The Nuts and Bolts
The internet and social media sites especially have led to the line between our social and professional lives blurring ever more with each passing day. Social media sites give people the opportunity to connect with old friends, make new ones and expand their professional network with only a few clicks, from the comfort of their own home.
Social media sites have redefined the concept of globalization, which was the „in‟ word two decades ago for large corporations. Unfortunately for the latter, the current globalization concept has allowed businesses of all sizes to tap the benefits of being present in a wide number of markets. This is because the internet has become a business channel that is practically free and companies are no longer required to make massive investments in building an offline, local presence in whichever market they choose to expand into. In fact, why expand into a single geographical market, when one can access the world with a few clicks of the mouse?
Of course, this doesn‟t mean that it‟s easy to compete against the giants, but, after all, why take on a giant when you can still build a profitable and sustainable business that will change your life and that of future generations of your family without competing directly with the giants.
The one advantage you have, as a small business owner, over a large corporation is relationships. Yes, you heard right! You are more likely to spend time building relationships with your customers than any large corporation as they are mostly focused on their bottom line and ROI, overlooking strategies and tactics that may not convert into tangible results immediately. However, even the „big boys‟ are beginning to understand the value of social media sites and building relationships with their customers, which is why you need to jump on this train of opportunity before it passes you by.
What you need to understand is that the change that has and is taking place is not in the core concepts of marketing, which are more applicable than ever, but in consumer behavior. You see, social media sites have given consumers a voice of their own and they are less likely to fall for advertising campaigns that cost millions to put together. Instead of rushing out to buy a brand new, shiny product, most consumers‟ first stop is their favorite social media website to research the product in question.
For companies who simply „don‟t get‟ the social media space, this can be a killer. However, for those savvy entrepreneurs who understand the new consumer, this is a resource that can be leveraged to create an incredibly successful business.
Why You Need to Be Present
Facebook currently has over 400 million users, making it larger than many of the world‟s nations and it is growing every day. Additionally, this social media platform‟s demographics are so diverse that it makes an ideal marketing vehicle. In fact, more than 50 percent of U.S. users are 26 years old and above, meaning that your marketing efforts will meet with even greater success as these are usually the people who make direct purchase decisions.
Likewise, many businesses are also wising-up to the necessity of integrating social media into their traditional marketing strategies, which includes Facebook. Ergo, whether you are in the B2B or B2C sector, you will still find Facebook highly effective.
However, you do need to remember that it is only a marketing tool as the principles have remained the same. In other words, identify your target market, understand their needs and wants, build a relationship with them and only then attempt to sell to them.
The key to successful social media marketing is to understand your audience and to build a relationship with them. Consumers aren‟t interested in doing business with faceless companies that hide behind a logo. Especially when they have so many other choices. So, let‟s get into the nitty gritty of marketing on Facebook and creating a brand that will have consumers running to you.
Assumptions
This work assumes that you know how to open a Facebook account and have a vague understanding of how to navigate the site. We will be covering how to build a Facebook page for your business but will be looking at this issue from a marketing point of view rather than the technical side of matters since the basics of Facebook usage is outside of the scope of this ebook. However, a quick Google search will help you with any problems you may encounter.
My Facebook Marketing Plan
As with any business endeavor you need a plan and especially for your marketing strategy since you have so many options open to you that you would be hard pressed to keep track of everything without a plan to make sure you are heading in the right direction.
The Target Market
As already mentioned, the Facebook demographic is extremely diverse and you have the added advantage of being able to use people‟s profiles to further narrow your target market down. For example, if you want to target women aged 24 – 35 who live in the Midwest and love to crochet, Facebook makes it extremely easy to do. The advantage? You can be certain you aren‟t wasting resources, whether money or time, on reaching a wide audience of which only a small percentage is actually your target market, as was often the case with traditional marketing channels.
Remember that the key to building a successful business is to have an excellent understanding of your target market. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to build a relationship with them.
Consumer behavior, in simple terms, is driven mainly by two desires, the first is to avoid pain and the second is to gain pleasure. However, pain avoidance carries much more weight. Therefore, the more you know of your audience and what pains them, the more you will be able to meet their needs by providing a solution to their pain. In fact, if you do your market research properly, you will be able to create a product that sells itself. This is where the power of knowing your target market truly lies.
What better way to build a relationship with your target market than through a social media platform that allows for so much interaction, like Facebook?
There are a few tools you can use to locate your target market. One of these is the Facebook Insight tool which provides information on the people visiting your page, including information such as their age and sex.
Establishing Your Marketing Goals
Facebook is an essential marketing tool that you need to integrate into your overall marketing strategy for the simple reason that you can glean a lot of information from your market. From product creation to feedback on your service, Facebook can be the ultimate market research tool, and you can achieve all this without paying a penny.
In essence, the core goal of any marketing campaign is to increase sales. However, there are other aspects to increasing your sales which, initially, may not appear to be directly linked to increasing your profitability. But they are, and can boost your sales more effectively than even a Super Bowl advertising campaign.
These are building a brand, forming a community of prospects who are raving fans, providing customer service and receiving feedback on your business. These four aspects are vital to building a sustainable business model that will generate an income for you for many years.
The Power of Branding
A brand is basically the image of your business. It‟s what sets you apart from your competition in the mind of your target market. Thus, the key to branding is finding your USP (unique sales position/proposition), which you can actually do with the help of existing customers. Simply conduct a survey and ask why people are buying your product or using your service and not the competition‟s.
If you do not yet have a product and are just starting your business, then you should analyze your competition and identify what their USP is. This will give you some idea of what you can do to add extra value and find your USP. Remember never to use price as a USP as this can backfire.
Driving Sales with Facebook
Facebook is an ideal tool to drive sales as it offers an excellent medium to inform your audience about special offers, product launches, discounts and more. You can easily provide a link so people can access your website or you can even build a store right there inside Facebook.
Facebook is also a highly cost-efficient advertising medium as you can run highly targeted campaigns that have a high ROI as it has been proven that social media audiences have a higher conversion rate than organic traffic.
Additionally, you can also use Facebook Events to drive sales and increase brand awareness.
Building Your Community
Building a community is vital to your online business success, especially if you want that success to be long-lasting. Facebook Groups gives you that option but remember that your group can‟t be build around your product or no one will be interested. You need to focus on building a group centered around a cause or interest that ties in with your goals yet has social importance to draw people to join.
Customer Service and Feedback
Providing excellent customer service and listening to feedback from your customers is vital to the success of any product or business. The more feedback you receive, the more you can improve and meet the needs of your prospects. You can receive feedback directly through a Facebook group or by running a manual search on the platform to find any mentions of your brand.
The more responsive you are to your market‟s needs, the more they will appreciate your brand and the more they will advertise for you through referrals and recommendations. There is nothing more valuable in a social media setting than having your Facebook fans recommending your business as this is the place people come to research before they make their purchase decision.
Creating a Message
This is the moment when you need to forget all you learned in your power-selling and advertising courses about hard selling. This simply does not work in a social media setting. You need to be honest and open with your market and above all you need to provide value first and ask later. In other words, don‟t try to push sales messages down the throat of your Facebook followers because you may soon find yourself alone.
Facebook is primarily a social platform, which you need to remember when implementing your marketing strategy. This means that you need to engage your audience rather than merely trying to push offers at them all the time. The more value you provide, the more your audience will trust you and the higher your profits will climb.
Creating a Page
A Facebook Page is essentially the same as a Facebook profile except that it is business centric. This is where members can become your fans and stay up-to-date with everything that your business is doing. They can also write on your Wall, learn about any special promotions you are running, upload photos and talk to other members. It is where you can provide your fans with updates and engage your audience.
The advantage to having a Facebook Page for your business is that you are not limited to the number of fans your business can have, unlike Facebook profiles which are limited to 5,000 friends. Additionally, Facebook Pages can be easily found with a search engine as they are visible to the public by default. You can also add a variety of applications to further engage your audience.
Tips for Effective Page Design
While we won‟t be going into the technicalities of creating a Facebook Page, we will look at some critical tips that you should keep in mind when designing it.
. Customers come first. You need to make sure that you are designing your page with your customers in mind, which means that every component of your page should offer them value.
. Don’t overdo it. While you may be tempted to add every application under the sun to make a cutting edge Facebook page, a little restraint is in order. Remember that you want your brand to stand out and applications should only add to the experience, not take the spotlight off your business.
. Staying on topic and updating. You need to make sure that whatever you post on your Facebook Page is relevant to your business. So, if you are promoting an internet marketing product, you shouldn‟t be posting about your love for sushi. Likewise, if you continuously update the content on your Page, you are giving fans a reason to come back. So, make sure that you are always posting fresh content.
. Brand yourself as an authority with personality. First of all, your Facebook Page advertises your business to the world, so you need to be seen as an authority in your industry. Therefore, make sure that your content showcases your expertise. At the same time, Facebook is a social media site which means you need to let your personality come through a little. While having a little fun is great, make sure that you still act professionally, though.
. Feedback is critical to your success. The biggest mistake you can make is to overlook the feedback you receive through your Facebook Page. In fact, you should be encouraging it by posting surveys, polls and through discussions. It is highly valuable because it can be used to improve your business and it‟s all for free.
However, the most critical aspect of an effective Facebook Page, as with any other presence you may have on the web is posting relevant and interesting content. The more you update with interesting content, the more reasons people will have to visit your page, become fans and then return. Your job doesn‟t end once you have built a following. It only begins.
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