With over 1.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the most powerful and versatile marketing tools in a business' arsenal.
You can learn a lot about your demographic through Facebook and can even customise ad campaigns specifically for them. Despite the fact the cost of Facebook ads are on the rise thanks to competition, they're still some of the most reasonably priced adverts around.
Many small businesses are still unsure how to maximise their reach through the iconic social media platform, so we've come up with a list of some of the biggest pitfalls to avoid. There are huge benefits to using Facebook to connect with existing customers and discover new ones, but there are also things you need to look out for. Here are 5 mistakes:
Being irrelevant
The strength of Facebook ads is that you can target your delivery to a very specific audience. You can't be everything to everybody, so narrow your focus. Create messages and images that appeal to a highly-targeted audience.
You can see a 'relevance' score for your ads through Facebook analytics – this tells you how appropriate your ad is to your customer base, and a higher score means a better chance that Facebook will deliver to these people.
Not testing
Feedback is always important, and if you're not constantly testing and tweaking your ads after they've gone live, you're losing out on valuable learning experiences and the opportunity for better performance.
Try out lots of little ads before launching a full campaign to see what works best. This will save you time, money and improve your results in the long run.
Focusing only on selling
Facebook, as a social network, is all about building community. So if you go straight into it with the 'hard sell' mindset - you'll see little returns for your efforts.
People are resistant to you when they know all you want is to make profits, so think about ways in which you can come across as authentic and approachable, with a fully-rounded brand image.
Adding no calls to action
Every post and every ad should include some sort of call to action. This might be encouraging your audience to like your page, share your content, register to your webinar, download your eBook... anything that might help to add value to their experience with your brand, and share your message.
If you don’t tell your audience what you want them to do – don't be surprised if they don't do it!
Not following up
Some customers might get involved with your brand the first time round, while others may need a little more persuading.
Be sure to follow up your original campaign with a strategy to nurture them along the sales process. Then rinse and repeat. Make sure your brand remains visible (without being 'spammy') and the results will speak for themselves.
If done right, Facebook can be a powerful promotional platform for any business, small or large, and by avoiding these 5 mistakes you'll be well on track for reaping its rewards.
