Facebook is generally considered to be the champion when it comes to social media platforms. Millions of individuals worldwide use Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends. However, the social media giant has become more than just a meeting place for social interaction. Facebook has also become an excellent option for small business owners in search of marketing opportunities. The following article will take a look at four ways Facebook can benefit business owners.

The Facebook Business Page

Every local business should have a Facebook page. Facebook pages allow companies to identify themselves to potential customers in a variety of ways. These opportunities for exposure include products and services listings, link sharing, image uploads, and informative posts. This can all be produced on a fully customizable Facebook page that can be designed to show the personality and character of the business.

A Facebook business page is also a place that visitors can leave recommendations. Facebook has changed the ways that customers can show their loyalty or support of a brand or business. As such, recommendations have replaced reviews for local businesses. Facebook business pages are great places to build the identity of a brand. The human side of a business and its owner can also be expressed. Facebook is a relaxed atmosphere, so do not hesitate to show a little humor.

Facebook Advertising

Facebook provides the opportunity to purchase advertising space on the side columns of Facebook pages. These ‘marketplace ads’ include the ad copy, headline, an image, and a link that leads to the business website or a Facebook page or app. Features of Facebook advertising include:

• The ability to target users by demographics

• Options to set advertising budgets

• Ad testing that allows for multiple versions of an ad to run at once to gain direct comparisons

• Tools to measure the performance of ads
• Facebook contests

Participating in contests, promotions, and sweepstakes held on Facebook provide an excellent way to gain fans and increase brand awareness. It is important to remember that these contests cannot be held through Facebook directly. You will need to use a third-party app. Participants in the contest can be directed to the app through the Facebook page. There are many apps on the market to support Facebook contests.

Promoted Posts

Business owners on Facebook can pay a fee to have posts shown to an agreed-upon number of users. This will increase the reach of the post and the number of impressions received by the business.

Many business owners mistakenly believe that all users that have provided a ‘like’ to a business page will see each post originating from the page. If a user is online when you make the post, it is quite possible that they will see it. However, it’s important to keep in mind that users aren’t on the platform 24 hours a day.

Promoted posts provide a way to ensure that your content is seen. These types of posts are shown to all fans of a business page. Business owners also have the option to place promoted posts on the newsfeed of friends of these fans.

Sponsored Stories

Sponsored stories are an excellent way to promote word-of-mouth advertising. This type of Facebook advertisement displays the interactions of the user to members of their friend’s list.

A sponsored story is designed to encourage a user to take similar action as their friends. For example, if a Facebook user sees three of his friends give a like to a certain page, the user may be more likely to add their own like to the page.

Final Thoughts

Facebook is the premier social media platform in the world, and it offers a variety of marketing benefits to users who are business owners. The four features above can provide solid benefits to local businesses who turn to Facebook to promote their products and/or services.

If you don’t know the first step to social media marketing, let JJ Social Light help! We have years of experience in managing social media for businesses of all sizes! See how we can help you today!