Thursday 19 February 2015

How to Use Facebook for marketing in 2015



Social media is only going to increase in importance as an arena for advertising. Millions of people log on to Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and other social media sites every single day, and so a business really has no choice but to think carefully and strategically about how it intends to make the most of these huge social media platforms.

Despite fierce competition from Twitter, Facebook remains the most popular social media site, attracting a stunning 900,000,000 unique monthly visitors. The question becomes; how should a business use Facebook for marketing in 2015?

Reaching as many of those 900,000,000 people as possible has become increasingly difficult in recent times, as Facebook has dramatically reduced the organic reach of posts from fan pages in order to encourage businesses to pay for advertising and promoted posts. Mark Zuckerberg’s company has also altered the site’s algorithms to stifle the reach of posts it deems to be overly promotional, further hampering companies’ social media marketing outreach.

Nonetheless, even though Facebook has introduced changes that will hurt small businesses’ marketing strategies in order to improve their own bottom line, there are still ways for SMEs to maximise the potential of free advertising on Facebook. All that is required is a little creativity and a lot of hard work and effort.

Perhaps the best social media marketing strategy to use in 2015 is hyper-targeting
 
This is where, instead of vainly attempting to build a huge Facebook following, a business utilises social media analytics tools, which are available on every Facebook page, in order to identify their most relevant target users and then relentlessly pursue that target market.
This strategy won’t necessarily get your page or posts trending online and going viral, but it will attract the most profitable customers to your business, which is what should be the ultimate aim of any social media marketer worth their salt. At the end of the day, you want a loyal and lucrative customer base, not a Facebook empire.

Furthermore, it is crucial to actively engage with users on your business’ Facebook page to guarantee getting the most out of the social media platform. The worst thing that a business can do is set up a page on Facebook but then never use it; it’s better to not pursue a social media marketing strategy at all than to pursue one half-heartedly.

Of course, it is important not to post so often that it turns away users who dislike their newsfeed being clogged up with posts from one page. However, posting frequently and interacting with users in the comments section of your posts is an essential element of social media marketing as it builds a rapport with potential customers, providing them with a more personable service that makes them feel valued. Engaging with users and encouraging them to share, not just like, your posts is also another way to get round the decline of organic reach.

It will be by no means easy and it is vital that your social media strategy is adaptive and has room for trial and error, but if you specify a target market and pursue it relentlessly through intelligent engagement with users than there’s no reason why your business can’t use Facebook for successful and profitable marketing in 2015. 

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