Facebook is an incredibly popular social media tool that you can use to market your brand. It is the biggest and most widely used out of the other social channels, giving your brand a larger reach than it otherwise would have. According to WordStream, Facebook has 1.32 billion daily active users – making up 79% of the American population.
While Facebook is a digital platform, it’s still an important tool to drive customers into your physical location.
We’re going to focus on Facebook marketing for brick-and-mortar to show how you can invest in online resources that deliver real results in your physical business.
10 Tips for Facebook Marketing for Brick-and-Mortar
While every brick-and-mortar business is different, there are a few common Facebook marketing tips you can follow and apply to your brand. Review these options for growing your organic and paid social media posts so you can connect with audiences digitally in order to turn them into customers physically.
1. Post Content Regularly
Facebook uses an algorithm to determine what is popular and engaging. If the social network notices that your content goes dark and only a few people like or comment on your posts, then it will show your content to fewer people.
Posting regularly gets the ball rolling and will make sure your content reaches a larger audience.
2. Find Ways for Customers to Engage With Your Posts
Along with posting regularly, you can increase your reach and exposure on Facebook by creating engaging content. When more people like or comment on a post, it gets more attention across the web – this is how content goes viral.
Try to find content that your fans like to make them engage with your brand. A good place to start is with visually interesting content, discussion questions, and humorous memes and other fun posts.
3. Choose Image-Heavy Content
If you’re looking to create engaging content on Facebook, look for captivating visuals. Studies have found that photos generate 39% more interactions on Facebook than traditional text-based posts. They also get 53% more likes and 104% more comments.
Even if you have a lengthy message to convey with Facebook, you can increase your reach and engagement by adding a photo.
4. Develop Timely Messages That Drive Action
If you want to see the results that your Facebook marketing for brick-and-mortar efforts drive, then consider creating a timely promotion that gives fans a limited window to visit your business. For example, you can run a 24-hour in-store sale or encourage customers to book appointments by the end of the week. Track your in-store traffic or appointments to see how many people take action based on this limited opportunity.
You can run these time-sensitive promotions a few times each year to see how customers respond and to track how your online presence grows.
5. Create Facebook-Specific Promotions
Along with creating timely offers, you can also track your progress by creating Facebook-specific offers and promotional codes. These codes would be exclusive to the social network, so only your Facebook fans would see them. Then, you can track the number of times they were used to see how engaged your Facebook audience is.
This limited promotion also creates a sense of urgency to drive customers to take action.
6. Offer Fast Customer Service
Not only can Facebook marketing for brick-and-mortar help you bring in new customers, but it can also help you save customer relationships through good customer service. More than half of people (54%) prefer to connect over social media messaging channels as opposed to phone or email. Many of these customers are connecting with brands with questions or complaints.
By responding quickly and professionally over Facebook, you can provide good customer support and win people over.
7. Ask Customers to Check-in or Write Reviews
Another way to track your growth on Facebook is to ask customers to support your brand with reviews. Good reviews can turn prospective shoppers into customers and can win over your audiences. Plus, reviews on Facebook can increase your exposure and overall reach.
Encourage your customers to leave reviews through Facebook posts or by asking customers in-store when they check out.
8. Invest in Paid Facebook Ads and Sponsored Posts
While many brands grow on Facebook organically, investing in paid ads can help you reach new audiences and grow at a faster rate. You can decide your budget each month – even if you are only spending $10 – and target customers based on their demographics, interests, and other traits.
Ads allow you to get in front of the right people without spending a lot of money. Consider testing Facebook ads or sponsored posts as a way to grow your brand.
9. Keep Your Message Geographically Targeted
Whether you own multiple brick-and-mortar locations or are investing in Facebook ads, remember to limit your message geographically. Only promote your brand to customers in your city or neighborhood in order to reach people who really will visit your brick-and-mortar location.
While it is harder to control this with organic content, you can focus on growing your local footprint with paid ads before expanding to larger regions.
10. Track Your Facebook Growth
One of the most important aspects of Facebook marketing for brick-and-mortar brands is growth. You can track your fan count, engagement rates, the number of customers helped, and in-store customers to see whether or not your Facebook efforts are successful.
Plus, by tracking your growth over time, you can watch your investment pay off. You will never know whether or not you reached your marketing goals if you don’t know where you started compared to where your brand is now.
Go Beyond Facebook Marketing for Brick-and-Mortar Businesses
From the first time your customers hear about your brand to the moment they complete a purchase, your marketing efforts drive their behavior and decision-making process.
Use our Resource section to learn additional ways to promote your brand. Whether you’re reading about digital signage or downloading a free ebook on in-store marketing, we can guide your promotion efforts to help you drive sales.
And, look for more posts in this series of social media marketing tips for brick-and-mortar businesses. We’ll be covering Instagram, Twitter, and even Snapchat in upcoming posts on the Spectrio blog.