Have you ever heard the saying ‘it’s not what you do it’s how you do it? You could apply this saying to market your small business on Facebook.
Facebook still has nearly three billion monthly active users and is used by one-third of the world’s population on a monthly basis. It has over a billion active monthly users on its marketplace. There are 250 million Facebook shops in the world. The platform is used by over 90 million small businesses worldwide.
With so many big brands established on Facebook, it’s easy to think it wouldn’t be worth setting up your own Facebook ad account. After all, you’re just a tiny tadpole in a very big pond, aren’t you? Why compete with the big fish when there is clearly such a difference in size?
It’s not just big businesses that have a brand to promote
Any type of business can succeed on Facebook, whether it is a local tea shop, an eCommerce store, a beauty salon, or a landscaping company. You can be successful on Facebook if your customers are on the platform.
“More than 200 million businesses use our apps every month to create virtual storefronts and reach customers,” Meta said. “Millions have used our tools to help them make the transition online since the start of the pandemic. Whatever challenges and opportunities they will face in 2022 and beyond, Meta will continue to do all we can to help them find success online.”
The one thing many small businesses are missing is proper branding. Sure you have a business name and a logo. But this isn’t your brand. Many big businesses have done wonders in establishing their brand on social networking sites, and they’ve done it in some innovative and inspiring ways. Who is to say you couldn’t do the exact same thing?
Size is not relevant to successful branding. A small business may not be a household name all over the world, but it can become well known in its own circles. For example, Molly’s Bakery in your hometown may elicit nothing but puzzled expressions in other towns, cities, and countries, but in your hometown, it’s possible for everyone to know about it.
You can make the same impression with your own business – you just have to have the right focus and goal. Remember, you’re not trying to compete with the big brands you’re just trying to compete in your own corner of the marketplace. And Facebook is a great tool for doing just that.
So how can you impress your target audience?
If companies similar to yours have a huge following and receive a lot of audience engagement on Facebook through likes and comments, it’s likely that your intended audience is on Facebook as well. After all, the customers of your competitors are potential customers for you as well! All you have to do now is start posting.
Firstly make it easy for people to find you. Too many small businesses make the mistake of getting a page on Facebook and then sitting back and waiting for people to come and find them. If you’re going to take this approach you may as well not worry.
Get out there and connect with people as much as you can. Think about how your business interacts with its customers. Do you have a physical shop? Do you sell online and send compliment slips with orders? However you interact with people, make sure your Facebook page URL is highlighted so people know where to find you.
Updating your page on a regular basis is the backbone of any good Facebook small business page. But you have to go further than this. Provide links to special offers, additional facts, and useful information. In other words, give people reasons to want to come back all the time. They’ll be more likely to ‘like’ you and more likely to be inspired by your content and your business too. Remember your Facebook page should be an extension of your business – a representation of it if you will – and not just something added on for fun.
So don’t feel overwhelmed by the big businesses. Ignore them and play on your own level playing field instead. You’ll be surprised at the results.