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FACEBOOK MARKETING

FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

- How To Attract A Quality, Engaged Fan-Base That Makes You Money

By Haroon Rashid

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FACEBOOK MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Why You Should Be On Facebook... 2

How To Monetize Your Fan-Base... 4

How To Get Higher In The News Feed... 5

When Should You Post... 6

How To Get More Engagement... 7

How To Get More Fans... 9

Measuring Your Facebook Marketing... 11

Conclusion... 12

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Why Should You Be On Facebook?

In March 2011, I was invited by the University of Leeds to come and do a talk on Marketing. I started off the talk like I always do by asking the following set of questions - I asked the audience (by a show of hands) how many of them have used a social media site in the last week. 100% of the hands went up. I then asked how many of them have clicked on a link (picture, blog, article, video etc) that was sent to them via social media. Again 100% of their hands went up. I asked them what their favourite social media site was. The unanimous response was Facebook.

I then asked the students how many times a week they went on Facebook.

Unanimously it was every day. I then decided to take this further. I asked them how many times a day they went on Facebook. The response for a lot of them was

“around 10 – 15 times a day”...

You won’t be surprised to learn that I get these sorts of figures everywhere I go.

Without fail I reveal to the audience just how much time we actually spend on social media - and Facebook in particular. So what’s the point of all this?

It’s absolutely amazing how much time we (as customers) spend on Facebook. It’s absolutely amazing how we consistently use Facebook to research products/

services that we want to buy. And yet it is absolutely amazing how companies still fail to see the opportunity to reach their customers on the very place where they love to hang out and where they love to be reached.

Unfortunately Facebook still has a negative perception with some small business owners who see Facebook as ‘wasting time’. Here's just a few reasons for your business to be on Facebook:

1. Your Customers Are There

From the above example, it’s amazing how many of us (business owners) are on Facebook. The number of Facebook users is around 800 million at the time of writing and it’s growing quickly. In fact the stat is probably already out of date in the little time it’s taken you to read this sentence!

If our customers are there and they like using Facebook then doesn’t it make sense to reach them where they are? Doesn’t it make sense to reach them on a platform that they use a lot and that they enjoy using? If your typical customer is someone who spends a lot of time online then it doesn’t make sense to send them leaflets or brochures. This is a typical example of focused marketing – being more targeted in your approach rather than a mass blanket of advertising and hoping that someone will buy.

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FACEBOOK MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

2. Your Customers Ask For Referrals On Facebook

Studies have shown that around 57% of social media users ask their social networks for recommendations for products/services that they want to buy. (This stat is also growing.) Your customers now have the power of choice. They are more savvy in how they purchase. The main thing people want is trust. They trust their friends and family so asking their social networks is just an easy way to make sure they don’t make a bad purchase.

If your customers refer your company then you need to be well positioned (i.e. on Facebook) in order to make it really simple and easy for the potential customer to find you. Someone can easily send your business page in a private message to the potential customer. They can click your page, have a look around and make an informed decision as to buy from you there and then.

This is better because if the referral asked the potential customer to go check a website or email or call, then there is a possibility that they may not do it. It could be one of things that ‘they’ll get round to soon’. Minimise the work for your customer to find you and increase your leads generated.

3. Mass New Market Potential

Following on from the above points, you have the amazing ability to reach new and bigger markets. Here’s the best part - you don’t have to do anything! A lot of new customers could come to you just by being on Facebook and having people find you in search engines or from referrals.

By simply being on Facebook means that you have the potential to increase leads and sales.

4. Mass Reach Potential

By having a Facebook business page you then have the ability to have your content spread to this huge network. People can easily come across your page in a number of ways:

- in the top right ‘ticker’ you can see what all your network ‘like’ and comment on.

Your page name appears on that ticker whenever your fans engage with your page.

This can drive new people to your page.

- people can share your content if it’s a funny picture, video or a blog post.

Therefore this opens you up to more and more potential customers.

- Your page can rank in search engine results if optimised properly and if you update your page frequently.

- You (and your network) can share your page and recommend it to people therefore getting you more exposure.

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How To Monetize Your Fan-Base

There’s a big debate about whether (or how) you can monetize your online marketing/social media marketing efforts.  Some say it can’t be done but I say it can.  However, firstly  it is important to understand that the online world is very different from the real world – and in particular the real world of advertising up till around the year 2000.

Customer behaviour is drastically different from what it was because they now have the power.  The Internet gave them the power.  A lot of companies try to reach their customers by advertising at them online.  This would have been fine in the 90s but in the online world of today it comes across as spamming.

Your customers have the power to choose what they want to listen to, who they want to fan/follow/subscribe to and how they consume their content and in what format.  They can consume that content whenever they feel like it – not when we tell them to.  They have absolute control over their spending and buying behaviour.  We can’t tell them what to do anymore.

So how do we monetize our online marketing?

In the online world, we have to engage with our customers, not advertise at them.

You may have heard this phrases many times but what does it actually mean?  How do you engage with a customer?  Think of it this way – the word ‘engaging’ has the connotation of two individuals being involved with each other.  There is a connotation that both parties are willingly involved with each other, rather than out of coercion or obligation.  And if I’m honest the main connotation is that both parties are entirely human demonstrating typical human traits – conversation, discovery, relationship etc.

To ‘engage’ with your customer means that you have to treat them for what they are – human.  And you must act like what you are – human.

There is no use trying to act like you are a mysterious Wizard of Oz character hiding behind a big curtain because in the online world, that puts people off as it doesn’t build trust.  Trust is eternal.  Trust exists in the real world and the online world.  It is the biggest element in business and sales.  If you can’t show you are trustworthy then you won’t drive any leads or sales.  Humans have a need to trust humans. 

Humans like doing business with humans – not mysterious ‘Wizard of Oz’

characters.

The way to monetize your brand is to humanise your brand.

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How To Get Higher In The News Feed

Edge Rank is Facebook’s algorithm. It is the filter in which everything that is posted – passes through. This filter would then determine how high posts go in people’s news feeds. This is very similar to SEO and getting to the top of Google searches.

Your aim of course is to get to the top of the news feed. Edge Rank, like other algorithms, likes different things and will promote certain types of posts higher up the news feed.

1. Photos

Photos are the number 1 thing that scores the best on Edge Rank. Studies have shown that there is higher engagement with posts that have photos. People are inherently visual. They like to look at things.

By using photos in your strategy you will increase the likelihood that your post will be featured higher in your customer’s news feeds.

2. Videos

The next popular thing that Edge Rank likes is videos. Again, people are visual and like to watch things. If you are sharing videos try and keep them fairly short and snappy – anything between 30 seconds to 3 minutes is golden. If you go longer than that, it could be a turn off and people may not want to engage with it.

3. Links

Thirdly, Edge Rank likes links. When sharing links, businesses can be tempted to shorten their links by using services like bit.ly or ow.ly if they are using platforms like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck. However studies have shown that click rates drop considerably when customers can’t see the entire URL. They want to know where they are clicking because of security reasons and spammers. When sharing links, try to include the entire URL.

4. Likes/Comments/Shares

The more likes and comments that you get the higher up the news feed you will go.

The ‘Promised Land’ that you want your posts to get to is the ‘popular news’

section. The popular news section often features at the top of people’s news feeds – particularly on mobile devices and apps. A lot of the time our customers are using Facebook on these devices therefore it is imperative that you strive to get in their popular news section.

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When Should You Post

With so many people using Facebook it has proven to be a great marketing tool for businesses. However the challenge is to get on top of your customers news feed whenever they log on. Everyone is posting on Facebook and your customers can be bombarded by info. A lot of the time it can be easy for your customers to miss your posts.

The best time of day to post on Facebook (in general) is actually three times - 7am, 5pm and 11pm.

Studies have shown that these times will increase the likelihood that you will appear near the top of your customer’s news feed and therefore be seen. If you notice, these times correspond with the majority of people’s day when they are not at work or may be busy with day to day things.

7am

A lot of people now check their Facebook the first thing when they get up in the morning or are on their way to work. If you take a bus or train to work – have you noticed how many people are on their smart phones?

If you post at 7am and someone checks their Facebook at around 0730 – 0800 then the chances are you will be quite high on their news feed.

5pm

A lot of people don’t have internet access at work as companies ban their employees from accessing it. Therefore it doesn’t make much sense to post between 0900-1700. Most people finish work around 5pm and will again, commute back home. Their behaviour doesn’t change. If they checked Facebook on their way to work, they will most likely check it on the way home too.

By posting at this time you will increase your chances of being at the top of the news feed.

11pm

Surprisingly, studies show that there are a lot of people on Facebook at this time.

We know that a lot of people post in the evenings so by just waiting a little bit longer to post, you can get higher in the news feed as opposed to posting during ‘peak posting hour’ (say around 8pm).

I would say the earliest you can post at this point in the day is 10pm. At this time

though you would probably share a short video or a picture as most people

wouldn’t be up for reading a blog at that time.

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FACEBOOK MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

How To Get More Engagement

1. Give Value

A lot of companies have Facebook pages. The most common pitfall is that most companies want likes and comments but they aren’t giving value up front. Your fans have liked your page because they want content that is relevant, compelling and interesting. If you sort out what is coming from the front end then the likes and comments should follow.

The problem isn’t with the customer, it’s with the content. If no one is engaging then it means you are not offering anything of value or significance to your customer.

Offer value and the engagement will follow.

2. Use Photos

Photos score the best in Edge Rank. Countless studies have shown that photos are the number 1 thing that drives the most engagement.

Consider the use of photos in your Facebook strategy. It’s not the most obvious of choices, but carefully chosen images that can enhance communication are vital to driving engagement on Facebook. Always make sure your images are relevant to what you are posting.

3. Tell Them!

The most successful companies on Facebook tell their customers (in a nice way) what they want them to do. Using simple commands e.g. like, comment, share etc will drive engagement. Your customers know that the ‘like’ and ‘comment’ functions are there, you just need to give them a gentle nudge to do it. There are different types of engagement too – this is why it is important for you to specify what you want them to do.

Subtle commands are a great way of driving engagement. It may sound silly but with so much information, customers need to know what you want them to do – is it to comment and have a discussion or is it to just like the funny photo you posted?

Either way – tell them what kind of engagement you want from them.

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4. Ask Questions

One of the most effective ways to drive engagement is to give the right bait – a question. Think of it this way – if you simply make a statement then you limit the potential for comments as there’s only so much someone can say. However if you ask a question, then you increase the likelihood that people will respond – and a response is engagement.

Not only that, you have the opportunity to scale the engagement up. If a discussion develops then that’s brilliant. You can moderate the discussion and keep it going as long as you can – as participants to develop arguments/thoughts, throw in some other potential points etc.

Customers love questions. It is the right bait for engagement and has the potential to be scaled up. Find out what questions interest your customers and get asking!

5. 80 Characters Or Less

Studies have shown that shorter posts get more engagement. The magic number is 80 characters (or less). Posts that typically are 80 characters or less get more likes and comments than longer posts. People have relatively short attention spans when online and mostly skim for information. The shorter and snappier the better.

The best type of post would usually be a photo/image with a short snappy question.

Keep your posts 80 characters or less and you will have a chance of catching your customer’s skimming eyes. Keep it short, snappy and to the point.

6. Be Consistent

Consistency is the key. If you want engagement you have to post day in, day out, week in, week out. There are no shortcuts – it just takes a bit of time and the drive to continually give value consistently. If you post once in a blue moon then you won’t stay in the front of people’s eyes.

Keep posting. Keep posting. Keep posting.

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How To Get More Fans

There seems to be a myth on Facebook – the more fans you have, the ‘better’ you are.

It seems  that an unwritten rule has already been written in this new social media universe.  First impressions, appearances and all that stuff that contributes to the social aspect of all our lives.  This is social media after all.

Think about that for a second.  Social media.  In our social lives we are so wrapped up with appearances, first impressions, social etiquette - why wouldn’t that translate into this universe?  All we have done is take these pre-conceived notions, habits etc and put them in the context of a social network.  They have just been translated onto a computer.  That’s it! 

The way you are in social settings in the real world is how you will be in the social media world.

The way you think in social settings in the real world is how you will think in the social media world.

My proof?  The case in point – does more fans necessarily mean ‘better’?

Let’s say you have a business dealing in Financial Services.  You’ve heard about this

‘social media thing’ and you decide to set up a Facebook account.  Good.  But then you see other people’s accounts who have thousands of fans.  You’ve got three.  So then you start to aimlessly spam everyone via email and Twitter and ask them to fan your page. You might even start buying ads and try to beg people for their attention.

From all this you might get 1,000 fans. You might think that's great. But let me challenge that for just a second.

Why? Why does ‘more’ mean better?  I can tell you now it doesn’t. Let’s say you managed to get 10,000 fans.  Most people would say, “Why, that’s fantastic!!”  I would argue that it would be – if they were all interested in your financial services.  If they were your customers. Did you hear that penny drop?

What if most of your 10,000 fans were just high school kids who only want to know about Brad Pitt’s latest romance news? Or when the next Justin Bieber concert is?

They have no interest in your financial services whatsoever.  They are simply not your customers.

A lot of people with thousands of fans don’t necessarily get any business.  They don’t get referrals.  So what’s the answer?

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A Quality Fan is simply “a fan who can add value to you, and that you can add value to.”

The best (and only) way to build a quality fan base is to always ensure you continuously offer value. Value is the determining factor in growing your fan base. It must always be the priority when conducting your Facebook marketing.

Think of it this way - when you eat at a good restaurant you recommend it to your friends. Your friends trust your judgement and will therefore go and check out the restaurant. The same goes for your Facebook page. If you provide your existing fan base good quality and valuable content then they will start to recommend you to their networks.

By having this mindset you will start to promote your page differently. Rather than just tweeting "Like my Facebook page [LINK]" you will now offer a valuable reason for them to join. Going back to our Financial Services example, you might say,

"Want to know the latest techniques for saving money and increase profits? Check this out [LINK]"

If you have something of value, people will be attracted to it. They will most likely fan your page and click your links because you are giving something that they want.

This approach does take time however it is the best way to do it in the long run. You will build up a fan base that will regularly engage with your content and who will recommend your page to other people.

Buying and begging for people's attention is just sad. You could potentially have 1 million fans and not make any sales. It is so much easier to monetize a smaller and engaged fan base that is continuously growing with a good reputation.

Don't get sucked into 'Get Fans Quick' schemes as they are just like 'Get Rich Schemes' - it looks good in the short term but in the end it is rotten to core and does not produce anything. Always have the mindset of longevity. Always think to yourself that your aim is to build your fan base over the long term and to establish loyalty with them.

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FACEBOOK MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Measuring Your Facebook Marketing

I’m sick of hearing people talk about many Facebook fans they have on their business page.  Quite often I meet people who boast about how many hundreds or even thousands of fans they have.  Sounds impressive right? 

The problem is that when I look at their Facebook business page, they have a lot of likes but no one is talking about them.

If you look at the section of your page where it shows you the number of fans that you have, you will notice there is another metric underneath it – how many people are talking about this.

This means how many people are engaging with your page – liking, commenting and sharing your posts.

Most people get carried away with the number of fans they have, however this metric means nothing.  The metric that really matters is how many people are talking about you.

Look at this example. The page only has 65 fans but it has 11 people talking about it. That's around 17%! You want to be aiming for anywhere between 10-15%.

Anything between that is good.

In the real world, we don’t like people taking ‘about us’.  However this is the opposite in the online world.  Your aim is to get as many people talking about you as possible. It is better for you to have a relatively low number of fans but have a good proportion of people talking about you, rather than having 1 million fans and no one is talking about you.

Don’t get sucked into useless metrics.  Stop trying to increase the number of Facebook fans for your page.  Concentrate on trying to increase the number of people that are talking about your page. By all means try and get more quality people to like your page but your main focus needs to be on the number of people talking about you.

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Conclusion

Facebook Marketing can be a great way for you to reach, attract and engage with your customers. It can open up a world of possibilities for your business – if you use the platform correctly. The above is not a magic formula for a ‘Get Rich Quick’

scheme. The thing to remember is that everything of value in business (and in life) takes time to establish. There are no shortcuts. The best things of value will often be the disciplined approach of many small things done consistently. I’ve never seen anybody get a 6 pack after doing only one set of ab crunches. It requires disciplined and consistent effort before any physical improvement is seen. The same goes for your Facebook Marketing. Don’t get sucked into the wrong mindset where you are told that you can get 1,000 fans in 24 hours. Build your fan base the right way – organically and customer-focused. This will have longevity and will ultimately be more rewarding than vain numbers and statistics that do not produce anything.

Happy Facebooking!

About The Author

Hi, I'm Haroon Rashid and I'm the author of this eBook and Managing Director of Finisher Creative - an online marketing and social media company based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK.

As Managing Director, I feel it is so important to educate and empower people with as much valuable and helpful content as possible to help them with their marketing. I hope you found this guide useful and welcome any feedback that you have. If you would like to ask me anything about your marketing then please feel free to contact me on any of the details below.

Contact Details:

Email: info@finishercreative.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/finishercreativeofficial Twitter: www.twitter.com/FinisherCre8ive

Website: www.finishercreative.com

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