How to promote small business on Facebook ? Step by step manual

Facebook success is evident from the fact that our parents, people in 50s are using it enthusiastically and they love it. You are on Ahead with digital because you are aware about the Facebook influence and hence, you searched for “how to promote small business on Facebook”. I assure you that you are at right place.

This post is for someone who

• Is struggling to promote small business/local business/self-owned business on Facebook
• Don’t know whether to start with paid activities on Facebook or not

Before jumping to the crucial point, there are two prerequisites for How to promote small business on Facebook, one is to have a Facebook business page and if you are struggling to create one you can read this post . The second is to know the kind of audience you can target on Facebook. If you often bewilder between Instagram and Facebook like which one to choose for promotion you should read Digital Marketing for small business

I am hoping that you have set up your Facebook business page and hence, starting with the checklists on how to promote small business on Facebook.

• Essentials on Facebook page

Your audience should get an idea about your brand in one glimpse. For this, it is required to have About section updated with all the correct information like your business category, your phone number (if somebody wants to reach you for an inquiry), your address, your website link(in case you have a website). For the success on digital, it is essential to have everything on one medium to facilitate sales or your brand goals.
CTA(call to action) is very important for the page as it tells the audience what you are offering. If you sell something choose CTA as shop now, if you want an inquiry choose CTA as contact us. Other examples are shown below. Basis your goal and category, select the most relevant for your brand.

Add a rating on your Facebook page. Rating aids the decision making of your customers. Before buying or subscribing to your services, people usually go through rating and reviews. Ask your current customers to add the same on your Facebook page. When you provide great service, one is never resistant to add review on any platform. So ask for it.

• Save your audience from over promotion

Content is the king and full proof way to attract your audience. Imagine you like a page because it belongs to your friend and you keep seeing the posts where the person is selling. Your timeline is flooded with promotion, different product range etc. You will get bored right? you want to unlike the page but you stop since it’s your friend’s page. But what about others who are not your friends. They will eventually unlike it. So, it is the time to change the strategy. Build content(another word for social media posts) which is for everyone and adds value to even those who have purchased or might purchase in future. You need to have a proper social media calendar specific to Facebook for your audience. Social media calendar should have posts like

1. Narrate Stories: Tell your audience how you are creating a value in people’s lives. Narrate the journey of your customers. Show how happy are your customers. Let me give you an example, Lockdown has been a tough time for Indian women as they have no maids to help them in cleaning. They have to mop on their own and this really abhors them. If I consider a mopping company or wholesaler to take an advantage of this opportunity it would be like – A woman is so happy with ease of this mopping kit that for her the work is no longer a burden, Even children are doing it on their own. Smiles speak a lot and this works well in How to promote small business on Facebook. You are not selling here but telling people how you have helped others
   
   
2. .Share experiences in post: When you sell products or service, people often tells you about your products and share reviews. Share them on your Facebook page. Let people know what others think about you. Include the same in your communication or about us section (on website/Facebook page/ Instagram). To know what kind of communication works for an India brands during Aatm Nirbhar Bharat campaign, read this
   
   
3. Aware your audience about the news and try to relate the same with your brand: Use facts, news to share your thoughts. Promote indirectly but show audience your concern. Don’t scare them but offer support. Some examples for different Industries are shown below
   Health – Quarantine & Work from home, have communication around these topics. Talk about mental health during this time.
   Sanitizers retailers – Have communication around line how hygiene is important to combat COVID 19.
   Clothing -Good mood equals good efficiency. Talk around these lines
   Drop your category in comments, will share some ideas for you
   
   Will share one separate post on social media calendar stay tuned and subscribe to get notified 🙂
   

• Give your audience an opportunity to engage

One way communication is not just selfish but takes away the chance of building trust. So the need is to have an engagement with your audience. Engagement can be done in various forms

1. Quizzes
2. Q&A
3. Giveaways
4. Contests
5. Special days posts around your category

The story feature of Facebook allows you the better chance of engagement so use this well as a part of how to promote small business on Facebook

• Consistency is the key

As the wise people say, we cannot attain success without consistency similar thing applies to digital marketing and in promotion of small business on Facebook. Be consistent and regular. If you have limited time decide a day for posting a picture and follow the same with discipline. Let’s say you have decided a Sunday for posting then post a picture around 11am on Sunday for better engagement. Yes, time and day matters so choose basis your audience and you can experiment to find the best engagement day for you. If you have good amount of time then 3-4 posts are recommended in a week but as suggested earlier they shouldn’t be promotional but amalgamation of engagement, feedback, promotion, reviews, news, facts, latest events and others

• Don’t forget to be part of Facebook groups

One of the most important thing which I see small businesses over looking is Facebook groups. Send requests to the groups where your audience is and interact with them. Get the insights from chats and interactions with customers and improvise your product/service. There are two types of groups you can join

1. Promotional groups: These groups help you in increasing traffic, followers, likes, comments on your page. Though, it is not highly recommended as these groups are not adding value but to some extent they can help in creating customer base to entice actual audience
2. Groups which have target audience: To join such groups, you need to have permission but being a a part of such groups can help your business grow. Imagine your target audience is housewives and by luck you become a part of such group. You can interact with them, solve the issues, ask for feedback, genuinely help and create value. So, explore and be ready to help, success is just consistent steps away.

• Is it time for paid promotion?

Organic & non-paid promotion is what we do without spending money on Facebook ads or boosting our posts. Will discuss the difference between organic and Paid promotion in detail in another post. Facebook does offer precise targeting and can help in reaching to wider audience through paid promotion but stick to organic promotion till the time all the steps suggested in this post “how to promote small business on Facebook”are implemented. Once you have tried different kind of communication and strategies on Facebook and have drawn the benefits from them then you can start with paid promotion. Will share a new post on how to advertise on Facebook & how to boost a Facebook post soon. Till then, stay tuned and enjoy reading