Last week COLIBRI gave you some information about how to create a Facebook Page. This week we’ll talk about Facebook marketing and how to promote your Page once you have it.
Whenever you read about social media, you start to realize there are many options. It can get overwhelming. To help you stay cool, COLIBRI is going to explain some social media marketing terms, and then she is going to limit herself to 5 tips you can try today.
In a nutshell, social media marketers track how many people they reach using social networks, whether the people they reach are taking action, and who the heavy hitters are both within their customer base and their general market. They also create interest in their brands, products, and services. How do they do it? Through great content and analytics.
This article focuses on Facebook, so we’ll be talking about how many fans you have and whether they are commenting on posts, for example, and who among your fans either has the greatest reach themselves or who is the most engaged (comments, likes, etc.) with your brand.
Regarding generating leads, it’s important to remember that social media is not a hard sell. Lead generation takes time and is based on offering value without expecting anything in return. In social media, you have to earn people’s attention.
Finally, we’ll talk about analyzing your data. Using Facebook Insights, you can learn more than you ever dreamed possible about your fans.
Ready? Get set. Get started!
1. Increase Social Reach
What is Social Reach?
Social reach is the potential number of fans and followers you have on all of your social networks. If you have 1,000 Facebook fans, that means you have a social reach of 1,000 on Facebook alone (of course, you probably have a presence on Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks as well).
Why You Should Care
You need social reach to share information about your brand, products, and services. The more people in your target market who are aware of you and what you are offering, the more easily you can eventually convert to sales.
One Simple Way to Increase Social Reach Today
Add a link to your Facebook Page to your email signature.
2. Increase Fan Engagement
What is Fan Engagement?
Fan engagement is the act of getting your fans to do something, be it comment, download, share, retweet, join or sign up. It is not the act of getting someone to buy something. It is part of the process of creating loyalty.
Why You Should Care
If it’s not getting someone to buy, why is it important? Because making sales through social media is a relatively slow process in which you create trust and respect for your brand, product, and services. Engaged fans can be brand ambassadors. They share the good news about your product or service through word of mouth.
One Simple Way to Increase Fan Engagement Today
Create content your fans will love. Depending on your brand, product, and services, your content can stir emotions, educate, inspire, instruct or amaze. Don’t settle for good enough. Go for great because, as COLIBRI said, you have to earn attention on the web.
Simple, but not easy, COLIBRI knows.
3. Identify and Engage Influencers
What is an Influencer?
An influencer is someone who, well, has an influence. You know, like the popular girl in 8th grade. Remember her? When she said something, people listened or engaged.
There are two types of influencers. Internal influencers are people who already use your brand. External influencers are people who may not use your product but are widely respected on the web.
Why You Should Care
Internal and external influencers have the ability to spread the word about your products and services far and wide. Not only that, but people trust them. Part of your Facebook marketing goal should not only be to engage influencers but to become one yourself.
One Simple Way to Identify and Engage Influencers Today
Check out Klout. You can research influencers by topic to find out who they are. For instance, if you sell lingerie, you might search Klout for lingerie, intimate apparel, or fashion.
4. Increase Lead Generation
What is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is identifying groups of people who might like to buy your product or service.
Why You Should Care
Well, most of you are in business to make money–at least a little. You need customers or, if you are a nonprofit, you need members, volunteers, or participants! That said, Facebook marketing is a very soft sell, so don’t try to push your product.
One Simple Way to Increase Lead Generation Today
Yes, COLIBRI repeats herself, but it’s all about content. Offering great content will create all kinds of opportunities for your brand, products, and services.
5. Analyze Your Results Using Facebook Insights
What are Facebook Insights?
Facebook Insights is Facebook’s high-powered analytics tool. Anyone with a Facebook Page with over 30 fans can take advantage of it.
Why You Should Care
You will be able to find out way, COLIBRI means way, more about your Fans if you use Insights. As COLIBRI covered last week, Insights lets you find out if your fans are women or men, how many people are liking your Page, how people respond to individual posts, and much, much more.
One Simple Way to Analyze Your Results Today
Don’t be afraid to get started. Even if all those numbers look confusing at first, once you have 30 fans, you can start checking out Facebook Insights, and, little by little, it will all start to make sense.
Now that you have a better handle on what Facebook marketing is and you’ve tested out these tips, we can take it further. Give us some more simple things we can do to market using Facebook Pages.
Citation
Awareness, Inc. Five Killer Strategies to Dominate Social Media’s Big 3: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. June 2012.
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