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 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.
