Facebook Networking: The Power of Facebook Posts, Advertising in Facebook Groups, and Facebook Nurturing

Facebook is not new to many people as a social network for people to chat about their day-to-day lives, but for businesses, this can be a new concept to understand as a marketing tool for small, medium and large size companies. Yet, it is an underrated, and cost-effective marketing tool that packs a powerful punch. Let's examine why and how Facebook posts, advertising on your personal Facebook profile, Facebook business page, in Facebook groups, and performing what is called Facebook Nurturing can assist your business in increasing its marketing reach for little cost.

Creative and Attractive Graphics: Posts that are made that do not include graphics are often over-looked and not read. People like to see high quality, creative graphics that are eye-catching. Posts with graphics tend to receive more engagement than posts without. If the graphic has a text overlay, like a quote, or a call to action, the graphic tends to receive more attention than a regular picture without text overlay. This overall graphic attention, will increase engagement to your post, which will increase foot traffic back to your website, too. Graphics should be clean, branded, with consistent fonts and coloring.

Creative Caption Writing: It's important to compliment a creative graphic with creative writing, in a creative caption. It's even better if the caption can tell a story, give a behind-the-scenes look, show how your company scored a win, or a tip of your trade/industry. A call to action, comment below, or visit our site increases engagement and will increase participation on your personal Facebook profile or business Facebook page. A creative caption adds emotion, personality, and context to the graphic. This is where the essence of the company can come to life. Captions should be conversational, authentic, and aligned to the Brand's voice.

Hashtags Expand Reach: Hashtags expand your reach by adding categories to your post. In a Facebook post on your personal Profile, on your Facebook Business Page, or in a Facebook Group, a hashtag adds you to a highly connected audience that otherwise, you would not be connected with. A mix of highly branded hashtags will expand your reach in your market territory. Use 3 to 5 hashtags per post to avoid overstuffing.

Alt Text: While all of your photos should include meta tags (metadata), Facebook strips all meta tags/meta data from graphics for privacy reasons. Alternative text should be used on Facebook as an alternative for key words and phrases to help advertising.

Advertising in Facebook Groups: Many do not realize the importance and value of what advertising in a Facebook Group can do for a small business. There are thousands of Facebook Groups on Facebook including:

• Local Community and Buy/Sell Groups - These are great for service based businesses or local businesses with offerings where you can post promotions, events, and advertisements.

• Industry Specific Groups - These are great for Business to Business (B2B) networking, referrals, and collaborations. This is a great way to share insight into professions, provide education, answer industry specific questions (which leads to potential customers reaching out to you), and the ability to show off your expertise. This is a softer way to market your sales without "in the face" marketing.

  
  

• Networking and Entrepreneur Groups - This is a great way to connect with other small businesses and sole proprietors. These groups typically allow for a specific day for you to showcase your business or allow for self-promotion pr provide a thread where you can post a promotion. Sometimes the group leader will then repost whatever the promotion on the thread is as a separate post in the group that is automatically approved.

  
  

• Niche Interest Groups - These are target groups based on hobbies, professions, or needs. If your services align with these needs, you can offer true value in these groups that will enable you to softly market your firm.

• Product Based or Brand-Fan Groups - These groups are ideal for planners, templates, and digital products. You can share your designs, get feedback, and build a following. This is a great way to perform more soft advertising.

  
  

• Private VIP or Client Groups - You can create your own group on Facebook, too! This allows you to solicit leads and clients. You can post exclusive content, offer behind the scenes views to a select group of people (your followers), and allow early access to services that you are offering. You can create a loyal group of followers and also help build your brand.

• Value Based Promotions - Many groups on Facebook do not permit direct selling of products or services, but do provide an opportunity for you to provide education in your area of expertise or even the offering of community education. Community education that is free, or free education in general, is viewed as a resource to all and is way to use your education and knowledge as a soft sell about your firm. You can elegantly shine your brand, without a hard sale.

Making Posts on your Business Facebook Page and Personal Facebook Profile: After you have your graphic and caption created, you want to not only share this in several Facebook Groups, but also post these "advertisements" for your business on your Personal Facebook Profile and also your Facebook Business Page. On both of these sites, you can track the analytics in order to view your success rates for views, clicks, and traffic to see if your graphics and captions are being successful. This will enable you to tell if your future posts need to be edited or tweaked to gain more interaction or engagement from your target audience. Additionally, it will tell you what your target audience is that you are attracting to view your posts.

What is Facebook Nurturing? Facebook "Nurturing" is when a company will reply to a post or comment made on Facebook about their company. So for example, if John Doe recommends My Water Damage Hero for Disaster Recovery, an example of Facebook Nurturing would be for the Owner or Marketing Director of My Water Damage Hero to reply to the comment with an authentic reply, and say something like:

"Thank you, John, for your wonderful recommendation for My Water Damage Hero. It is a pleasure to be of service to our clients and neighbors. At My Water Damage Hero, we have been in business for over 10 years, and we provide water damage restoration and mold remediation services to our clients. We are happy to be of assistance to you. We have certified water damage technicians and mold remediation technicians on staff, in addition to a licensed Industrial Hygienist (IH), waiting to be of assistance.

We also are experienced in placing insurance claims with homeowners and businesses, and working with insurance adjusters. If you are looking to pay out-of-pocket, we accept cash, credit card, electronic payments, and also offer on-the-spot financing options!

We are licensed and insured. Please contact us today to see how we can be helpful. Phone: 610-228-7440; Email: service@mywaterdamagehero.com. Website: www.mywaterdamagehero.com.

Please mention Facebook when contacting us! Thank you for allowing us to be of service and we look forward to speaking with you soon."

Note a few key items in this authentic response:

• Thank the person providing you the referral.

• Tag your Facebook Business Page.

  • Not all Facebook Pages will permit your website or email address to be posted; so always post your Facebook business page.

• Include your phone number for the same reason as above - not all Facebook Pages will permit your website or email to be posted; it is best to have a phone number in addition to your Facebook page.

  • Not everyone keeps their Facebook page with the most up-to-date information. Please check and schedule this to be updated regularly so the correct contact information is always needed.

• Add key words and terms about your company that may trigger someone to hire you.

• What certifications or licenses do you hold that make you stand apart from the competition.

• What are your hours?

• How can they contact you?

• A thank you for their consideration on contacting you.

This sincere reply, is viewed as "Facebook Nurturing". It is caring to answer to the inquiry posted by a homeowner or business (a possible lead for your company), and any response you may have in relation to this post.

You can copy this post that you find in this Facebook Group and share it with your other networking groups, so other team members can come in and support your company with a recommendation.

Why is all of this necessary?

Advertising across Facebook, on your Facebook Business Page, on your Personal Facebook Profile, and in Facebook Groups is a strategic business plan. Through these three avenues, you are creating a solid Business Identity on Social Media that instills visibility, trust, and growth.

• Facebook Business Page:

  • This is like a digital storefront for your business. It provides professionalism and credibility. A Facebook business page identifies to other companies that you are a legitimate business.

  • People visit your Facebook Business Page to learn about the services that you offer, read your reviews, and see your brand in action.

  • Your Facebook Business Page will also provide you access to analytics and insights: Reach, demographics, and engagement.

  • Business Facebook Pages are indexed by Google and Facebook searches so that your Business Facebook Profile is easier to find.

  • Call to Action buttons make it easier to drive traffic to your website.

    
    

• Personal Facebook Accounts:

  • This is a form of personal marketing, through relationship based marketing.

  • Your audience is a warm audience: groups foster conversation. You can ask questions, answer questions, and share different tips.

  • Facebook prioritizes posts from personal connections, making your posts more likely to be seen.

  • Cross Posting posts from your Business page to your Personal Page can increase chances for your post to be seen and can increase not only visibility but increase the chance for engagement.

• Facebook Groups:

  • Facebook Groups can be a specific target of persons in one geographic area or about one particular topic, so that your advertisement can be specifically targeted to a regional area or a specific topic.

  • Groups allow for a two-way communication to occur, unlike a page, where it is a one-way push from the creator to the reader. You can ask questions, share education or pointers, and build authentic relationships through Facebook Nurturing.

  • In Facebook Groups, members feel a sense of loyalty to a Facebook Group. They know "their people" in their group, especially if they are a top contributor. People in the group are more likely to buy or support the recommendation of a "Top Contributor" in the group, leading to increased sales, engagement, referrals, and purchases.

Summary:

Advertising on Facebook is a cost-effective way to make your Brand known to the local community. Through Facebook Posts on your Personal Facebook Profile and your Facebook Business Page, you can track analytics about your post success rates. You can use these two pages to share your posts into the Facebook Groups to track engagement, while utilizing the Facebook Groups to build authentic relationships through Facebook Nurturing.

Keyword embedding in graphics through meta tags / metadata is not as important for Facebook but should still be completed in the case the Graphic is used on any other social media. Metatags / Metadata on Facebook should be replaced with Alt Text.

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Tonya George Design is a small, locally owned, Social Media Marketing firm that was borne in the needs for demands from local networking firms to do what others did not want to do or were not able to perform due to time constraints: Market their firms on Facebook. At Tonya George Design, we take this charge seriously: we are here to perform the work that you'd rather not, and that we are good at. Contact us today for a free proposal. Phone: 610-298-9960; Email: info@tonyageorge.design; Website: www.tonyageorge.design