Facebook marketing seems to be the flavor of the day. All want to understand it and use it for their success, just like so many others have done in the recent past.

Before we understand the complete concept of Facebook marketing, let’s try to understand first, what is Facebook?

What is Facebook?

Facebook was launched as a social networking service among Harvard students in 2004 by Mark Zukerberg and his friends. The students could share their personal information like groups, clubs, classes, photographs, etc.

As it gained popularity, students from other schools could also join, and by the end of 2004, it had one million active users. In 2005, students outside the USA could join, and by 2005’s end, it had more than six million active users.

In 2006, anyone over the age of 13 could become a member. By 2006’s end, members increased to 12 million, which increased to 58 million by the end of 2007 and one billion by October 2012.

Over the years, it has acquired many companies like Instagram in 2012, Atlas in 2013, Oculus and WhatsApp in 2014, and introduced many new features for Facebook users.

Its popularity kept on increasing and now it is the world’s most used social networking platform, with more than 2.5 billion members.

Businesses realized the potential of Facebook and, slowly, Facebook marketing became an essential part of their overall marketing strategy.

Any marketing done through the use of the Facebook platform can be termed as Facebook marketing. Businesses use it in various ways, like reaching out to new customers, spreading awareness about new products, creating awareness about upcoming events, getting feedback on their products, etc.

1. Easy to start:

Anyone can do it. It is not at all technical. There are guidelines imbedded in the platform, which can give you instructions at every step. Also, one does not need a lot of money to get started.

2. level playing field.

Whether you are a small business or a big business, the rules are the same for everyone. There is no biasness or partiality towards small businesses trying to compete against big industry giants.

3. Learn from the competition:

One can study competitors’ styles of marketing, engagement, and outreach. The lessons learned can be used to develop their own marketing strategy.

4. Inexpensive:

One can start with small capital and the minimum cost of an ad is much cheaper than other modes of marketing options present in the market.

5. Trending:

All the major businesses are using Facebook marketing. If you are not showing your presence on Facebook, then you may not be giving the correct perception amongst your customers.

6. Lots of options:

There are a lot of options one can choose from here to do marketing. Options can be offered through photographs, videos, texts, posts or by going live.

7. Outreach:

As per surveys done on various occasions, Facebook comes out as the most used social networking platform and also the one reaching out to the largest number of people on the planet.

8. Price/quality ratio:

Businesses like to use the option of marketing that gives them more returns for the money they put in. Facebook marketing cuts the extra costs and directly targets existing and potential customers only.

9. Connection:

Facebook gives you an opportunity to connect to your customers. Having a connection with customers is of great importance in the new world where attention spans and attachments are too short among people.

10. SEO boosting:

You get an opportunity to direct the visitors on your page to your website and, in the process, increase the organic traffic, boosting your SEO and ranking in the search options.

11. Awareness:

Through the use of Facebook, you are able to increase awareness about your brand and about the new products your company may be launching in the future. In a way, preparing the audience, in fact, creating the market for the product before the actual product comes out.

12. Mobility:

Facebook is available on mobile, so a person can access it from wherever he is and connect with customers, respond to them, or study the impact of previous ads.

13. Analysis:

Facebook has an analysis tool that allows advertisers to see how their ads are performing and which ads should be replaced. It also gives you information about the visitors to your page or website, and that can help you design your marketing.

14. Live:

The Live option feature on Facebook gives you the chance to interact with the audience, answer their queries, showcase your new products or services, and establish a relationship.

There cannot be a one-line answer to the question.

There is not any general best way to do Facebook marketing for everyone.

It all depends on what your objective is in this regard. And on the basis of the result that you want to achieve, the best possible way can be figured out.

Broadly, there are two ways one can do Facebook marketing: either using free/organic methods or through paid ones.

Before you start on the path of doing marketing on Facebook, you need to have a Facebook business manager.

It is a tool on Facebook through which you manage and organize all of your marketing methods.

You need to have a personal profile account on Facebook to make a business manager account. It is required to confirm your identity.

Creating a business account on Facebook is very easy.

You just need to log in to your Facebook account. In the right hand top corner, there are some dots. You click on them and a lot of options pop out. You need to click on the pages and start filling in the required information to set up your business page.

You need to put in the information that you would like people to see when they visit your business page. Your personal information on the Facebook account, through which you made your business page, does not get shared automatically there.

You can add people that you want to work on the project you are doing. These can be your team members, partners, employees, etc.

You have the choice to give them access to all the files or only the files that are relevant to their work.

When a person stops working on a project or leaves a company, you can just click on them and remove them.

If you want to give ads, then you click on “Add Account.” Create the account by giving your bank details.

You can fill in the amount for ads that you have decided to spend.

The Facebook Ads Manager can help you with setting up ads, campaigns, budgeting, etc.

You can use Insights to see the performance of your ads.

What are insights?

Insights is an analysis tool on the Facebook platform itself, and it helps the advertiser to gauge the impact of the ads. One comes to know which ads are working and which are not. This will help you modify the ads for greater impact.

You can set up Facebook Pixel.

It is a code that Facebook generates for you, and you put the code on your website.

It gives you all the information about the time someone visited your website, time spent, any purchases, comments, etc. This helps you identify the right approach for creating ads and the right target for them.

1. Purpose:

First, determine the purpose that you want to achieve using the Facebook platform. The purpose can vary, so the strategy needs to be as per your primary objective. If your objective is clear, only then will your strategy be clear and focused. And hence, the chances of achieving success are greater.

2. Customers:

Choose your potential customers in the current campaign of Facebook marketing. Ask yourself, who are the primary targets? Do you plan to increase your customer base? Are you working to retain your old customers? Do you plan to retarget the visitors to your web pages with attractive offers?

3. Budget:

Once you have zeroed in on the objective and the type of customer you want to attract, you need to select the right amount of budget. And if the budget is inadequate, then you need to scale down your targets and look at working on the organic way of reaching the right audience.

4. Time:

Studies done on the behaviour of users show that there are certain times of the day when people are more active on social sites like Facebook. You need to run your ads at a time when your potential customers are most active on Facebook.

5. Engage:

Engage with your audience. When you interact more, relationships develop and become stronger, leading to an increase in customer loyalty. You need to do it on a regular basis, either through posts, photos, or videos.

Organizing contests or giveaways is a good way to increase engagement with the audience. As more people visit your pages, you have a greater chance of converting them into new customers in the near future.

6. Monitor:

When you give ads on Facebook, you need to continuously monitor them for the response that you are getting. Sometimes ads don’t click, so you need to be flexible and ready to remove, change, and modify the ads.

You can take the help of insights to analyze the details of potential customers. The behavior patterns, area, age, and patterns of the visitors can help in formulating the right kind of ads.

7. Creative:

There are so many ads and advertisers trying to get people’s attention. So you need to be creative in presenting an advertisement that stands out. Maybe you can use short, catchy phrases and great visuals to grab attention.

8. Give information:

When you create your business page, you get a sort of website on the Facebook platform, which you can use to grow your business. So give as much information as possible about yourself, your company, your products, your services, etc. in a crisp manner.

The visitors on the Facebook page generally prefer to gather all the information on Facebook only. Along with the short information, also share the link to your website.

Also fill in all the columns on the webpage, like photo, logo, contact details like phone number, address, email, etc.

9. Customer service:

Service given to the customer within a time frame goes a long way in establishing strong loyalty among customers. Use a service like Facebook Messenger on your Facebook page to respond to customers much more quickly.

10. Story:

People connect with stories. You can share the story of the growth of your company, the evolution of any of your famous brands, or how you came into this line of work.

It is good to share the milestones that the company has achieved over the years. Along with the achievements, people can be informed about the future plans of the company. It builds trust and confidence in the growth of the company and the brand.

11. Ask questions/opinions:

One way of interaction with the audience is by asking questions or offering opinions. You can ask the users for their opinion about the new product or service. Is there any way the services can be made better in the coming days? What are the shortcomings in the new product? What name do you suggest the company should give to the new product to be launched? The questions or opinions increase curiosity and also give a sense of participation among the audience.

12. Customer testimonials or reviews:

Testimonials or reviews by customers go a long way in creating trust in the product or services. It can be in the form of short videos in your posts or in ads that you give on Facebook.

13. Behind the scenes:

Users of the products are very much interested in knowing how the products they are using are made. Behind the scenes can be shared sometimes on Facebook. It will help establish a better connection between the company and the customers.

14. Content:

Share valuable and useful content on your page on a regular basis. It would be better if the content was not trying to sell something in disguise to the audience. People appreciate genuine sharing of content that is of some importance in their lives. It helps in creating a bond of trust and faith towards you, your company, and your products.

15. Facebook groups:

Make a Facebook group or join one of the active groups on Facebook. You are able to connect to the people in your field. Sharing and collaborating on ideas can go a long way in increasing your business.

16. Facebook marketplace:

It is a great place to sell in the local market. You can freely create your listings, give complete description, add photos and prices of the products to sell locally

It is one of the features on Facebook that gives you one more option to sell your products. You also need to look into the rules and regulations for selling particular products in your area.

17. Charity:

Fundraising for a charity is a good way to show your humane side to your audience. It shows that you think about social issues and are doing something about them.

Not everyone can raise funds for a charity on Facebook. Only verified companies, brands, and people can do this, and if you are among these, it creates more credibility among the audience.

18. Events:

Organizing events is also a way to promote your products or services. An event post is listed in the events section, which is seen by people other than your regular potential customers. There is a huge possibility for you to increase your brand awareness among more people.

You can create Facebook ads for events and run them. The event post can be set as a pinned post, so it will show at the top of the page and be more visible.

19. Go live:

Use the option of going live from time to time. Direct interaction with the users is always better, as it gives you feedback directly from the horse’s mouth. You know what is working and what is not. What is the scope of improvement?

Interaction from the top management enhances the loyalty among the users, as it gives them a feeling of importance to the company.

There is no doubt that Facebook marketing is critical if one wishes to keep up with the latest marketing trends.

Even people who have been doing traditional forms of marketing for many years are budgeting for online social marketing platforms such as Facebook.

Facebook gives a platform for even the smallest business owners to promote their products and grow.