Social Media has become an amazing place to network and build a business, however it's essential that you do so in a NON-SPAMMY way.
I am going to share 2 approaches to social media marketing: Organic prospecting – which will take more time, and little-to-no money – and Paid prospecting – which will take less time, but will require you to make a financial investment.
My area of expertise is the Facebook platform – though the strategy I will discuss is applicable across all social media platforms: from LinkedIn to Instagram and beyond.
Optimize Your Facebook Business Page
First, you need a Facebook Business Page – and again this is relevant for other platforms, so whatever platform you’re focused on, ensure you have a BUSINESS presence on that platform.
Ensure that your Facebook Page is active. The last thing that you want is someone going to your FB Page only to find that it’s been months since you updated anything – they will likely assume that you’re no longer in business and move on to another expert… we don’t want that!
Keeping your Facebook Page relevant does not have to be a momentous chore. You can use a scheduling tool to prepare posts in bulk and schedule one post to drop everyday, or even 2-3 posts per week – just so you always have something there. I always get the question about whether it’s “okay” to use third party scheduling tools like buffer, hootsuite, socialbee, etc. and I will tell you that I personally use SocialBee and love them. I know some people claim lower reach/engagement – but that’s not something I have personally noticed among my clients, and I believe the benefits outweigh any risks.
Optimize your personal profile so that people who connect with you personally can easily stalk your business and learn more about who you are and what you offer.
NOTE: Facebook policy requires that you NOT run your business from your personal profile – so ensure that your business content is not taking up more than 50% of the content on your personal profile. I recommend keeping it as low as ⅓ of the content you’re sharing on your profile. You want people to know what you do – but also be able to get to know you as a person.
- Profile pic & Cover photo
- Intro – try to mix business & personality here!
- Work history – you don’t need everything, keep it relevant & current!
- Links – you can include other social profiles and websites – I prefer to include only one link – the one link I want people to visit.
- Featured image(s) – I use this to help draw attention to my link.
- Username – ensure it’s professional and/or on brand
TIP: Fill out as much as possible on your Facebook Page – the more info the better.
Now, you're ready to NETWORK.
Organic reach on Facebook Business Pages is pathetic – it’s going to be nearly impossible to grow your Page if all you’re doing is posting to your Facebook Page. So this is the real secret sauce – join Facebook Groups where your ideal clients are hanging out and start networking.
Get to know people in the Facebook group. Answer questions people have – without links or PMs – simply provide genuine information and help to other group members. Feel free to mention a little bit about your expertise so people know why they should trust you. Join in on some of the non-business conversations.
Seek out people who likely have a similar audience as you, but offer something different – so I focus on Facebook marketing and some of my best referral partners are email marketers, business coaches, copywriters, etc.
As you get to know people, ask if you can send a friend request – so you can keep in touch. Or, state something like, I sent you a friend request, hoping we can keep in touch and I’d love to learn more about you! But only do this IF you are willing to put in the work.
Once you have those new friends, interact with them on Facebook – comment on their photos, watch their lives, take a genuine interest in their life and they are likely to reciprocate. Be willing to make connections – if you know someone that your new connection would relate well to, offer to make that introduction. Maybe it’s a potential client, or a potential media opportunity (like a podcast interview).
Don’t have expectations. These strategies are likely to result in reciprocation, but don’t take it personally if it does not. This is an effective long-term strategy that will build relationships that will translate into the referrals that you need to build your business.
From personal experience, I promise you, it pays off to have strong referral partners. When someone goes into a Facebook group and asks for a Facebook expert, recommending myself is nowhere near as effective as having multiple people recommend me.
Don't Forget to Build An Email List
Facebook is a borrowed platform, whereas your email list is an owned asset. This distinction is important. Because you don't own Facebook, you lack control over how you can leverage the platform. You're bound to their terms of service, and they have the authorization to remove you and/or your assets for alleged violations of those terms. You want to ensure that your contacts don't reside purely on a borrowed platform. If Facebook disappeared tomorrow, your email list is what you would use to keep in contact with your biggest fans and clients.
Unfortunately, you can't just add people to your list – and compelling people to sign up for a “newsletter” is near impossible these days. Instead, you'll need to develop a freebie that your ideal clients would benefit from. Something valuable enough – and juicy enough – that your ideal client will provide their email address in exchange for the freebie.
Then, you need an email sequence – three to five emails – that allow your new clients to get to know you better and deliver additional value, laying the foundation for a trusting relationship. Once your email subscriber gets to know you, love you, and trust you – then they'll be ready to become a client or customer.
Of course, Facebook Marketing – like all marketing strategies – is an ongoing process of testing, analyzing, and making adjustments. You'll notice I didn't get into the types of posts you should be making, or the types of content you should be creating – this will all depend on your target audience and I recommend you test a variety of organic content, incluing videos, and then leverage the data inside of Facebook Insights so that you can do more of what's working and less of what's not.
Organic prospecting does take time and patience – but it’s very effective.
If you’re short on time, and want to simply get down to business and get some prospects in your pipeline already – then you may be ready to begin exploring Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads are a whole other beast – and honestly they're my bread and butter! When I worked at Facebook I was responsible for consulting on the ad accounts of a variety of small-medium businesses, and it's still one of my favorite things to do.
To learn more about Facebook Ads, check out some of the other content I've posted about on the blog.