5 Tips for Marketing with Facebook

Although many people think Facebook is losing its popularity, it remains the #1 most used social media platform with 3.05 billion monthly active users. Of those 3.05 billion, 64.1% visit Facebook daily and 42.2% visit several times per day. So, if you are a brand or company looking to reach a large number of people on social media, Facebook is where you want to start. Creating and maintaining a Facebook account may seem like a fairly simple task, but there is a lot more that goes into it than you may originally think. To help you, here are 5 tips for marketing with Facebook.

1. Establish a Voice and Be Authentic

In order to be successful on Facebook, a brand must establish a consistent voice on social media that follows their brand values and speaks to its target audience. A theme park's social media posts can be more fun and upbeat, but an accounting firm's voice may be more formal and informative. It is also important to be authentic with your audience and share content you think customers will be excited about. If you are only worried about making a sale, you risk alienating your audiences.

2. Follow the Social Media Rule of Thirds and the 80/20 Rule

When you post on social media, you should not be bombarding followers with company product posts. 57% of users get annoyed when a brand is too promotional on social media. So, to use social media as a marketing tool, it is important to find a balance and use your content to educate followers about topics related to your interests. An easy way to do this is follow two simple rules. First, the social media rule of thirds states that 1/3 of content should promote the business; 1/3 of content should be shared from other businesses, industry thought leaders, news articles, or other pages; and 1/3 of content should be based on personal interactions with employees, customers, and followers. Next, the 80/20 rule states that 80% of social media posts should educate, entertain, or offer a solution to the audience's problem, while only 20% should explicitly promote the business.

3. Post at Optimal Times

In order to get more engagements with your post, it is important that you are posting at the optimal time. Generally, the middle of the week is the best time for businesses to post on Facebook. The best times to post on Facebook are Mondays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The worst day to post on Facebook is Sunday.

4. Create the Right Content

There are many little things you can do in your posts to increase engagement. The first is to use emojis, especially among younger target markets. Posts with emojis get liked 57% more often, receive 33% more comments and get shared 33% more often than posts without. Another way is to ask questions in your posts. Research shows that question posts receive 100% more comments than standard text posts. Lastly, positive posts and posts that use exclamation points receive 2.7 times more interactions than posts without.

5. Utilize All Aspects of Facebook

Facebook now has many different components, and it is important to utilize them all to reach the most people. Facebook stories and reels allow you to have an easier way to post short videos and add different audio, music, text, or filters over top. Another component you should use is Facebook Live, because this allows you to connect with followers in real-time. Research shows that Facebook Live videos are viewed 3 times longer than non-live videos. In addition, after going live on Facebook, many people go to their page to see more content, increasing their exposure.