The 4 Things You Need to Reach Customers on Facebook

In his book Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars, Mitch Myerson introduces you to 22 innovators who have redefined the developing landscape of online marketing. Learn how to master proven strategies, avoid costly mistakes and grow your business. In this edited excerpt, contributing author and social media coach Andrea Vahl offers some easy-to-follow advice on making the most of Facebook for your business.

When it comes to Facebook, some people talk about metrics, such as the perfect time to post, the perfect length of a post, or the perfect way to post a link. But none of that matters as much as posting content that your audience cares about. Yes, there are strategies that work better on Facebook in terms of getting more visibility, but when you focus on providing good content consistently, your audience will make sure they go out of their way to find you.

There's no doubt that Facebook is increasingly becoming a “pay to play” platform with pages getting less exposure in the news feed than they have in the past. But that shouldn't scare marketers away.

Some people also worry that Facebook use is declining, but many recent studies, including one from Pew Research, show Facebook use is increasing. In fact, all types of businesses are using Facebook, including B2B and B2C. The bottom line is, you need to be online, and Facebook is still where it’s at.

So where do you start? Or where do you restart if your efforts have stalled? This four-point checklist will help you make sure you have all your ducks in a row.

1. Optimize your Facebook page. Your cover photo is the first impression people get of your Facebook page. The cover photo also shows up in several other ways on Facebook—if someone hovers over your page name in a post, in suggested pages, and in other places. If possible, have a tagline on the photo that states the main benefit of why someone should like your page. On Grandma Mary—Social Media Edutainer’s cover photo, she has “Social Media is waaay more fun with Grandma Mary!” People know instantly why they might want to like this page.

The next thing you want to optimize is your "About" section. Add your critical keywords here because this section is indexed in Google and you get the chance to tell people more about what you do. Link to special places on your website you want to highlight and maybe even add some testimonials from happy customers in this section.

2. Have a content strategy. The biggest way people are going to interact with your Facebook page is through your posts. So you need to know what you're posting and how often. It's best to have a mixture of business news, tips, photos, links, and also humor. People are on Facebook to be social and have fun. If you have some humorous posts about your business niche, your posts will get comments, likes, and shares, which will then help your exposure on Facebook.

Having a content strategy also includes deciding how often to post. Facebook posts do have a limited shelf-life of visibility, and if you're only posting a couple times a week, you're in danger of dropping off your audience’s radar. I recommend posting at least twice a day during the week to increase your visibility. That may feel overwhelming to some people, but when you create a content calendar of posts for the week, that task becomes more manageable. For example, you could post a helpful tip Monday morning and then a shareable quote Monday afternoon, then industry news Tuesday morning and something humorous Tuesday afternoon. See—it’s not too hard when you get organized!

3. Interact with others. One of the best ways to grow organically is to connect and comment on other complementary business pages. You can like another page as your page and then comment on their posts. Then that page’s audience has the potential to see your name in the comments of that post, giving your page more visibility. But not only that, it creates good will with the other complementary pages, and they may be more likely to share and comment on your posts.

4. Use your personal profile if possible. Using your personal profile to help share your business news may not always be possible, but if you are the face of your business, people may be connecting with you personally. You can do things like open up your Follow button and create Facebook lists to help you manage your privacy with your personal profile. Your personal profile is more visible to your friends than your business page, and by occasionally sharing your business news on your personal page, you have an increased chance of your most important announcements being seen.

For more information or to access exclusive audio interviews with superstars from this book visit OnlineMarketingSuperstars.com.