However, whatever you do, you don’t want to appear desperate so it’s worth checking out the Condescending Corporate Brands page on Facebook before you start, for ideas of what not to do.
Day 1: Don’t just sell, give
Key to successful Facebook marketing is growing the reach of your page past your friends and family and into the wider marketplace. Encouraging people to share content is a core strategy here. The more they share, the more others will see it – and hopefully will share it too.
While some will share a post because it contains an advert for a product or service that is of interest to them, generally people share content because it adds value to their world in some way.
This is something Janette Shaw, co-owner and director of Eva Kingston, a contemporary art gallery and artisan gift shop based in Riverhead, near Sevenoaks in Kent, has experimented with.
“As well as posting about our own gifts and art work, we also share interesting articles that might catch someone’s attention. For example, I recently shared a magazine article that focused on the different ways to display home photos – the aim being to inspire our followers and encourage them to think more creatively. We have definitely noticed more interaction from people off the back of posts like these,” she says.
Day 2: Create video
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Facebook users are creating 75% more video posts than they were a year ago, which equates to around eight billion videos being viewed on the site each day. Over 1.5 million small businesses posted a video (organic posts and ads) on Facebook in September.
Ciaran Quilty, SME regional director EMEA, Facebook, says: “Great video content isn’t about big budgets; it’s about being really clear about what your business stands for, who your customers are and what they want to see and hear.”
Once upon a time it would have been out of an SME’s budget to produce a video, but with the advent of smartphones and apps it is much easier and cheaper. Even if you do choose to use a proper production company, high impact video can still be made at a low cost if it has a compelling storyline. First Kiss, a video from the fashion studio, WREN, received more than 108m views but cost less than £1,000 to make.
Other ways of introducing video to your feed without actually shooting footage is to use video chats or stream live events. ooVoo facilitates video chats with up to 12 people on Facebook and lets you send video messages and record videos, while Livestream allows you to broadcast events as they happen.
Day 3: Publish photos
Social marketing company BuzzSumo recently conducted a study of more than one million Facebook articles to see whether using images influenced success. It did. Posts with an image earned 2.3 times as much engagement as those without.
As the saying goes, a picture tells a thousand stories. Therefore, any image used needs to tell your story. It has to be relevant. There are some small businesses for who finding photos will be easy – restaurants, florists, clothes labels, book stores, anything that sells or creates a physical product will have a wealth of potential images at their fingertips. But for those that don’t, a little creative thinking is in order.
Alternatives could include charts, infographics and screengrabs of projects, comics and cartoons, or memes – the overlaying of amusing or informative quotes on top of images. Make sure you secure copyright for all images before use though.
Day 4: Join the club
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Facebook can be used to encourage those people who like or share your page to become loyal customers – by offering the opportunity for people to sign up to receive a newsletter, to join a loyalty club or participate in some other activity. Trollbeads UK, for example, invites owners of Trollbeads to send Christmas cards to other Trollbead lovers around the world – then it allows you to capture contact data and woo them over time.
However, strict rules apply regarding data protection and to break them means running the risk of a fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office so make sure you read up beforehand.
Day 5: Run a competition
People love a competition, and may be willing to share it among their friends if they think the prize is worth it. A whole host of third party developed apps can help you set up your contest. Heyo, for example, has an easy-to-use editor and templates for you to create contests and promotions, while Tabsite helps you build Facebook tabs for sweepstakes and competitions, as well as reviews and deals. These apps provide data capture tools and allow the competition to be fully branded and shareable.
However, be warned, Facebook really doesn’t like it when brands create contests that require people to share a post or tag their friends in order to enter. Indeed, they’ve got a few rules they want you to abide to when running competitions. Take a look at Facebook’s guidelines to avoid being blacklisted.
Day 6: Ask your customers to contribute
Social media is just that – social. It isn’t meant to be a broadcast tool. It is designed specifically for people to interact with each other. Beyond the obvious ‘like’ and ‘share’, there are lots of ways in which you can ask your customers to engage with you on Facebook.
Ask customers to check in on Facebook so that their timeline displays a visit to your premises, or encourage them to share photos of them using the items they have purchased, and to review what they thought.
Asking customers about what they like and dislike – not just about your particular business, but the wider field within which you work, can also boost engagement. Polldaddy and Polls for Facebook, for example, are just a couple of apps that allow brands to easily create surveys, polls and rating systems.
Day 7: Link to other activities
Reciprocal altruism theory suggests that if people perceive others to be cooperative and helpful, then they are more likely to also be helpful and cooperative themselves. This theory can be applied to Facebook. If you promote another business on Facebook, they will know you have done so and are likely to do the same for you – opening up an entire new audience for your business and encouraging local alliances. For example, a local butcher knows that the deli down the road makes a delicious apple chutney that goes perfectly with his roast pork and so gives them a little plug. They then return the favour. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9MCOdv2KUze_TgmF_IVg
