Social Media marketing, it sounds easy enough. Just put your stuff out there and people will buy it. But it’s not that easy. This week’s questions have focused on social media marketing, particularly Facebook. I discussed marketing tools a bit in the blog post “What is Marketing” this week, I’m going to dive in deeper and that 80/20 Rule is going to make a comeback. So if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend starting there before reading more.
At Symbiotic Marketing, we highly recommend when starting out to have a Facebook page or website, preferably both. The purpose of your Facebook page (assuming you have one) is to drive business to your website and to make people aware of what you offer. Social media is meant to be just that, social. It’s to give individuals an idea of who you are, what you do and how you do it. Your social media page should be informative for both individuals who are just learning about your business as well as those who may be interested in purchasing your goods or services.
That’s a lot to cover! So how does one do this? We start with the basics. Take a look at your page as a visitor. Go into your Facebook page and click on the three dots beside the “Share” button. This opens a secondary menu where you can view your page as a visitor. By selecting this, you can see your page as someone visiting your page will see, or like any other business page that you are not associated with looks like. Take a good look at your page and how it is set up and ask yourself, if you were visiting this business page, would you be able to find the information you would want? If you feel stuck, check out other business pages that may be similar to yours to see how their pages are set up. Most cosmetic changes (such as layout and page tabs) can be changed in the Settings tab.
Once that is to your liking, look at your posts. We find that most businesses perform well with 2-3 posts a week. Here is where the 80/20 Rule comes into play again. We aim for less than 20% of those posts to be asking for something (that’s a sly way of saying “buy my stuff”): asking individuals to purchase your goods or services and asking to come to an event you are hosting or attending. This includes your sales posts: coupons, BO-GOs, Flash Sales, etc. The remaining 80% of your posts should be more telling about you, your business, your story.
This is where many become uncomfortable. Remember that growth does not come from a place of comfort. Post about things that resonate with you and your business. Share “ugly truths” such as I work from home and have two very loud dogs. To combat this, I have the television on in the background almost all the time. The background noise makes me feel less alone and keeps me from jumping out of my skin when the dogs see a squirrel, or a loud truck goes down the road. While I’d rather individuals not know the particulars of working at home, small ugly truths such as this meme posted on the Symbiotic Marketing Page. While the post is humorous, there’s certainly a ring of truth to it that many can relate to. If this does not resonate with your particular business, post about what you are currently working on and why it fills your heart with joy. Happiness is infectious so share the love!
Additionally, with this, share posts from other businesses that you support either through your business or yourself personally. Individuals are literally asking for recommendations on social media from where to get a lawn mower repaired to a new dentist and everything in between. Not only will you become a resource, you are also opening your page to another page’s audience that may not know what you offer. This grows your reach and can grow your specific audience.
Finally, Facebook allows pages to create a “Story” outside of the story that is only shown for 24 hours. This is your Why. Why you started, why you do what you do and why you keep doing it. Create a story for your audience. There’s a saying in the world of sales, “Facts tell, stories sell.” Tell others of your story, your why and they’ll be more likely to buy what you have. I have a water bottle that I love. I carry it with me everywhere I go and get many comments on it. I paid more for that water bottle than any other water bottle I own. I bought it and carry it because a mother in Florida runs this business out of her garage. She shares the good, the bad, and the ugly or running her business online. She’s relatable. I tell everyone who will listen where I purchased it and why. By her sharing her story, I continue to share through word of mouth. And as we know, word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising.