By TE Cunningham & Sofia Thompson
Social media can seem overwhelming to the small business owner just starting. If you don’t have a marketing employee to take the reins for you, here are some brief guidelines to get you started.
Create your Facebook page and fill out every possible field. Choose all tabs that make sense for your business to have the most robust page possible.
Be consistent in your branding and make sure all graphics, especially your Facebook cover and profile pic. We recommend a logo bug for the profile pic; make sure your entire logo shows in the box if you choose to do that instead.
Turn on Facebook reviews; they are expected by your potential customers and are helpful to SEO rankings. Consistently work to have satisfied customers review you here (and Google).
Audience at a Glance:
Who is using Facebook in the US?
Facebook: 183 Million
Out of the high-income earners (people making above $75,000), 74% are Facebook users. Also, 74% of Facebook users have a college degree. Currently, 75% of females use Facebook, and 63% of males. While ages 18-24 are still the highest consumers of this medium, it is by far the broadest in age read, and persons 65+ using this medium are increasing rapidly (Source: socialmediadata.com).
Now you are ready to start posting; here are some quick tips:
Minimum Number of Posts Per Week: Seven – One Per Day
According to most studies, posting once per day is ideal, with a maximum of two posts per day. One study confirmed that pages with less than 10,000 Followers who published more than once per day experienced a 50% drop in engagement per post. Thus, posting too frequently can cannibalize your content.
If you cannot sustain one post per day, at minimum, you should post to your Facebook Page four times per week.
Best Posting Times:
For Facebook, the best times are between 11 AM and 1 PM, according to most research. Posts tend to get the most consistent engagement on weekdays from 9 AM to 3 PM.
Best Posting Days:
On Facebook, business posts receive the highest engagement on Wednesdays during the above posting hours. The days closer to the weekend – Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday, are considered the best days to post on Facebook.
Types of Content:
Our experience indicates that the highest-performing content includes these types of posts:
1. Funny Posts
Posting funny content is an excellent tool for stimulating your audience’s interest. Don’t worry about coming off as unprofessional because times are changing! People prefer to be entertained rather than having sales pitches and promotions shoved in their faces!
2. Share User-Generated Content
Some of the best-performing content on Facebook is user-generated content. This is a buzzword in our industry. When you find users who are making content for you, share and promote it! There are several benefits, including:
- Saves timeon content creation
- Shows that your company caresabout customers & clients
- Shows your customers & clients care enough about the brand/product/service to engage (and it’s always better coming from them)
Current events and news can provide excellent posting content to maximize engagement. These events do not need to be related directly to your product or service. Recent research suggests that over half of your potential audience wants a company to take a stand on social issues. While you don’t want to neglect this type of content, stay away from highly controversial items or things that negatively reflect the brand.
For example:
- Do post about hometown sports teams – pro, college & local high school sports
- Do post about charity and community events
- Do not get overly political, and do not indicate a preference to a political party
- Do not alienate religious denominations, though posting about a church bake sale or Christmas tree farm could be an example of acceptable content in this area
4. Giveaways
Everyone loves something for free, which is why these types of posts generate excellent engagement. From liking your content to leaving their email address, you can request your users to do anything to help boost your content engagement. Not only does gathering data about your followers encourage social engagement, but it also provides an opportunity to collect case studies and build an email list as well.
5. Inspirational Quotes & Images
Facebookers react well to visuals and things that strike an emotional chord, such as quotes, speeches and lyrics, which are very effective content. You can also focus the quotes on industry leaders, as long as you do not quote the competition!
6. Native Video
Original or Native videos are unequivocally the highest-performing content format on Facebook – organic engagement is the highest on posts with a video, at 13.9%.
These videos require extra work to create, but they are worth the time investment.
7. Live Video
Live streaming has been consistently gaining prominence in the online world, and Facebook is one of the leading social networks in this area. Live streaming benefits for businesses include:
- Users enjoy viewing and engaging with live streamers, and studies show they are four times more likely to engage with streaming than a video. This applies to both independent content creators and brands.
- This kind of natural conversation with your audience grows brand trust and credibility.
- It’s cheap!
Special Features:
Be sure to use your Facebook Business Page to its full potential by taking advantage of all the extras. Some examples are:
- Facebook Jobs
- Offers
- Facebook Stories
- Facebook Events
- Facebook Marketplace
- Particular tabs like Podcasts, Reviews & Menu
- Join & Share with relevant groups
- Follow other relevant Pages
Hopefully, this will get you on the road to your business’s social media success. If you feel overwhelmed by content creations, posting schedules and most of all, time commitments, we can help! Contact us at tlcmarketingconsultants.com today!