How to Promote Your Business on Facebook

With 71% of North America using Facebook, the platform has become an essential part of the marketing puzzle.

However, few business owners understand how it actually works.

For example, did you know that only 1% of your “followers” will see your Facebook Business Page posts? That means if you have 1,000 followers, Facebook will only show your content to TEN people.

Even if you do “Organic Facebook Marketing” (aka, use your personal feed for business purposes), Facebook only shows your posts to an average of 10% of your friends.

How do you get more eyeballs and actions on your Facebook posts?

How do you use the Facebook algorithm to your advantage and get more clients on the world’s largest social media platform?

It all comes down to 3 things – all of which I will cover in this article.

1. Create effective content that speaks to your dream client
2. Boost/promote each business page post to a niche-based audience
3. Understand what Facebook wants you to do … and do it

To get you started, here’s a video overview of how Facebook Business Pages work … with a bit of detail on organic Facebook marketing.

Facebook is like the billboard on the side of the road

Every time you post content, run ads, or share updates on your personal feed, you’re reinforcing your brand. Over time, people will come to know, like, and trust you. THAT’s when they become clients.

However, just posting a few updates on your page and running a few random ads isn’t enough. Sometimes you also need to utilize other channels like a social network professional site.

You need to understand your dream client.

• Who does your business live to serve?
• What keeps them up at night?
• What is their dream solution?
• What would life be like if their problem(s) went away?
• How can you share value and resources that solve that problem in a non-salesy way?

With so much noise on Facebook having over 2.895 billion monthly active users, it takes authentic content to stand out. That means taking the time to build a relationship with your dream client.

Remember … it’s about THEM, not you.

Make sure to create your own content

When you share a link to the New York Times, Huffington Post, or any other third-party source, you reinforce their brand – not yours.

Now, I’m not saying to completely ignore other people’s content. Sharing is a key part of social media and it makes you more credible if your feed isn’t all about you. AND, the goal should always be to raise awareness of your brand.

You want to promote your own stuff. Your own words. Your own quotes. Your own testimonials, stories, successes, and journey.

Write detailed blogs and use that content to fuel your Facebook posts.

Create custom graphics.

Record interviews with other people who can help your dream client.

Above all else … constantly drive people back to your website. That’s where they have the best chance of learning more about you and reaching out to become a paid client.

Oh, and if you’re not so confident in your writing skills, go to Google, type in pay someone to write my research paper or blog — and that will help you hire a reliable writer with effective background skills.

People don’t see your FB posts unless you pay

Remember how I mentioned that only 1% of people see your business page posts? Or, how if you do organic marketing that number jumps to a measly 10%?

Well, there’s a workaround … and it’s called boosting or promoting your posts. Here’s a quick guide.

1. Set up a Facebook Business Manager and FB Ads account.
2. Create a custom audience that matches the demographics of your dream client.
3. When you create a post, go into your business manager and create a new campaign.
4. Select “Reach” as your objective.
5. Choose a budget (I recommend $25 spread out over 4 days**).
6. Select your dream client custom audience.
7. Select your existing post to promote.

Following these steps immediately after publishing your post will help the Facebook algorithm show your post to more people. This gives it a greater chance of taking off – since more people are guaranteed to see it. And, even if it never “goes viral,” at least it doesn’t feel like crickets chirping from a lack of activity.

Also, if you’re doing organic marketing, be sure to share the recently-boosted post on your personal feed. When combined with the boost, this helps even more people see your content.

** While I suggest $25 as a starting budget, you can do whatever you want. Even $5 for a one-day boost is better than nothing.

Play by Facebook’s rules

Have you heard of the “Facebook Algorithm?”

Basically, an incredibly powerful AI robot decided everything you see on Facebook. It chooses what posts have the best chance of being interacted with – and what posts should fade into oblivion instantly.

Tell me if this sounds familiar

As business owners, we dedicate so much time to creating authentic content that connects with our dream client.

We put our heart and soul into each post – trying to weave our call to action into something that doesn’t sound “salesy.”

Then, crickets.

Sadness.
Frustration.
Numbness.

YARGH!!!!!!

“What did I do wrong?”

“This is the best I can do, and no one cares!”

“Why do I even try?”

It’s a crummy feeling.

It makes us question everything.

“Am I in the right business?”

“Do I have the wrong dream client?”

“Maybe I should delete it and repost at a different time.”

“WHAT DO I DO NOW???!!!!!”

Can you relate?

It happens to all of us.

So what’s the secret sauce?

You gotta work the algorithm.

Below are 8 ways to get you started.

1. Create Facebook posts that engage people

The first thing you need to know is that Facebook cares the most about its users, not the businesses that are using their advertising services. This is why Facebook algorithms prioritize posts that are:

• Relevant
• Informative
• Engaging

If you only use Facebook to promote your products or services, Facebook will recognize you as someone who’s just trying to sell. You won’t be adding any value to their users.

Thus, focus on posts that add value and are useful in any form to the target audience. This will boost your organic reach and Facebook will reward you.

2. Use images with people

Whether you’re creating a paid ad or you’re posting for organic reach, images are still your number one weapon on Facebook. Your users enjoy strong visuals they can relate to, so you’ll need to use the right ones.

You can create your own visuals or use royalty-free images. In both cases, we strongly suggest you use:

• Images with people
• Face close-ups
• People resembling your target audience

You can even use images of your team members, customers, and people involved with your business. Ads with people images work the best, so explore and test to see the results you’ll make.

POWER TIP – the Facebook algorithm really loves smiling faces and photos with kids (preferably smiling) in them.

3. Add text to the image

Your Facebook post will come with a copy you’ll carefully write. But, the visual effect is still the strongest. That’s why you should extend your copy to your image.

How?

Simply add some relevant text to the image itself. You can add:

• A question directed to the user
• A call-to-action
• A benefit the user will experience
• The summary of your announcement

Let’s say you’re targeting people over sixty, and promoting a cruise. You’ll use an image of an elderly man, smiling, and add text that says “Is it time for an adventure?”.

Or, let’s say you’re promoting a masterclass on personal branding. In that case, you might create something like this …

4. Write effective headlines

If you’re creating an ad for Facebook, you need to make sure it grabs the attention of your target customers. After the image, the headline is the top priority you should care about.

So, how do you write a brilliant headline for a Facebook ad? Here’s what to do:

• Express a benefit
• Make a promise
• Address the target users
• Be specific
• Ask a question

Here’s what we have in mind:

• “Become a Certified Copywriter”
• “Do You Want to Travel to Europe?”
• “Free Vegan-Diet Course for Moms”

You’ve got the 40-characters limit, so choose each word carefully.

5. Use effective copy in your content

Once you nail the images and the headline, you’ll have the attention of the users. What next? Now, you’ve got to use your copy to get them to click and follow the link to your landing page.

The best thing you can do is:

• Include a powerful CTA —e.g. Book Your Seat Now!
• Offer something to the users — e.g. Claim Your 20% Discount!
• Create urgency — e.g.. Limited Edition!

In case you need writing help, EssayPro offers the services you may need.

6. Create explanatory videos

Facebook ranks the videos in your news feed based on how meaningful and engaging they are, and how many people interact with them. Videos are among the top-ranked organic formats on Facebook, and here’s why.

Videos are:

• Easily digestible
• Visually rich
• Shareable

Here’s what type of videos get the most interactions and thus have the highest reach:

• Explanatory videos that show how a product is used
• DIY videos
• Tips & tricks videos
• Videos that solve customers’ problems and pain points
• Fun and humorous videos

Let’s say your business sells furniture. You could do videos on how to redecorate your kitchen, how to put together a baby crib, or how to redesign your living room to have more space.

Simple, practical, and informative videos have a great organic reach.

Here’s one I did for Marketing Juice — my proven system for creating effective marketing funnels.

7. Go Live

Another way to engage your customers and spark more interaction is to do live videos. Naturally, this will depend on the type of audience you’re dealing with, but most audiences love being a part of videos happening now.

You can do a pre-survey to see what your audience is interested in and do different types of live videos:

• Q&A or “Ask me anything”
• Interview with an influencer or expert
• Conversations on burning topics the audience care about

Live videos are favored in social media for business for a reason. Make sure to follow engagement and interactions to see what type of live videos work best for your audience.

Then, once your Live has been recorded, you can boost it, turn it into a blog post, or send it out in a newsletter to your email list.

8. Know the Right Time to Post

Knowing the right time to post is the final touch you need to add to your Facebook campaigns. There are statistics and general rules you could rely on, but it all comes down to tracking your audience.

Use the Facebook insights tools to see when your users are online when your posts get the most interactions and decide when to post.

Parting thoughts

To reach the best results with your Facebook business page, you need to constantly learn from your customers and about them. You also need to experiment with content types and formats, keeping track of the metrics and data you collect.

The rules we’ve described above are highly effective for all kinds of business pages, personal feeds, and organic marketing … so use them to boost the success of each new campaign.

If you need help coming up with a social media strategy, feel free to reach out and schedule a free Q&A Call.