Open Air Business April 2017

INDUSTRY TALK
Facebook
Fundamentals
When it comes to inexpensive, or even free, highly
targeted marketing to over a billion people, you
can’t beat Facebook says Gemma Went
EVER SINCE ANNOUNCING my engagement on Facebook, my newsfeed
has been filled with wedding-related ads. Venues, photographers, event
planners, florists, bridal apps (yes, those really are a thing) and more. I
won’t lie, I’ve clicked through to more than a few, and let myself dream
about my big day.
That just proves the power of Facebook. You can find your audience
and engage with them without reaching out personally, or spending a
ton of money on marketing campaigns. And to be frank, if you’re not already
on Facebook as a business, you’re missing a trick. A big, lucrative trick.
But let’s go back to basics for a moment. What is Facebook?
Facebook is the ultimate online social network. It’s an online platform primed for
sharing every kind of content, from articles and ads to live video, memes and more.
Even your nan has an account. With over a billion active users worldwide, the potential
for your business is immense.
FACEBOOK SHARES
As with every other social media channel, it’s
a good idea to put together a content plan
for Facebook. This enables you to factor in
the big picture goals of your business, as well
as planning for peak times in the industry,
and any time sensitive offers you’d like to
promote.
Planning ahead also allows you to batch
and schedule your posts in one sitting, so
that you never neglect your page, regardless
of how busy you are. Tools like Buffer,
Hootsuite and Smarterqueue are really
handy for helping with this.
I always recommend an 80/20 split of
Facebook content - that means 80 per cent
of your posts should be shared from other
sources, or helpful tips and ideas, and 20
per cent should be promoting your own
business. The idea here is that you will
promote engagement with your followers,
rather than marketing “at” them.
PERSONAL VS. PROFESSIONAL
Many still think of Facebook as a
personal social network, rather than a
business opportunity. Both schools of
thought are correct.
There should be a clear boundary
between your personal profile and
your business page. And yes, you
do need a separate business page -
without one, you can’t play around
with Facebook advertising. It can also
feel a little invasive if your customers,
or potential customers, try to add you
as a friend.
For this reason, I use my personal
cover photo to highlight that they have
arrived on my personal profile, and to
point them towards my Business Page.
To do this yourself, simply upload a
high-quality image to a free editing
tool such as Canva, and add a text
overlay.
SMART SEARCH
Facebook is a fantastic resource when
it comes to finding and learning about
your market - all through a tool called
Facebook Graph Search, accessible
through the main search bar at the top
of your screen.
Facebook Graph Search is a
semantic search engine - that means it
looks at the full context of your search
phrase, rather than the individual
words, and it can give you some real
insight into your competitors, and
your prospects.
Start by investigating your
competition. By reviewing and
analysing how your peers are
marketing and engaging with
customers you can decipher what
works and what doesn’t. Feed that
information back into your own
marketing strategy.
If you don’t know much about your
competition, use search terms such as:
› Pages liked by people who like
[insert your page name]
› Pages liked by fans of [insert page
name in your niche]
› Pages liked by [your broad target
group] who live in [your local area]
I’d also recommend you research
your target audience too - find out
what interests them, other than
planning a wedding, booking a
glamping holiday or attending an
open-air event. This data, once
compiled, can help you put together
really targeted marketing messages
that will appeal to the right people. Try
searching for:
› Posts by people who like [insert your
page name]
› Posts by people who like pages
similar to [insert your page name]
› Posts by people who live in [your
local area] who like [your page/a
competitor’s page]
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