Let’s look at how your business can revisit and embrace Facebook marketing going into 2020.

Facebook has been around since 2004 and available for business marketing since around 2008. In that time a lot has changed; it’s time to reassess the Facebook opportunity. 

The team at Facebook are continually bringing new features to the platform and if you’ve been busy with everything else that is on your list you might have missed some of them.

Here are some easy ways to give your Facebook business page a quick overhaul.

1. How is your cover photo? Does it look great on both mobile and desktop? (sizes required are different) Is it branded, clear and professional looking and does it successfully represent what your business does?
2. Review your profile picture. A high res version of your company logo sized to fit is best here, or alternatively, if you are a personal brand, I recommend having a great professional photo as your profile picture. Double check how this looks on desktop and mobile.
3. Have you got your Facebook story added to your page? This is an opportunity to share the background to your business – story telling is key to building a successful brand; tell us how your business got to where it is today and how it prides itself on helping people.
4. Review your ‘About’ section. Many of us are guilty of setting this up quickly when we first create a Facebook page but it is important to check it regularly and to make sure it still truly reflects your company, your business, your brand. This includes your opening hours, reviewing if you are listed with the correct category and checking that your phone number and website links are correct. It is key to note here that the start of your ‘About’ section pulls through on to some types of Facebook Ads, so it’s very important to get it right.
5. If you are in e-comm, add your products to your product catalog so they are visible on your page
6. Add your services, with or without prices (although I believe prices deter people who aren’t your ideal client). You can create graphics for your Services in Canva to make them look more professional – you can see mine here.
7. Add any upcoming events to your ‘Events’ tab – if your business is running the event, create it in Facebook. If you are showcasing your products or services at an event hosted by another business you can add the event to your Events tab by going to the event page, click the three little dots and choose ‘add event to your page’.
8. If you would like to add or re-order your tabs, go to Settings ➡️ Templates and Tabs ➡️ edit as required. You can add, for example, the Notes tab – great if you need to host Ts and Cs for a Facebook
9. Consider setting up the Facebook ‘bookings’ feature. Here’s how – https://www.facebook.com/help/233101683907312

Now for some tips on what content to post. Key – aim to build a community.

• What is your content strategy? Do you have one? Remember to focus on content which will a) establish your brand as the experts, b) resonate with your ideal clients and c) sell your products and services. Think value first, sales second! If you are looking for more information on this, take a look at my blog “What to Consider When Creating a Social Media Marketing Strategy for Your Business here 
• Variety is the spice of life! Ensure you are making use of all the different types of posts. Here are some to consider:
  • Polls are fun – you can add images for greater effect.
  • Carousel posts are great for showcasing a number of links out to different web pages
  • the slide show is useful for adding some movement to your page – video is still king after all!
  • Lives! Going live is the most intimate connection you can have with your ideal clients – they will really get a sense of who you are through this, helping you develop more meaningful relationships

• Remember, the algorithm likes to keep people on platform. That’s not to say you shouldn’t use external links sometimes, to your website and curated articles, but be mindful to post engaging posts which keep people on Facebook to get the most from your organic content.
• YouTube is Facebook’s biggest competitor so rather than posting a link out to YouTube, upload the video directly to Facebook.
• Now that you have put the effort into posting consistently, you need to understand if you are posting the RIGHT content. Is it receiving the engagement and reach you require? I have a great video guide and template for running a Facebook Page healthcheck– find it here 
• Be prepared to give a new posting strategy at least three months before you can start to understand if it is working. Allow your ideal clients time to see that you are showing up consistently, with value adding content. Once they start to see a pattern, they will start to hunt your page out, but until that happens you need to hold your nerve and focus on which content is doing best, testing how to achieve more engagement, testing what resonates with your ideal clients and followers and what doesn’t.
• Once you understand what works organically, you may want to consider Facebook Ads. Facebook is most definitely ‘pay to play’ now, and so I highly recommend investing in Ads each month in order to reach the people you need to reach. You can read about what is possible with Facebook Ads here 
• If you are a solo entrepreneur you may want to read a blog I wrote for Youpreneur about how to run Facebook ads alongside your organic strategy

If you have any questions on any of the above, or anything else social media marketing related, please feel free to contact me at kirsty@mannsocial.com

I offer ‘done with you‘ and ‘done for you‘ social media marketing services, along with training courses for those of you who want to ‘do it yourself’.

I hope this blog has helped you and your business in some way! Please can I ask that you pass it on to someone else who may benefit if you think it may be of value? Thanks!