10 Tips for Facebook for Business

Earlier this year, Facebook rolled out the video header feature as part of its larger focus on video content in general (video ads, Facebook stories, Facebook live, etc.). It’s a unique way to spice up your page, encourage your followers to spend more time perusing your content, showcase your creativity, and highlight a specific promotion. The video automatically starts to play when the page is opened and is set to loop a few times over. Here’s one we did for Marostica Hyundai’s Toys for Tots social fundraising campaign.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that Facebook tends to show you more of the content you engage with, but did you know that the platform puts more emphasis on paid posts? Gone are the days of surviving on organic traffic. The truth is, you’ve got to put some moola behind your campaigns in order for people to see them! At Shout, we recommend spending at least $5/day to be seen and heard. A healthy combination of paid and organic engagement is always the best formula to reach the largest audience, and quality content is key! We have a range of social media packages to accommodate any budget and desired level of engagement. For Bearskin Airlines’ hockey ticket promo, they received over 3,700 new page likes with a $350 investment in paid ads over 4 weeks! Not bad at all.

This brings us to dark posts – and no it’s not some sinister voodoo (depends who you ask though). If organic posts are at one end of the spectrum, dark posting is at the other end, with boosted posts somewhere in the middle. Dark posts are “unpublished” ads – ads that are served to your determined audience but do not appear on your page’s timeline. These are useful to supplement “published” posts, and particularly great to use if you want to exclusively reach people who are not connected to your page, if you’re running a campaign and do not want to bombard your followers, or if you want different versions of an ad for different audience segments.

LinkedIn is great and all, but why not find qualified candidates where they’re already hanging out?! Spoiler alert: it’s Facebook. As an admin, you can now create a formatted job post, track applications, and communicate with applicants. It’s easy, highly-targettable, and transparent in that all parties’ social media presence is thrown into the mix – don’t pretend you don’t do a little creeping.

Facebook Offers isn’t a feature you see used too often, so that’s why we love it! With Facebook Offers, you can create an offer, like a restaurant or store discount, and post it to your page for your followers. You can even create unique promo codes so only your followers can take advantage of the offer. Options for redemption include in-store only, online only, or both.

If you don’t have the budget or resources for a great video, animation is a great alternative. We’ve created hundreds of fun social animations for clients with amazing results. Engagement skyrockets as most people digest visual information more quickly than text, not to mention the entertainment factor. Here are some we’ve done this year

Simply speaking, carousels are a way to include up to ten images, each with a separate link, in one ad. Like a carousel, it rotates! You can highlight different products or services, or tell a story about your brand. Carousels are a good way to get the most bang for your buck and have a bit of interaction with your audience. It’s about time “swipe left” becomes a positive thing!

After working with a number of clients that were searching for new, creative ways to advertise their products on social, we created a Facebook Auction tool that is perfect for various retailers. The Facebook Auction software posts an image of the auction item, and invites people to bid on the item by posting their price in the comments. The back end allows us, or the client, to schedule a starting bid and duration of auction. Once the auction closes, the software chooses the highest bidder, provides them with a link for online payment, and notifies us or the client when the payment has been made. No payment after 24 hours? The item goes to the next highest bidder. We’ve had very positive feedback and would love to roll this out for more clients! If you’re interested, get in touch.

With 360 video, you’ll see an icon that looks something like this. Your audience can view the entire scene by swiping in any direction. In our experience, 360 isn’t for every brand/business but definitely an option for real estate, retail, and restaurants where people might be more comfortable inquiring after getting the full picture…pun intended. We do a lot of 360 with Dan Garrity Media, like this video for Superior Real Estate Solutions.

Yet another amazing way to utilize Facebook for your business is by creating custom audiences. These audiences are created from existing customers, and provide an opportunity to advertise very specific content to a specific group of people who already love you. To create a custom audience, simply upload your hashed customer list; for example, people who bought Product X in the last 30 days OR people who spent over $100 in the last week. Facebook then cross-references those emails with emails on Facebook to create your custom audience. This is ROI positive and a great way to flex your marketing muscle.

Write better. Be brief. It works.

Did I miss anything!? Ready to get going on your campaign!? Don’t be shy, let me know and stay tuned for more Top 10s.

-Jasmin Fisher; Content & Digital Marketing Strategist