5 Proven Ways to Promote Your Small Business on Facebook
For those who have entrepreneurial aspirations, there has never been a better time to start pursuing your dream or being a business owner. The global economy that has been created by the rapid advancement in technology and the enormous expanse of the internet has completely opened up multitudinous opportunities for people to enter into the business market and be successful.
Over the course of my life, I have successfully launched and brought to profitability 46 companies (not including those I acquired and invested in) using a proven strategy that marginalizes the risks that are inherently a part of being a business owner. I am currently operating a total of six businesses, including The Visionetics Institute, The Odyssey Media Group & Publishing Co., Myriad Business Solutions and Master Fitness 21. These companies were started during a restructuring period in my life in which there was very little liquid capital to work with. What I had were ideas and expertise, and more importantly, an ability to think laterally (outside of the box of conventionalism) — using creative methods to build my brand and promote my businesses.
I still have a considerable way to go to return to my previous position, but the wall of greatness is not built in a day, but one brick at a time. This is something that new and aspiring business owners must learn early in the game.
One of the most important components associated with running a successful business is marketing and branding. I will not get into the intricacies of marketing and branding, but I will say that failure to properly brand and promote your business will interfere with your capacity to experience growth and longevity in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
Facebook has proven to be a highly effective platform when it comes to building a brand and effectively engaging your target audience and while paid advertising should eventually become a significant part of your business budget, there are some free methods that you can use to get you started.
Here are 5 proven ways to promote your small business on Facebook.
- Create a Personal Presence by Using a Fan Page
If you are planning on growing your business over time, you will need to have the capacity to develop relationships with your target audience. It will be through these relationships that you will be able to develop trust, which is essential to creating customer loyalty. Facebook has performed very well in this area for businesses of all sizes. As a small business owner, the ability to facilitate person-to-person interaction with potential clients will make the individuals feel as if they have connected with your brand in a meaningful way, and that they have a unique connection with your company.
Keep in mind that meaningful engagement cannot be solely based on you promoting your products or services, but you need to be able to engage your target audience in a manner in which you are providing them with value without asking them for money. This is how you build trust and validate the character and integrity of your company.
- Maintain a Bold Brand Presence
Without you paying a little money to promote your posts on Facebook, it is likely that only a small portion of your followers will see your posts in their news feeds, meaning that you will need to post frequently and regularly (the same time intervals) — offering your followers valuable information that they find relevant and useful. This way they will continue to come back to your page to see what you post. You can also connect your page to your website where your audience will be able to find even more useful content.
Side note: For as little as $10 – $20, you can promote your Facebook posts from your business page, and Facebook makes it very easy to target the people you consider to be a part of your market. They will even help you set up your campaign.
- Join Facebook Groups
This is an area where a lot of small business owners fail to capitalize on the gold mine that lies behind the wall of Facebook groups. Facebook groups function as many forums where people join to create a community surrounding particular interests. Facebook makes it very easy to find these groups with a simple search. When you find groups that are associated with your particular industry or niche, send the group administrator a request to join the group. Once you have been accepted to the group, don’t immediately start posting about your products and services, instead join in on existing conversations and dialogue. Build a reputation of providing valuable information and feedback that helps people solve existing problems. This is how you build trust within the group.
Once you have built trust in the group, you can start inviting people to check out your fan page and website.
What makes Facebook groups such a valuable resource is the fact that most of the people are in the group because they are in some way vested in that particular industry or niche — meaning that you will always be interacting with people who can influence your business growth.
- Create a Group of Your Own
As beneficial as participating in other groups can be, creating your own group allows you to establish the rules of engagement and it immediately establishes you as an authority in your industry. You will also likely be the first person that members come to when they need something. When you create your own page, you create the capacity to build your own personal network. Creating your own group means that you will have the ability to dictate when and what you post without the concern of upsetting the page owner or admin.
- List Your Events
Facebook makes it very easy to list all your upcoming events. When you have an upcoming event, you can create an event page that provides a clear description of what the event is about and how people can attend. The event page will also allow people to indicate if they are going to attend, interested in attending or not attending. It is an awesome tool to use as an RSVP mechanism.
Event pages also allow followers and attendees to post comments, providing valuable feedback that will actually tell you how to best market your product to them.
When you take the time to build trusting relationships on Facebook, the people you interact with will literally tell you the things that are most important to them informing you of the most effective way to sell them your products and services. When you have limited funds, your personality and expertise will prove invaluable to you as you attempt to establish a brand presence and attract customers who will be loyal to your brand.