Small business marketing on Facebook can seem a little overwhelming at first!
Facebook has always prided itself on its ability to help small business owners as its inarguably the world’s largest social network.
In fact, they break down how they can help small businesses into 3 creative ways:
You can get discovered by new customers online, find your customers with ads and connect with your customers directly using messaging.
Within those 3 pillars are 25 different specific tips you can follow to make the most of your Facebook marketing free.
25 Tips For Small Business Marketing On Facebook
1. Create a Facebook Business Page
Your Facebook Business page is a page for your brand, so you can post and respond as your company as opposed to operating out of your personal profile.
You’ll want to create this right away if you haven’t already done so.
It will give you a direct line to potential loyal customers, and it will act as the hub for basic and up-to-date information for your business.
Plus, a business page offers you more tools and insights than your personal profile would.
If you don’t know how to create a Facebook Business page, check out that blog.
2. Optimize your business page
Once you’ve got your Facebook Business page created, you’ll want to optimize it.
This means you’ll want to do the following:
- Make sure your profile picture is your logo
- Add a cover photo or cover video that resonates with your audience
- Ensure all of your page about info is filled out including your website, hours, address, description, and services
- Make sure your page name and username are the same and reflect your business’s name
Any information your potential customers would look for about your business needs to be readily available on your business page.
3. Set up your Meta Business Suite
Some of you may be familiar with the term Business Manager and are wondering what the difference is between that and the Meta Business suite.
Your Meta Business Suite allows you to manage all of your Facebook and Instagram accounts…
…while your Business Manager gives you access solely to Facebook pages and ad accounts.
Both still exist, but the Meta Business Suite is much newer and offers you all of the same functions that Business Manager does and then some.
Plus the Suite is accessible from both desktop and mobile which makes it easier for busy on-the-go business owners to work with.
Setting this up at the beginning is the easiest way to keep all of your Facebook marketing efforts organized and streamlined.
It’ll house any Facebook products you use like your Facebook business page, your Instagram account, your Facebook ad account, etc.
And it makes it easy for you to give other team members or marketing agencies you partner with access to handle Facebook marketing on behalf of your business.
If you want to learn more about the Facebook Business Suite, check out that blog.
4. Post valuable content
One of the best practices for Facebook marketing is posting valuable content.
The point of having a Facebook Business page is to build a relationship between your brand and potential customers.
The best way to do that is to post valuable content.
Many business owners make the mistake of posting content that’s all about them.
Instead, your content strategy should be all about your customer. It’s helpful to make a list of your customers’ Facebook goals and pain points.
What accomplishments are they trying to achieve or what problems are they trying to solve as it relates to your product or service?
Knowing the answer to that question will help you understand what topics your customers care about.
Knowing what your customers care about will then guide you in content creation. Customers will only stop scrolling and engage a post if it grabs their attention and resonates with them.
5. Connect Instagram to your Business page
There are three main benefits to connecting your Instagram to your business page.
The first is that you can share Instagram posts to Facebook and vice versa.
This is a huge time saver and can also give certain media types like Instagram Reels added reach by allowing them to be seen on Facebook as well.
While it is better to plan and schedule posts ahead of time, as a business owner, sometimes you have to post things on the fly.
Having your Instagram account connected to your Facebook page means you can just toggle the Facebook option on and share posts to both platforms from the Instagram app.
The second benefit is the ability to run ads across both platforms.
And more specifically, to be able to run ads across both platforms from Facebook Ads Manager.
You can technically run an Instagram ad from the app, but we wouldn’t recommend doing that because it’s very limiting.
Running an Instagram ad from Facebook Ads Manager allows you to choose from more campaigns and targeting options.
The last benefit is the ability to respond to DMs from one place.
You can answer all of your DMs and comments in one place under the Meta Suite inbox.
This makes staying on top of both your Facebook and Instagram messages super easy.
The first thing you need to do in order to link your Facebook and Instagram accounts is to make sure your Instagram account is a business or creator account.
To do this:
- Go to your Instagram profile and hit the hamburger icon
- Tap Settings
- Tap Account then scroll down to “Switch account type.”
When you hit that, it will give you the options of the account type yours currently isn’t.
From there:
- Go to your Facebook Business page
- Click settings on the left-hand menu
- Scroll down and click Instagram.
If you don’t already have an Instagram account connected to your Facebook page, this screen will prompt you to do so.
Or if you have the wrong account or an old account connected, you can disconnect it at the bottom and then connect the right Instagram account from there.
6. Post Facebook Stories
Facebook Stories are vertical posts that can only be seen for 24 hours.
If your Instagram account is connected, you can share Instagram Stories to your Facebook Story and vice versa.
You can post video content or photos to your Story, and you can customize them with location tags, gifs, stickers, songs, and more.
Some Story features are particularly engaging for your followers such as quizzes and polls.
Stories allow you to put your brand in front of a broad audience organically…
…as users can view Stories at the top of their News Feed on the Home tab, or at the top of Facebook Messenger.
Stories can often cut through the noise a little better than regular feed posts can.
Many business owners content stack and share on their Facebook Story that they’ve posted something new on their feed. This helps ensure that their audience sees it.
7. Create Facebook Events
If your business throws customer events often, you’ll want to create Facebook Events for them.
Facebook Events are pages that can be linked to your Business Page, but they do live on their own standalone landing page on Facebook.
Facebook Events can be created for physical, in-person events or for online events.
It’s a tool that helps you garner awareness and RSVPs for your event.
If your business hosts events regularly, you can set up the first event and then automate them so you don’t have to manually set up each and every event.
Learn how to create Facebook Events and automate them if necessary in that blog.
8. Create a Facebook Group
Facebook Groups are a great way to move your audience further down your sales funnel.
You can create your own Facebook Group or you can join a group as your Page to connect with your community.
You can create a group that offers more exclusive content than what’s on your business Page.
This will solicit the followers who are more serious about your offering, or have stronger purchase intent, to join your group.
Joining or facilitating a group allows you to participate in deeper conversations with your potential customers.
9. Post Facebook Reels 3-7x a week
Reels are by far the most preferred media type on the social platform.
They have followed in the footsteps of Instagram Reels and TikTok in their ability to go viral and give local businesses mass brand exposure.
Posting Reels regularly is a great way to get organic reach. Even if you have less than 1,000 Facebook followers, your Reel can still gain thousands if not millions of views.
Those views can turn into followers and ultimately customers. This is why you’ll want to post more Reels than static images on your page.
Plus, if you have your Instagram account connected, you can reap the reach of both platforms when you share a Reel.
In this blog, we share how to create Facebook Reels as well as some great ideas for Facebook Reels business owners can use.
10. Boost Posts
If you’re doing everything correctly with your content marketing and it’s still not taking off, it could be that you need to boost your posts.
To boost a post means you’re putting digital advertising dollars behind the post to ensure it gets targeted reach.
The goal of a boosted post is to drive traffic on that post. So you don’t want to boost a post with the immediate goal of sales.
You do want to boost a post with the immediate goal of followers and engagement.
11. Install the Facebook pixel
If you haven’t installed your Facebook pixel on your website yet, you’ll want to do that asap.
The Facebook pixel is a piece of code from your Ads Manager account that you install on your website.
It’s not visible to the public, but it helps your Facebook Ad account track to see when your Facebook audience has taken action on your website.
Without a Facebook pixel, you will not be able to see if people made a purchase from clicking on your Facebook ad.
Installing the Facebook pixel will help you understand how effective your Facebook ads are, so check out this Facebook pixel tutorial if you need help installing it.
Now, it is important to note that since the iOS 14 update, the Facebook pixel has become less effective than it once was.
In the iOS 14 update, a large percentage of Facebook users opted out of being tracked across other apps and websites.
If a person has opted out of being tracked that way, the Facebook pixel will no longer be able to tell if they made a purchase on your website after clicking a Facebook ad.
As a result, we made this blog on Facebook conversion API as an alternative tracking method for you to check out.
12. Run a conversion ad
When it comes to small business marketing on Facebook, most business owners want one thing: sales.
Whether a conversion for you means a product purchase on your website or a lead form completion, either way, a conversion ad is the type of ad you’ll want to run.
Facebook recently changed its Facebook ad objectives, so it’s important that you look at each one closely to see which aligns most with your goal.
Awareness is good for reach, brand awareness, and video views.
Traffic is good for link clicks, landing page views, messenger and WhatsApp, and calls.
Engagement is good for Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram direct, video views, post engagement, and conversions.
Leads are good for instant forms, messenger, conversions, and calls.
App promotion is good for app installs and app events.
And lastly, Sales are good for conversions, catalog sales, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
So if you’re wanting lead form conversions, run the leads campaign. If you’re wanting product purchase conversions, run a sales campaign.
13. Set up automated messenger replies
Part of the appeal of social media for customers is that they feel like they have direct access to brands they like.
Customers can speak directly to brands via comments and Direct Messages and ask whatever questions they have.
The expectation from customers is that they’ll get an immediate response.
Having your Facebook and Instagram accounts linked allows you to respond to all of these messages from one convenient place in a timely manner. You as a company have to figure out the best times to reply to these messages.
However, most small businesses don’t have the time or manpower to respond to every single message instantaneously.
A good solution to that problem is to set up automated messenger replies. This will allow your followers to be acknowledged until a real person from your team is free to reply.
Automated replies make small business marketing on Facebook easier and more convenient.
This feature serves as a good form of customer support, communicating with your customers that you will get back to them when you can.
14. Launch a messages ad campaign
The importance of brand transparency for small business social media marketing on Facebook is unmatched.
Customers buy from brands that are authentic, transparent, and therefore trustworthy.
Tools like Facebook messenger help create that brand-consumer trust by giving customers direct access to brands and vice versa.
You’ll want to take advantage of that whether it be via paid media messenger ads or organic messaging efforts like what was mentioned in #13.
With the new Facebook ad objectives, there are several campaigns that optimize for Facebook messenger conversations.
You’ll want to choose the one that best suits your needs.
The goal of a messages ad campaign would be to get conversations started between your brand and your ideal customer.
15. Schedule content in advance
Facebook offers native publishing tools that allow you to schedule content in advance.
If your Instagram account is connected, you can schedule content for both Facebook and Instagram in advance, at the same time.
Planning your content calendar and scheduling it a month in advance offers several benefits.
First of all, it saves you time in the long run so that you’re not trying to think of great content every day or publishing posts on the go.
Second of all, it allows you to think through the month’s worth of content strategically and account for any upcoming holidays or national days.
Lastly, it allows you to look at your feed in advance. With Instagram in particular, you’ll want to ensure your feed is visually appealing.
With both Facebook and Instagram, you’ll want to ensure you’re not posting about the same exact topics back to back or that you’re not reusing the same photos, etc.
16. Create a custom audience for retargeting
In Facebook Ads Manager, you can create what’s called custom audiences.
Custom audiences are drawn from people you’ve been tracking such as your website traffic, your social media engagement, etc.
You’ll want to create both of those audiences so you can retarget them.
People do not convert on the first impression or on the first click. They’ll need to see your brand several different times before they feel comfortable enough to purchase from you.
So you’ll need to create that custom audience in Ads Manager for you to then select it as a targeting option when setting up your ad.
17. Run a native lead generation campaign
Earlier, we discussed sending people to your website to complete a lead form.
However, you can also capture leads all within Facebook.
With the Leads campaign, users can give you their name, contact information, and any other information you require all without leaving the Facebook platform.
This can sometimes increase the amount of leads you receive because they’re able to fill out the form in fewer clicks.
It’s also been a great option for businesses since the iOS 14 update made it harder to track users after they leave the Facebook platform.
18. Set up your product catalog
If you’re an eCommerce store owner, you’ll want to set up your product catalog on Facebook if you haven’t already.
Doing so allows customers to shop your products directly on Facebook among other things.
One of the objections to purchasing that many shoppers have with small businesses is that they’ve never bought from them before.
They have to overcome the fear that your website might be sketchy or your checkout unsecure before they can confidently submit their payment method to you.
Allowing them to purchase and checkout on Facebook helps bridge that gap because they’re already familiar with Facebook.
Once customers have bought from you once, it makes it much easier for them to purchase from you on your website in the future.
19. Perform dynamic retargeting
Dynamic retargeting is another great function you get after you’ve set up your product catalog.
Dynamic retargeting allows Facebook to pick and choose which product ad it shows to which customer based on what that customer looked at on your website.
Instead of showing one blanket retargeting ad to all of your website visitors, this allows for a more personalized retargeting experience.
People will see the exact product they looked at on your website previously with a reminder to checkout.
This is a great way to increase sales and your conversion rate.
20. A/B split test your ads and audiences
If you’re running Facebook ads, whether they be carousel ads, video ads, collection ads or image ads, you’ll want to A/B split test both the creatives you’re running as well as the audiences you’re delivering them to.
You probably have different types of people within your target audience. Some may convert better than others.
What’s more is some may convert better than others when certain messages are delivered to them.
For instance, if you sell and install tires for vehicles, your messaging may look different for a young 19-year-old who’s getting their tires changed for the first time than to a seasoned driver.
Testing out different ads and different audiences, as well as ad placement, will tell you which ad and audience combination works best to deliver the most results at a low ad spend.
21. Go live on Facebook
Going live on Facebook allows you to engage with your followers in real-time.
In an edited, filtered world, customers appreciate the authenticity of Lives.
Going live entails a real-time video of yourself or of whatever you’re filming in which viewers can comment. You can see and respond to your Facebook fans in real-time during the Live video.
While going live may feel intimidating, it can be a great opportunity to build brand consumer trust and your Facebook presence.
Here are some ideas for what to film on a Facebook Live:
- A Q&A
- Behind the scenes of how your product is made
- A day in the life at your business
- Showing how your product can be used (ex: showing different outfits using your clothes)
- Showing your service in action
- Meeting different team members
- Answering FAQs
- Sharing a big announcement / upcoming event
- A Facebook contest
- Ask their thoughts on Facebook Marketplace for your business
- Gather an email list for an email marketing campaign
22. Encourage UGC
UGC stands for user-generated content.
This is when customers create content with your product or service as the focal point and tag you in it.
After messaging the user to get their permission, you can repost the content to your own page.
This Facebook strategy is impactful because people see that other customers genuinely love your brand.
strong>Sharing content generated by these types of users will guarantee a boost in your business.
They don’t have to question it because they assume it’s an unbiased, unsponsored opinion.
When you repost UGC to your page it shows your followers that other customers love your product or service. This will cause a snowball effect of others wanting your offerings too.
23. Look at your competitor’s Facebook ads
You can see if your competitors are running Facebook ads as well as what they look like.
Go to your competitor’s page, and under the Page Transparency section, click See all.
Scroll down to Ads from this Page to see if they’re currently running ads. If they are, click Go to Ad Library.
From there you can see all the ads they’re currently running on Facebook and Instagram.
This will show you how your competitors are addressing your shared target market.
You’ll want to learn from what you think they’re doing well or doing poorly and plan out your own advertisements accordingly.
This allows you to decide how to start marketing on Facebook.
24. Create a Facebook-centric sales funnel
When it comes to small business marketing on Facebook, business owners have had to pivot.
The iOS 14 updates have made it harder to track what your Facebook followers do once they leave the Facebook platform.
As a result, business owners are turning to a Facebook-centric sales funnel. What does this mean?
It means instead of sending people away from the Facebook platform, you’re keeping them on the Facebook platform.
Instead of sending people to your website to convert, you capture their lead information or allow them to checkout directly within Facebook.
Facebook can still track everything that’s happening within its platform.
You’ll experience the same level of Facebook tracking you were used to prior to the iOS 14 updates with a Facebook-centric campaign.
25. Make informed decisions with your Facebook Insights
Facebook Insights, as well as Facebook analytics, allows you to see how your Facebook page is performing.
Is what you’re posting gaining you followers or costing you followers? How is your engagement rate? Where are the majority of your followers from?
What segment of your target audience seems to be the most engaged? What type of content performs best?
Facebook Insights answers all of these questions and more. Having access to a Facebook algorithm like this allows you to make informed decisions when it comes to small business marketing on Facebook.
Now if you need more help with any of the tips mentioned above, get in touch with our Facebook marketing company today.
Other Small Business Marketing Resources
Other Facebook Advertising Resources
- How To Make Good Facebook Ads That Convert: 5 Best Practices
- The Top Online Advertising Platforms in 2024
- What Facebook Says To Do For BIG Ad Results
- How To Create Ads That Actually SELL
- How To Use Facebook’s New Page Experience For Your Business
- 3 Common Ad Mistakes & What You Need to Do About It
- 30 Facebook Ad Examples: Get Inspiration For Your Next Campaign
- 50 Facebook Ad Statistics You Need To Know
- Facebook Touch Explained: Everything You Need To Know
- How to Dominate 2024 with Social Media Marketing on Facebook