Social Media Marketing for Business

You may already know from experience that just having a Facebook Page is really just the beginning of having a successful social media strategy. It takes a lot of time and energy to write good content, engage with your audience, and build your fan base.

Promoting your Facebook page starts with understanding your ideal audience and catering your content to those people. The following 5 steps will help you identify that audience, develop content they’ll crave and push on the gas petal to reach more fans just like them.

1. Identify your ideal fans

The first step is deciding who your ideal fans are. if you’re a small business, geography is obviously a key part to that equation. You likely only want to target folks in your vicinity. Use your current fans and customers to pin point the ideal demographics (age, gender) of your fans.

You can also dig a little deeper and determine that people who like my brand also like ________. Understanding your ideal fans interests will give you more positioning to reach them.

2. Tune your social media voice

Once you’ve decided who your ideal fans are, focus on finding the right voice that will resonate with them. Plan for your voice and personality that will speak to your ideal fans

A young, fresh voice may be good for a fashion brand. If your audience is older, you may want to position your voice as experienced (good for a contractor). If it’s a business where you might ask for references, then experience matters.

3. Build your content pillars

A “content pillar” is a form of content that is relevant to your fans and on-strategy for your business. Pick 2-3 “content pillars” for your brand that will help you reach your ideal fans. You should only post content within these pillars for consistency and focus.

Example: A local clothing boutique might have 3 pillars:

• Information about new products and clothing lines,
• Industry and fashion trends
• Sales and special offers

It’s OK to post things outside the pillars, but these posts should be limited and still be relevant as possible – the goal is to gain relevant fans who like what you are posting. This will keep your fans from hiding your posts and will also get them sharing.

RULE: More content means more chance for engagement, but beware of over-posting. Most fans will interact with your content in the news feed vs. on your Fan Page. Infrequent posts won’t hurt you, but too many posts can. show them how to tell fans to show posts in the news feed.

4. Accelerate Fan Growth

Reach out through other available channels.  If you have an email list, email marketing is a great way to drive more social media engagement Add social links to your email newsletter so readers can easily find your Facebook page. Send a dedicated email newsletter with a prominent CTA for readers to click though and like your Facebook page.

If you run a brick-and-mortar business, put up a sign that says “Like us on Facebook. Download free Facebook sign templates here.

For events and trade shows make some little business cards with the URL for your Facebook page so more people can find you on Facebook. You can create free Facebook cards at websites like moo.com

Don’t be shy about asking your friends and family to help you get more fans. They are often very willing to be an evangelist for your brand

5. Invest in Promotion

Facebook now offers Promoted Posts, which allows you to “boost” a post and select the kind of people you’d like to see it. This is a very cost-effective way to expand the reach of your content.

EXAMPLE: If I have 1,000 fans, any content I post to Facebook may get 100-200 views, but even putting $10 behind that content could get it in front of thousands of potential fans on Facebook.

Set up a contest to drive engagement and more fans. Use a platform like Heyo to create a simple entry page on Facebook. Give away something that is relevant to your ideal fans. Couple your promotion with a like gate to drive more Fan Page likes.

Presentation Slides:

Have you identified your content pillars? How have you used that strategy to accelerate the growth of your fan base?

Meet Jim Risner