Facebook Marketing is Important – Agree?
Everyone has heard of Facebook and I am sure you have as well. If you are a local business owner, you are probably frustrated or even upset wondering what you are doing wrong.
Recently I was speaking to a local restaurant owner who was struggling to increase his business. I can tell that he was very proud of doing Facebook ads (Facebook marketing) and had spent over six-hundred dollars in getting new likes. My heart was crying out for him and so I asked why was he so happy that he spent so much money while he was struggling to meet his payroll budget. The answer was “My business is going to increase like everyone says it will”. I did not want to make him feel bad but went on to say that just because you have “likes” does not mean that you are going to see over night success. The business owner had no plan to engage with his new likes and he did end up closing his store after a month. So if you are desperate social media marketing is not for you. Social Media or Facebook Marketing is Relationship Marketing. I can’t emphasize this enough. Some get it and most business owners don’t because they want immediate results. Before I go on to tell you how you can make your campaigns better, I would like for you to understand that relationship marketing takes time to build relationship with your “likers” and you should be willing to indulge them on their interests and not on your agenda or profit. So please before you pour money out into social media marketing please understand that it will take time and consistency for Facebook marketing or social media marketing to work for your business. You as business owner must be willing to cut losses in the beginning to make a profit later.
In this post you will find different ways that you can use Facebook to benefit your page and your business. If you do have questions do let me know as I am here to help.
Facebook Marketing is not about Likes
Yes you read it right. A while back we used to boast about the number of likes but now its more about the quality of likes and how your fans or customers interact with your page and posts. The best way for you to increase your quality like is when someone on your page interacts with your posts by liking them, commenting on your posts, and sharing your posts.
Facebook Marketing is about Sharing:
So now you may have the question as to “how can I make someone interact with my post?” the answer is very simple ask them to like it if they like the post or share it if they find it useful. Why? because when someone likes your post or comments on your post, their friends get that in their news feeds and their friends will visit your page. If you have useful information then you will get new likes.
Facebook Marketing is Not About Selling
Last week I was on Facebook and came across a feed from a buddy of mine that said ( I am paraphrasing) “I am on Twitter and I have to start blogging as they say that I have to get in Social Media, but all I want is to sell some houses” again I am paraphrasing. You cannot expect to sell right away or make money right away as soon as you jump into the social media band wagon. You might get lucky and make some sells but it rare. If you are looking to make a quick profit Social Media is not for you.
I have a realtor in Florida who gets 80% of his clients from Facebook. He did not do this overnight. He has built great relationship with the people who has like his page. He sort after them took interest in their everyday happening, their life, their kids etc and now he is reaping the rewards of his relationships with them. Two years ago he did not get a single lead from Facebook. He did not give up , he kept on making his relationship with the local friends and fans stronger and now he gets leads from Facebook. Everyone looks up to him as a real estate expert and not just as another sales person. He said he makes more money in referral commissions than ever before. As his fans who has relatives, and friends in other states refer him to their friends and family. This is the power of Facebook marketing if you give it time, has the right attitude, accept short term loss for long term gain.
Facebook Marketing is about Sharing Useful Information:
If you are a restaurant owner share videos, pictures, recipes etc that your customers will like and share. Don’t be afraid about sharing recipes. I have had restaurant clients say “we can’t do that as we will lose customers” on the contrary it will only make them trust you, love you and depend on you.
If you are doctor or a medical practice share useful information or videos. For every eight or ten quote posts, funny picture post, post one post on Facebook about whats happening in your practice, health tips from your blog, video about a topic, or just your patient’s after picture. I have had some doctors who are afraid to post useful information about their practice or they just want to be like their competition. The goal here is for your patients and your patients friend’s to trust you as the expert in your niche and at the same time show you are also human. Doctors must make sure that you follow HIPPA rules and regulations. Don’t use the patients full name even if you are responding to comments. Don’t tag your patients. You can read more of HIPPA laws by visiting their site.
Take Facebook Marketing to Real Life
Most often I see local businesses stop building relationships, it does not go beyond the internet. You are a local business, you will be successful if your business exists in the real world so strategize ( made the word up 
) different ways that you can take your customers from Facebook to your restaurant or your Office. So you have increased the frequency of your posting on Facebook and have increased your likes response to your posts – Now What? Use mobile marketing or e-mail marketing to bring people into your restaurant or your practice. For restaurants Mobile Marketing is awesome ( I will do a post about mobile marketing for restaurants soon). When people come to Facebook have a way of capturing their information their name, phone number, e-mail etc. I love Facebook but I like being in control after all its my business. Facebook is FREE and if they change rules or become like MySpace or even worse if you customers move from Facebook to Pinterest or other social media sites, how are you going to get their attention? so make sure you have a way to always provide value to your fans, customers in the real world. That is how you can build your business.
When your customers are at your location ask them to check-In to your location on Facebook. You can give an incentive like a price break or a FREE item that your customer would consider valuable. Why is this important? It is important because when they check-in all their friends and family can see that they came to see you and you will become their trusted source when they have a need. This is FREE Marketing but if your customers has to do that give them a small push by asking all your employees to ask your customers to check in and be proactive about this.
Have a fan of the week or fan of the month and give something to your customers that they will share on their page. Ask them to come in to receive the gift, take a picture and post it on Facebook.
If you are doing a drive, attending an event post that on Facebook as this will give them an inside look of who you are and what your business stands for in the local community. The more you attend events that supports the local community, the more you are letting your fans on Facebook know about it, the more support your business will get from local citizens. Educate your staff about the importance of being proactive. Don’t be shy to post the signs in every room, check out area, windows and walls of your business asking your customers to like your Facebook Page. If Mark Zuckerberg’s (founder of Facebook) father who is a dentist in New York has signs everywhere (not just in the bathroom like most dentist in town does) prompting his patients to like his page, I think we should do it as well.
I am going to stop before I turn this post into a book . I just want you as a local business owner to succeed and not fail. If you have questions please ask them in the comment section. If you like the post share it with other business owners. Social media marketing for businesses is more like FREE marketing.
