Yes, advertising is key! No one will just find you, like a book in a big library. Someone has to show people where it is. Facebook advertising is one of the ways you can sell your product and/or services.
There are two types of social media advertising: free and paid.
Free Adverting
Free adverting is when others do the advertising for you. Remember, your Facebook Page is filled with an audience that loves what you do. They are there because they like the work that you do, and love your product/services. It has taken time to grow this audience.
But, when you post something on your Page, only between zero and 2% of the people who have ‘liked’ your Page will see your post. And even fewer will engage (with a like, comment, or share).
To get more people to see your Page and your posts, you need to create content on the Page that people want to comment on and share with their friends, and into Facebook groups. The more likes, comments, and shares you get on a post, the more will people see your content.
Broadcasting
A Facebook Page is not effective when you only broadcast content. It is called SOCIAL media for a reason. You need to be social. Ask questions, reply to all comments, respond to messages in your inbox, and encourage your audience to engage with you. Get them involved.
If you haven’t been doing this, it will take a while to get your Page ‘warmed up’ so that more people see your content. Persevere.
Facebook is not just about broadcasting, it’s about being SOCIAL!
Paid Advertising
The reason I don’t like Facebook is that it costs a lot of money to reach people. If you have tens of thousands of dollars, it’s brilliant. You can pump money into paid advertising and reach tens and hundreds of thousands of people.
The best way to do paid Facebook advertising is to put money in daily for an extended period of time – so, $5 – $100 per day for 30 – 90 days. And, Facebook has changed so much that I no longer use paid advertising. It’s complicated and not very user-friendly.
One Page
Dawn A Denton Facebook Page (not my personal profile) is my personal brand. The Page is about everything I do, enjoy and sell – training, workshops, my blogs (and those by others), thoughts, my books, events, speaking gigs, and sharing other people’s content. It’s all there because the Page is about ME, not just one of the products I sell.
If I had a Page for every product, every book, that would dilute the message. And it would make a lot more work for me, which is time I don’t have. I would rather spend my time doing what I love, than trying to grow another audience on Facebook.
For me, Facebook is just by-the-by and not my focus, because it seldom gets anything sold.
Suggestions
1. Look at what I am doing on my Dawn A Denton Page
2. Start posting on your Page about your website. products and services. But make the posts personal: “I am starting a new venture, please have a look at my new website and let me know what you think.”
3. Post one of your favourite images and ask your community for a title. What does that picture inspire in them? Get them engaging with your post as you would like them to engage with your products from your website.
4. Your Facebook page is about YOU and what YOU do. I have blogged for 20 years and am now teaching people to blog – it’s not on a different Page, it’s on the same page. Those who enjoyed my blogs may want to learn how to blog themselves.
Facebook is only ONE of many routes to marketing.
Ideas
- Email every friend you have who may be interested in your product or services. Send everyone in your email contact list a link to ask them to share it with others they think will enjoy it.
- Find bloggers in your niche and ask them to write about it. They may charge, but sometimes they will do it simply for the traffic and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Find opportunities to guest blog on someone else’s website with the link to your resources.
- Get a piece in the local paper or magazine
- Add the link to your products/services to the back of all your books.
- See if there are conferences in your niche where you can network and share what you do.
- Offer to speak in schools about your journey or career.
- Attend local business networking events.
- Use your email list with your products and services, Invite them to have a look and share it with their audience. Email is still the most powerful marketing tool with a much higher conversion rate than Facebook (unless you have a lot of money).
Reminder
Facebook advertising is not the only way to get your products or services in front of your audience. But, it can be a free tool to grow an audience, and these people you can drive to your email list.
A friend, Hayley Joy Shop goes live on Facebook once/twice a week and talks about all sorts of things – not just her products and services. Her community loves it and she often sells products while they are on the live broadcast with her. But this also takes a lot of work, which is now paying off.
