Troubles trying to market your business locally? I bet it happens to many people, regardless the location you are in. And this is not because of the industry you are in, or because the competition is simply better than you. As a matter of fact, it is because it is what I personally call it, “Business Life.” Before you even start a business, you should understand that there will be challenges faced by your business:
- In a niche market, you are going to penetrate the market before you can grow
- In a dense market, you need to find ways to beat your competitors
Either way, both the above aren’t really a walk in the park. Lucky for you, there is Facebook to help. With proper marketing strategy, you can now use Facebook for marketing a business locally and more effective.
How to use Facebook for Marketing A Business Locally?
1. Creating a Facebook Page
Assuming that you are starting a business, your first challenge will be starting a Facebook Page. Now, this is easy but the following steps after that are tough.
Anyone can create a Facebook Page for 5 minutes. However, growing your Facebook Page is another challenge and the word of mouth strategy is going to give you probably 300 to 500 fans. That if you are lucky!
Typically, the fastest way to get those needed eyeballs is to spend on Facebook ads. It’s easy, to be honest.
You need to understand the following:
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What is their biggest pain?
- How can you solve them?
- What’s in for them?
Once you have the above figured out, the next step is to allocate an allocation for your ads. In this case, it can be from $50 and above. In most cases, $50 would allow you to reach thousands of people within your proximity and that is a great way to create instead hype for your business.
2. Defining your Facebook strategy
Facebook ads are only effective when you have a clear goal and what would that be?
- Build more brand visibility?
- Promote your latest promotion?
- Increase fans and build stronger followers?
- Inviting others to your event?
When you know your goals in Facebook marketing, you can start targeting the right audience for your business. In this case, it allows you to make your marketing budget work harder for you.
Now, it is important to understand that each business is fairly different. Therefore, you should take some time to think about this (and making sure you have the right goals).
Note to self: Setting the right goals which are achievable is critical to your success.
3. Understand the power of Facebook marketing
Now, let me ask you a question. Would you open up Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari and search for the best food in town? Or, would you be more tempted to type in Facebook?
I know for the fact that my wife prefers to use Facebook compared to Google anytime of the day – and it totally makes sense!
For many of us, Facebook is no longer just a social media platform. It is how we live our lives and Facebook is a huge part of it.
According to Wishpond, people no longer search on Google for items they buy locally and frequently.
The question back to you is this – do you think it is high time to use Facebook marketing for your business?
4. Making Facebook marketing successful
This is where the juicy part comes in. You have read the above where targeting the right audience is important. The next step is this: Give the audience a reason to click.
Here’s what you need to know. Most ads are the same – you click on something to read and so on. Well, the public is educated as such and it makes browsing on Facebook really boring. At most, you are going to get a like or a share (if lucky) but nothing more than that.
One of the best tricks is to use a discount coupon and use Facebook Ads to market it.
Now, don’t get me wrong. You don’t have to be as crazy as like 75% off or some sort. Something as small as 10 to 25% often make the cut.
You need to make sure that the promotion you share on Facebook is not available on any storefront services – this means that you should not give the similar discount to walk-ins or those who don’t claim the promotion.
Why?
Unique and limited is the way to go.
5. Track your performance over time
Most business owners don’t have this mindset in place. You need to track your Facebook Ads performance and typically, you should do it at least once a week.
Tracking and analytics can be time-consuming – but if you are able to allocate just a few hours a week to analyze the results, you will be thankful for the outcome!
Tracking your Facebook Ads is rather easy. Thankfully, you can see the results in the Facebook Ads Manager in just a few clicks. Here, you may want to consider doing some split tests (some call it A/B testing) such as different colors and fonts.
Always remember that small changes to your ads could lead to dramatic results. Plus, this will also allow you to understand your audience better.
For example, you will know what ads work for them and what type of promotions they are looking for.
Is Facebook for marketing a business locally worth it?
I want to be really honest with you and while Facebook is very effective in most industries, it may not be effective to every industry. Some industries would require more work to be done (such as detailed planning and such) while others may just require minimal work.
Typically, Facebook marketing is always very effective for most businesses and especially when you are looking to grow your business locally. After all, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on Facebook – it all starts with under $50 and you can gauge the effectiveness of Facebook Ads for yourself!
See also: 6 Tips for Creating Relevant Facebook Content
