Before I get started – I am NOT a Facebook expert. I admit that it’s not my preferred platform for business, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know its value. That’s why I have a Facebook expert in my team.
If you’re selling products or services directly to the consumer Facebook is a fantastic platform to use, but it’s not magic – it requires a plan and effort.
If you’re using Facebook for business remember that it’s a business strategy and avoid getting side-tracked with dancing cats and your friends’ holiday pix (you can find an hour vanishes quickly if you start wandering through social posts!) Put a plan in place that includes:
What you want to achieve
Do you want to build an audience or a community? How many people would give you the kind of start you think will give you traction? What do your audience/community want?
How many likes, follows, comments, testimonials will measure your success?
The activities will help you to achieve your goals
What kind of content will you post?
Do you have images that will enhance your posts? Better still do you have short (30-90 second) videos that will put your message across well – or the facility to create these?
What are the core subjects that you will post about? How will you stay topical and up-to-date (if this is relevant)?
How often will you post?
How often will you monitor your Page to respond to comments, questions, etc.?
Who will be responsible for keeping the Page up-to-date and managing it?
Will you use Facebook Ads to help grow your audience, send people to your website, promote a product, a giveaway (to grow your list) or an event?
Schedule time in
If it’s not scheduled in as a business activity it’s going to be much easier to push it down the to-do list and soon it will fall off the bottom and just not get done.
Most business activities get done when they become habitual. That means that your Facebook marketing needs to become a habit. I was once told that the easiest way to learn a new habit is to attach it to an existing one. Most of us do email every day so tag your Facebook marketing onto your email habit!
You’ll need to include planning time and doing time. You might have:
- A monthly plan to decide what the themes or subjects will be this month and to resource some of the material so it’s ready for posting.
- A weekly review of likes, follows, comments, engagement, testimonials, etc.
- A daily post and monitoring comments.
Put your marketing time into your diary and try to stick to it.
Taking a structured approach to Facebook marketing will enable you to have a much clearer idea of what works and what doesn’t.
