Thematic group

Many thematic groups arise spontaneously and exist due to the initiative of participants connected by common interests. But some groups are purposefully created by brands to attract potential buyers. For example, a parent group can be created by an online store for children's goods. A book club may be owned by a publisher, and a travel club by a tour operator. nine0003

Participants communicate, exchange interesting ideas, share funny pictures. And from time to time they see content from the owner of the group - useful or advertising.

How you can use thematic group for business:

• as a blog - to create useful content and native advertising;
• as a forum or chat - for communication;
• as an additional sales channel - for example, you can make special offers "only for group members"; nine0107
• as a source of feedback, a place to collect feedback on the product and service;
• as a community of brand fans - to build long-term relationships;
• as a tool for training, consulting, support.

Group, as a way to promote business, has disadvantages:

• it is impossible to make publications on behalf of the group - only on behalf of a member or administrator;
• group posts are almost never shown in the news feed;
nine0106 group members often turn off group event notifications;
• the group cannot be advertised;
• Group statistics are limited.

Since paid promotion is impossible, at first you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on the organic development of the group:

• invite members;
• create chats and topics;
• maintain communication;
• invent contests and raffle gifts;
• to moderate the publications of participants. nine0107

At the same time, do not abuse advertising posts, especially at the beginning. But over time, the brand will be able to use the community to promote their products or services.

Public page

Public page is the most clear and effective tool for brand positioning and promotion on Facebook. With the right approach, the result of developing a business profile will be visible much faster than with the development of a thematic community, and even more so a personal page.

Benefits of branded pages

1. A public Facebook page is the proverbial "visiting card" of a company. This is the place to broadcast the mission, post news and offers, practical advice, entertaining posts, reviews.
2. Page admins can post, comment and like on behalf of the company. Subscribers can also suggest posts - they are posted after moderation. nine0107
3. The public page can be advertised.
4. There are many options for design - adding sections, call buttons, links, applications and services.
5. Facebook has developed standard versions of public pages for different types of businesses. For example, a template for a store contains a showcase and the ability to place product cards.
6. Posts end up in subscribers' newsfeeds, so the reach is much higher than posts in groups.
7. Public pages are indexed by search engines and may be visible in search results for branded queries. nine0107
8. Detailed statistics available:

• previews and views;
• clicks on buttons with contacts or call;
• coverage of posts and stories;
• number of new subscribers;
• number of recommendations;
• video playback frequency;
• sales.

Below we will take a closer look at many of the options for designing, developing and promoting a brand page on Facebook. Be sure to use everything - this will make the business profile more interesting and meaningful, which means it will help attract and retain new customers. nine0003

Promotion hacks

Page styling

Change the URL

Never leave an "unnamed" URL that is automatically generated when you create a new page. It looks like a set of characters and says nothing about the company that owns the page.

Create your own address right away:

• short, easy to read and remember;
• consisting of numbers 0-9, letters a-z, and dots;
• unique; nine0107
• consonant with the brand name;
• familiar to your regular customers.

It's good if the addresses of your pages in all social networks are the same. This will not only give your company presentability. More importantly, the page will become more searchable on Facebook and search networks. Google will associate the page URL with the keywords on your site - this will improve the search results for a number of queries. Another advantage of the same addresses is the resolution of possible disputes related to domain names or confirmation of page rights. nine0003

Fill out the "About us" section

Your visitors will want to know all the details about your business, so fill in all the information fields:

• a description of your business that will be displayed on the page and in the search results snippet;
• category: public figure, local business, brand, organization;
• work schedule;
• phone number;
• site;
• location.

Facebook will prompt you to choose one of the templates, each of which provides ready-made settings for buttons and tabs:

• standard - suitable for any business;
• services;
• company - provides for the possibility of publishing vacancies and special offers;
• restaurants and cafes - you can place a menu with photos and descriptions of dishes;
• public figures;
• non-profit organizations;
• policy;
• purchases - you can enable the display of products and simplify the process of online sales.

You can also describe your business yourself in up to three different narrow categories. Just enter the relevant field of activity and Facebook will offer you more accurate descriptions. nine0003

How accurately you describe your business determines the correct display of the page to potentially interested users and coverage.

Upload a logo and create a cover

A brand logo will work for the main photo. It will be displayed next to the page title in all posts and comments. It is with him that subscribers will associate your company.

The cover photo is the first thing your page visitors see.

If possible, do not use stock images. Choose a photo that speaks about your brand values ​​- a high-quality image of your product, a photo of your store, a creative of the current advertising campaign. nine0003

Create sections

Each Facebook page can have several main tabs:

• home;
• services;
• reviews;
• shop;
• offers;
• photos;
• events;
• others.

You can turn any tabs on or off, and change the order in which they appear on the page. And fill the selected tabs with content. For example, ask loyal customers to leave reviews, schedule events, or connect a store to a Facebook page:

Collect key phrases

Keywords are important not only for websites, but also for social media pages. In order for buyers to find your page, make it relevant to user queries and Facebook search algorithms. Think about the words and phrases that potential buyers use to search for your product or service on a social network.

Gather the semantic core and include the most important key phrases in:

• page title - if it does not conflict with brand positioning; nine0107
• short description of the page;
• content.

Add CTA buttons

One of the most important features of a business page is the placement of a button with a call to action:

more
• ;
• subscribe;
• order;
• book;
• call;
• send a message; nine0107
• go to the store.

This will help you get conversions directly on the social network. Each button can be associated with a specific page on the site or a form, where the user will go after clicking and perform the target action.

Content creation

Facebook has promised its users to show the most interesting content for them. This is the main problem of small and medium-sized businesses that are just starting to promote on Facebook. Coming up with content, they are guided by their own interests - sales, and not by the interests of subscribers. The result is low coverage and sluggish engagement. Below are tips for creating content that will appeal to both algorithms and users. nine0003

Create a content plan

Content planning is often a challenge for entrepreneurs. They publish a few spontaneous posts every day, and then remain silent for weeks. Such a “strategy” is highly undesirable: the algorithms of the search network reduce the weight of the page, and subsequent publications are less and less shown in the feeds of subscribers.

Regular posting is especially important at first. Therefore, develop a publication plan, including a variety of content: notes, polls, photo collections, live broadcasts, links to your blog materials. nine0003

The dedicated Facebook Business Suite post scheduler will help you with this. Ready posts and stories will be released exactly on schedule - on the appointed day and time. And you don't have to keep everything in your head. The tool has the following features:

• post calendar;
• planning the date and time of publications and stories;
• subscribers interaction statistics with content.

Stick to the 80:20 rule . This means that 80% of your content should be useful or entertaining, and only 20% should be promotional. If every post is devoted to stories about your company and product, it will quickly tire subscribers - like a new acquaintance who talks about bitcoins all through your birthday. Instead, aim to add value and build relationships with your followers. And then they will be more open to promotional content in 20% of your posts. nine0003

Use images

There's no easier and more effective way to get noticed than by posting:

• a photo;
• illustration;
• infographics;
• animation or GIF.

Animation helps draw attention to an important environmental post. Source

Animated post on the page of the jewelry and accessories store. Source

Even if you publish important news or a serious article - especially in this case - supplement the post with a picture. Such publications attract 2.3 times more attention than just text. Users share visual content 40 times more often than other types of content.

Short texts

Text is indispensable if necessary: ​​

• ask a question;
• share news;
• post a job;
• to tell about discounts or competition. nine0107

Try to write briefly and concisely. Marketers have noticed that users read short texts more often than long ones. Posts under 80 characters get 66% more engagement than longer ones.

A short motivational text on the Slack brand page: "You put in the effort and it shows." Source

Plus, as you remember, Facebook “cuts” long texts with ellipsis, forcing users to click “More” to expand and read the entire text. Even such a trifle reduces engagement. nine0003

What if you have a long story to tell?

1. Divide it into several parts, interrupting the story "at the most interesting place" and forcing readers to continue.
2. Structure the text: break it into small sections with subheadings - this will increase "readability".
3. Duplicate the key idea in the picture. Even if a person does not read the text to the end, he will understand the main message of the publication.

Add external links

Another “working” type of content is posting links to interesting and useful materials, for example, from your own blog. This will help you solve three problems at once:

• share finished content with subscribers;
• increase traffic to your blog or site;
• track the number of clicks from Facebook in Google Analytics using UTM tags added to links - and thus evaluate the activity of your subscribers. nine0107

Posting links is easy. Just paste the URL into the text field, and Facebook will automatically "pull up" the snippet - the title and cover of the material from the external resource. The link can be removed immediately so as not to clutter up the post. And write accompanying text instead.

Link post on the Ringostat page

Having a main link that Facebook will turn into a snippet will not prevent you from adding a few additional links to the post. Use a URL shortening service like Bitly to keep your links looking consistent and neat. nine0003

But we do not advise you to abuse links in the feed of your page. Dilute such publications with photos, texts or videos. Facebook's goal is to keep users within the social network for as long as possible. Algorithms do not welcome content consisting mainly of external links - because they take users to other sites. And while such posts are unlikely to disappear from the feed of subscribers, the reach of Facebook's Smart Feed may decline.

Post stories

The main advantage of Facebook Stories is that they are not part of the news feed. Stories are located higher - in the literal and figurative sense, and do not obey the main issuance algorithms. nine0003

By posting stories daily, you become visible. And you can reconnect with those subscribers who have stopped seeing your content in the news feed.

Pin a post

A pinned post is any Facebook post that stays at the top of the page and grabs the attention of every new visitor. Use this feature to keep important news or popular content from getting lost in the flood of other posts.

Upload videos

If you don't post videos on Facebook, you're just losing out on reach. Studies have shown that users consider video the most interesting type of content, and prefer it to text and photos. 500 million people watch videos on Facebook every day—they collectively spend 100 million hours watching.

A few tips.

1. Upload videos directly to Facebook - instead of a link from Youtube or Vimeo. In an effort to supplant YouTube as the leading video platform, Facebook is encouraging direct uploads. Native videos start automatically and play right in the Facebook News Feed, guaranteed to grab users' attention. nine0107
2. Attach a file with subtitles - when uploading a video or after publication. 85% of Facebook users watch videos without sound, and if its content is not clear, they scroll. Subtitles will help you interact with the user and increase the viewing time by 12%.

Livestream

You already know that images get more attention than text and videos more than pictures. So: live videos work better than all of the above combined. According to Facebook, people watch live broadcasts 3 times longer than regular videos, and comment 10 times more willingly. nine0003

Facebook Live video is a video streaming service that allows anyone to broadcast video from a computer or smartphone in real time.

Live video is a way to really interact with subscribers:

• have a direct conversation and answer questions;
• broadcast event: conference, seminar, interview with an expert;
• show the "backstage" life of the company;
• demonstrate the product; nine0107
• hold a competition or prize draw;
• much more.

Facebook seeks to increase the reach of such content: Live videos are placed at the top of the news feed, and subscribers receive notifications of the broadcast. If you schedule your broadcast ahead of time and alert your subscribers, your reach will be even higher than a spontaneous broadcast.

Subscriber Engagement

If you expect engagement from your subscribers, you need to be engaged and responsive too.

For example, HubSpot often initiates conversations and exchanges on the page by asking subscribers questions. The comments are always interesting discussions.

“You have been hired as a marketing director and tasked with doubling brand awareness. What will you start with? Source

Respond to messages quickly

Facebook Messenger is both the first touch point and long-term communication with the client. If you don't take advantage of it, you're missing out on potential buyers. nine0003

By accepting and quickly processing all messages, you can:

• keep potential buyers at the moment when they are interested in your product;
• better understand the needs and concerns of users;
• earn trust;
• get the “very actively responding to messages” badge, which means encouraging users to write to you even more often.

To achieve this result, we use our own product - Ringostat Messenger. This is an extension for the Chrome browser that helps our managers quickly respond to all messages. nine0003

As soon as users chat on the Facebook page or through the messenger widget on the site, Ringostat Messenger is instantly notified - even if the messenger is closed and the browser is minimized. And the manager can:

• quickly answer - until the user has closed the chat;
• address the interlocutor by name;
• see the source that brought the user to the page - advertising or organic issuance;
• store the entire history of communications with the client. nine0107

All calls are stored in the Ringostat message log. At any time, you can "raise" the history of correspondence. For example, to remember the essence of the conversation and clarify the agreements.

Collect feedback

Ask your loyal customers to leave a review on your Facebook page. This is important for several reasons.

1. Reviews increase your page's position in search results on Facebook and Google. nine0107
2. Positive recommendations inspire the trust of potential buyers, which means they increase sales. According to statistics, 85% of users equally trust the assessments of strangers and the personal recommendations of acquaintances.
3. Live customer stories are ready-made content. You don’t have to invent anything - just publish reviews that grateful customers leave you.

Promotion

Not everything you post on your Facebook page will end up in your followers' feeds. You may be surprised, but the approximate organic reach of public pages is only 5.2%.

Facebook's algorithms prioritize posts from friends and family. Then - publications of pages with which users interact most often. If your page doesn't boast subscriber engagement, don't count on high organic reach for your posts. nine0003 How Facebook organic search algorithms work. Source

Therefore, many brands have to use paid promotion methods. Content creation and advertising are complementary strategies.

To manage promotion on Facebook, you need Ads Manager - an advertising account. In it you can:

• create ads;
• define audiences;
• set budget;
• track promotion statistics. nine0107

Promoting a Post

There is a Promote button next to each post on the page, a way to increase the reach of a particular post.

By clicking on the button, you will see a menu with intuitive advertising campaign settings.

1. Promotion goal: site visits, messages, involvement, form filling;
2. Call button: Call, Details, Registration;
3. Audience selection . You can let Facebook identify potentially interested users on its own. Or manually set up the audience.
4. Ad placements: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger.
5. Advertising display period.
6. Budget . By moving the slider with the amount, you can see what coverage you can expect.