How to grow your small business on Facebook

If you recently set out on a new business venture, or you’re thinking about starting your own business, you may be considering how to make it a success via social media. Facebook can help you to raise brand awareness, grow your customer base and increase your sales. 

• How to get your business started on Facebook
• Planning and scheduling posts 
• Telling your story 
• Promoting your Facebook business page: 7 steps to success 
• Talking to your customers 

The first step to growing any business on Facebook is to have the right kind of page. If you’re not sure how to set up a Facebook business page, this easy-to-follow guide is a good place to begin.

Once you’ve created your business profile, you’ll need to put a bit of work in to make it a success. Thankfully, that’s a lot easier than it sounds. From Facebook marketing tips and tools, to advice on how to connect with customers, you’ll find lots of useful advice below.

It’s a good idea to write and publish several posts published before you start promoting your page. In an ideal world, you want potential customers to land on your new business page and find it engaging. 

Create a strategy for what you’re going to post and when. So, it could be a ‘Monday motivation,’ a ‘throwback Thursday’ or a ‘Friday Freebie’ – whatever works for you. If you know what sort of posts you’re doing on any given day, you’re less likely to forget to do them!

As a new business owner, you’re going to be very busy. So, it’s wise to use a social media management platform so you can schedule multiple posts in one go. There are tons of options out there, such as Sprout Social, Buffer and Hootsuite, or Tweetdeck for Twitter. Most of them have a free-to-use plan, and they can really help to make life simpler for a small business owner.

What makes your service unique? Have you told your story? Make sure that you’ve filled in all of the relevant areas on your new business page before you go any further. Include photos, a link to your website, up-to-date contact details, trading hours and your company history. Customers will want to know why they should choose you, so don’t leave any section incomplete. And make sure you spellcheck your page, too – it’s worth asking a friend or family member to proofread your page before you start promoting it.

1. Choose a relevant URL

This will make your page easier to find. Otherwise, your page will be allocated a series of numbers, which doesn’t look very professional. You only have one chance to do this, though, so choose wisely.

2. If you have a website, make sure you add a ‘Follow’ button to your homepage

3. Add a link to your email footer

4. Make the most of your network

If you already have email addresses for your customer base, get in touch to let them know that you have recently set up a Facebook business page, and to start following you. You could even ask them to leave you a review.

5. Offer a loyalty discount or promotion to your new Facebook followers

6. Connect to the community and put yourself out there

Most communities have their own Facebook page nowadays, so keep a look out for people asking for recommendations.

7. Consider Facebook Ads

At relatively small cost, you can create and run campaigns through Facebook and monitor their performance with Facebook’s reporting tool.

When your new Facebook business page is up and running and you begin to grow a customer base, you may need to interact with curious potential customers, or perhaps a current customer requesting help. You may already have a ton of experience with dealing with customers, but if not, here are three useful things to remember:

1. Be prompt

Whether a customer has a question or a complaint, don’t leave them hanging. If you need time to find something out for them, just tell them that you’re looking into it. People generally don’t mind waiting if their request has been acknowledged.

2. Be polite

Even if a customer is being rude to you, don’t rise to it. Remember that you’re in a public sphere, and stay friendly, helpful and professional. Be solution orientated and look to resolve conflict wherever possible.

3. Be consistent

Successful businesses have a ‘tone of voice,’ which is carried through from printed literature, to their website and social media. Ensure that yours is appropriate to your product and try to stick to that when you engage with your customers.

Social media can help you bring in business, but it also takes time. Start automating your financial admin so that you can gain time back to focus on making your venture a success. Find out more here.