So, you’re building a new company. You’ve created a business plan, invested in a shiny new visual identity and have slick marketing materials to bring your brand to life. Now, it’s time to get started on building out your social media presence – and time is ticking. But, how you go from fan #1, to a thriving and sustainable online community? After a decade of working social media brands across a broad range of industries, I have honed in on the 10 most important areas that impact your Facebook business page growth. Read on for all of the details! Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Facebook is a pervasive social media platform, but it’s not for everyone. So, know your audience. Before investing in time and resources to grow your Facebook page, it’s important to do an audience analysis to determine whether your audience is, in fact, using this platform. Age and geo-location are the primary factors that impact which social media channel will yield the best results. For example, if your market is in China, Weibo may be a better fit. Or, if you are trying to target Gen Z, Instagram, Snap or YouTube might be more appropriate. Additionally, business to business clients use social media very differently than than business to consumer. A great first step is to survey your target audience to get a better sense of what social channels they use before making any decisions. Your social media channels must reflect the creative vision for your company. Customers should have a consistent experience with your brand, regardless of what touchpoint they are engaging with you. Whether it’s a newspaper ad, an in-store experience, or a social media interaction, consistency in visual identity, voice and tone is essential to growing your business online and off. What would your brand sound like if it were a person? Make sure you have a visual ID style guide, as well as a strong sense of your voice and tone. Having a plan for who, what, where, why and when is critical to gaining momentum for your fledgling Facebook page. It’s tempting to fly by the seat of your pants when it comes to rolling out your social media content. But, a Facebook Live here, a few photos there, and the occasional blog post do not make a strategy. Know your business goals, then create a social media plan that will help achieve these goals. What is the journey you want to take your customer on? What actions are you trying to drive from the customer? What are your company’s key differentiators and key messages? Once you can answer these questions, you can then create content pillars to help categorize your content, and a calendar for timing. Mobile friendly content, video and visually captivating photography are essential to rolling out a successful social media plan. If you have budget, bring your vision and branding to life by investing in professional photography/videography services. However, even more budget-friendly options require some level of investment. For example, an Adobe Creative Cloud membership, stock photography assets or tools to produce your own content may be necessary. And, don’t forget: your time is valuable. You have an entire business to run and your time could be better spent on other tasks. Consider the benefits of outsourcing your social media content to a third-party. With today’s organic pipelines shrinking and the pay-to-play landscape growing across all social media channels, there is literally no point in having a social media presence if you don’t have at least some money to amplify your content. How much to spend and what to spend that money on is discussion to be had at another time. But, suffice to say, I urge you to carve out a humble budget (even if it’s only $250/month). As a starting point, run a small Facebook Page Like campaign targeted to the types of customers who would find your business useful or interesting. Once you’ve acquired a healthy number (say 1,000), turn your sights to investing ad spend where it will drive the best business results. If you want to drive online leads, create ads that will drive traffic to your website. If you want to create awareness about a new product, spend money amplifying videos or images that showcase the product features or teach customers how to use it. There are many ways to slice and dice your Facebook media budget, but the point is – you need one! As a business owner, remember that you likely already have a rich personal and professional network. Use your personal channels to drive initial launch of your business page. Like your Facebook friends and invite them to do the same. Cross-promote your Facebook business page on other channels, such as LinkedIn to drive additional awareness. Contesting and sweepstakes have been “done before”, but the truth is they work – especially for the business to consumer world. Drive initial interest in and awareness about your business by running a contest or promotion in the early days and you’ll see your audience grow. Entry mechanisms vary, but if you want to acquire a foundational Facebook audience, consider inviting people to like your Facebook page or comment on your social media post to drive organic reach. Just be sure to follow the latest Facebook promotions guidelines. Ensure you’re winning at customer service, right out of the gates. Before launching, create a game plan for how often you’ll check your comments and private messages, as well as how you will address customer questions and complaints. The key is to respond promptly, transparently and consistently as possible. Always remember that a simple “thank you” or “we hear you” goes a long way. Establishing and nurturing partnerships with sponsors, media outlets, suppliers, influencers or other like-minded businesses is the perfect way to reach new audiences in the social media world. The tactics may vary from industry to industry and audience to audience, but ultimately you want to do the following: At the end of the day, social media is a long-game. That means vanity metrics such as fan and follower count can only get you so far. It really is a matter of quality over quantity, so qualify your fan base with metrics such as engagement rate and reach to ensure you’re creating awareness, driving action through relevant and resonant content. Need help creating a Facebook strategy? Get in touch and let’s chat!
