptly to keep your fans’ interest. This especially includes any customer service issues that may arise.

On the flip side, be sure to ask your fans questions that are relevant to your business. Asking questions shows that you are interested in their thoughts and opinions. This also helps build a community for your page where your fans can talk to each other about different topics related to your industry.

* Let your fans know about any job positions available in your business. There are some small business owners who use their Facebook pages to get prospective employees for the business.

What better way to add someone to your team than to ask your Facebook fans? If your fans have friends and family members who may be a good fit, they’ll most likely share this information with them.

If you do hire someone that was a fan on your Facebook or a friend of a fan, you can give a shout out to them on Facebook and show people that you love your fans and love working with them – literally.

* Notify them about special events, new products, and new services. Your Facebook page is the perfect place to get more people to come in to your establishment for special events. It’s also a great place to notify them about any new products or services you may have. This will make them feel special and more intrigued.

* Have contests. You can run different types of contests for your fans to make things more fun, especially if you offer prizes and freebies for those who participate.

Facebook Page Features & Apps

Facebook has several different features and apps that can help you get the most out of your page:

1. Facebook Graph Search – Unlike regular search, Graph Search is a more advanced search tool that helps people find information based on specific and personal traits.

For instance, users can type in “Italian restaurants that my friends have been to,” and Graph Search will pull up posts, pages, photos, etc. from others within their network.

As a business owner, this feature is powerful when it comes to helping you get more information about your fans, as well as your competitors; this information can be extremely useful. You can learn about their interests, identify other pages they “Like,” and so much more.

2. Promoted Posts – Also known as boosted posts, promoted posts are great for local business owners. These posts are like ads, but they are more specific and are displayed differently than typical ads.

When you promote a post from your business page and your fans “Like” it, that post will show up on their friends’ Facebook feed. This method helps you increase the chances of gaining more fans for your business page.

If you decide to do promoted posts, make sure that they are a more elaborate and special compared to regular posts. For instance, you can promote a post with a YouTube video that you think many people would like.

3. Facebook Offers – Facebook has made it very easy for business owners to give their Facebook fans special offers on their products or services. By using Facebook Offers, you give your fans a special incentive to visit your business and purchase from you.

4. Facebook Customer Reviews – As a local business owner, you know that your customers are an important part of your company growth; but having happy customers who leave you reviews is even more important as it will provide social proof to your potential customers – helping them make the decision to buy from you as well.

With Facebook’s customer reviews feature, Facebook users who are browsing your page can view customer testimonials conveniently and decide right away if they want to do business with you.

5. Page Insights – Facebook Page Insights is a useful tool to help you track the activity on your Facebook page. You can see how many people “Like” your page each week, how many people see your posts, and much more.

Overall, Page Insights gives you detailed information about your Facebook business page activity. You can use that information to create goals for your page, to make adjustments to get more engagement from fans, or to simply see how well your posts are doing.

Note: in order to see and use Page Insights, you need to have at least 30 people who have “Liked” your page.

6. iFrame App – This app allows you to add an HTML page into your page. In other words, you can embed content from any external website page right into your page giving it a unique experience for your audience. The best part is, they don’t have to go outside of your Facebook page to access the information.

7. Fan Gate – Also known as a “Like Gate,” a fan gate allows you to restrict access to specific content for your visitors; only making it available to them after they have “Liked” your page. Your goal is to get as many targeted fans as possible and this feature will help you do just that. For instance, you can create one that says “Like our page to get our 50% off coupon.” In other words, you’re giving them something in exchange for Liking your page.

These are just a few of the MANY features and apps that Facebook makes available to its users.

Facebook Mistakes to Avoid

In their excitement to get started on Facebook, many businesses make mistakes along the way; and, unfortunately, they face serious consequences. Therefore, it’s important to know what you should and should not do to ensure that your page remains as effective as possible.

Here are some of the common mistakes companies make with Facebook marketing and how to avoid them:

1. Spamming – Many businesses wonder if they’re posting too much or not enough on their Facebook pages. Although it’s important to post often, it doesn’t mean that you need to post 20 times a day. People will consider that spam and quickly become annoyed. Every business should come up with a posting schedule that works best for their company, but posting once a day is usually enough.

2. Not adding visuals to your posts – It’s a good idea to add a captivating visual – image or video – to your text posts. Most people are visual, and that’s the first thing they see when they see a post; it’s faster than reading words.

Also, using images and videos with your posts makes your Facebook page more attractive. If people like the visual in a post, they’re more likely to share it, which means more views and possible fans for you. Make sure that you add a visual that relates to your post in some way.

3. Not being consistent – As mentioned earlier, some businesses forget to update their Facebook pages, and that can result in losing fans. It’s important to remain consistent with your posts, even if it’s just a couple of times per week, so that you can continue to build relationships with your audience. Whatever you do, do not let weeks and months go by without posting on your page.

4. Disrespecting your fans – Even if an unhappy customer posts a comment on your Facebook page, you should not retaliate and comment back in a defensive way. Since this is your business, you should handle the situation professionally by letting the customer know that you care about their concern. Then, you can follow up with them by sending them a private message to rectify any problems that they have. It’s important to respect all your fans in order to maintain credibility as a business that treats its customers with the utmost respect.

5. Sharing stories or posts that are too personal – Your Facebook page is for professional uses only. You can share a light story that happened during your day and use it to relate to your customers. But venting about your work stresses or talking badly about a client in your posts isn’t a good way to portray yourself as a professional business owner.

Religion, politics and sexuality are three very controversial topics, so you should avoid talking about them altogether. You don’t want to cause arguments between your fans or between yourself and your fans.

If you want to post pictures, make sure that they are appropriate and professional. You never know who’s going to be checking out your Facebook page, so it’s important to keep your posts “business-friendly.”

6. Turning off comments – It’s understandable that you may not want to show any possible negative feedback or comments to other fans, but turning off your comments isn’t a wise choice. It’s important to allow your fans to comment on your page if you want to build relationships. Besides, if you get comments that are completely false or profane, you can simply delete them.

7. Not knowing the Facebook Terms and Conditions – The most important part about using Facebook is to understand their Terms and Conditions. Facebook has specific requirements and guidelines for pages. Not following Facebook’s guidelines could cost you your Facebook business page. If you don’t follow the rules, you can also lose your fans and credibility as a business.

To learn more about Facebook page policies, you can visit this link: https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php

If you want to check out Facebook’s general terms and conditions, you can go to this page:

https://www.facebook.com/policies/

By learning what you should and shouldn’t do on Facebook, you’ll be well-equipped with the right information to make your Facebook experience a success.

Conclusion

Although some of the once popular traditional advertising methods are still being used today, the fact is that they’re no longer as effective as they once were. Tapping into the online marketing world, including Facebook, can help you expand your business greatly.

From setting up a Facebook page to learning about mistakes to avoid on Facebook, this report has covered a wide range of information that you need to know to get started on the right track.

Now that you know the basics of marketing with Facebook and the amazing benefits that you can gain from it, where do you go from here?

You’re probably ready to get started on this journey.

The first step is to create a Facebook marketing plan to avoid going into it blindly. This way, you will know where you want to go with your page, how to present it, and how to build upon it.

If you go on Facebook without having a plan first, you could set yourself up for failure before you even start.

Facebook contains a goldmine of new potential customers in your area; not only that, but most of your existing customers are already using it. Therefore, you don’t want to miss out on the potential growth that your business could have once you venture off into this popular social media platform.

Contact me if you would like some assistance with setting up your Facebook business page, or simply want to learn more about how Facebook can help you get more exposure, more leads, and more sales.

I can be reached at smartdmincome@gmail.com. I would love to discuss your ideas and help you develop a plan that will further grow your local business.

Sources:

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/03/6-new-facts-about-facebook/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/25/5547570/facebook-reports-1-billion-active-users-on-mobile-devices-and-200-million-instagram

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/feb/04/facebook-in-numbers-statistics

https://smartdigitalmarketingincome.com/