Hoping to make 2017 your best marketing year yet, but a little overwhelmed by the ever-changing social media trends?
Social media is a huge beast to tackle when it comes to marketing, but it’s not one you want to skimp on, especially when it comes to Facebook marketing.
Out of all the social media sites, Facebook is still the most widely used, and Americans spend about 40 minutes per day on the site.
Facebook’s popularity is no secret, which unfortunately means there’s a lot of competition out there when it comes to making your business stand out among the rest.
Because of this competition, you can’t just slap together any old ad and cast it out using the widest net.
In order to stay ahead of the competition, you need to be staying on top of the most effective Facebook marketing techniques and continuously create content implementing these techniques.
No clue what Facebook marketing techniques are trending in 2017? Read on to find out.
1. Facebook Live
You’re probably used to creating content that is thoroughly edited before sending it out into the world right?
Well, with Facebook Live, you have to get a little outside your comfort zone, as these videos are created in real-time.
I know, sounds a little scary.
But guess what? This real, unfiltered experience that makes people actually feel like they are right there with you is exactly what everyone is craving in the digital world.
In general, online users love videos. In fact, 90% of people say that seeing a video about a product or service is helpful in the decision process.
But what people love especially about live videos is the authenticity and transparency they bring.
In fact, Facebook itself is catching on to this trend, as the company recently paid media companies and celebrities over $50 million to produce live videos on their platform.
One great way to increase trust and engagement with live videos is to give people a “behind the curtains” look at your business or product.
For example, you could do a live video of a product being made in your factory, a tour of your offices, or an introduction of your staff.
2. Facebook Chatbots
While people love the feel good aspect live videos bring, don’t forget that in this technological age people also still love keeping to themselves.
In terms of Facebook marketing techniques, this is where chatbots come in.
Chatbots are a type of artificial intelligence that can have a conversation with someone via Facebook messenger. They have the ability to help people complete transactions, consume content, and quickly respond to people’s comments or questions regarding a product or service.
Due to their brevity and efficiency, people are really starting to dig chatbots. In fact, one-third of people already prefer social media over a phone call for customer support.
Big name companies like Uber, Pizza Hut, and Bank of America are already using chatbots to help their customers.
According to Forbes, “Chatbots will be your new best friend,” as they are a great way to help users access all sorts of services via messaging apps.
3. Facebook Lead Ads
All this interaction via Facebook seems pretty cool, but none of it’s going to be very useful if these interested audience members don’t eventually convert into dedicated buyers.
Unfortunately, not all people who interact with your brand on Facebook are interested in becoming your regular customers.
Luckily, though, with lead ads, you can tell who is really interested in picking up what you’re putting down.
This is because lead ads involve people giving you their contact information. And contact information is gold, as it opens the communication line for a long and lasting relationship.
Facebook lead ads let you include a contact form right on the ad. This is super helpful, as being sent to a different platform can be sort of annoying, especially if you are on a mobile device- and as it turns out, 90% of users are.
You can also add customized questions to these lead ads in order to help categorize the customer and serve them accordingly.
Even better, you don’t have to keep these lead ads contained to just Facebook. You also have the option to download or connect your lead ads to your CRM or email marketing platform.
4. Saved Audiences
Want to make sure the awesome ads you are creating are reaching your intended target market?
With Facebook Business Manager, you can.
Facebook Business Manager allows you to create custom audiences based on set parameters. You can set these parameters based on age, gender, location, interests and connections.
This enables you to easily create multiple ads, each targeted at specific groups of people.
For example, let’s say you are selling a protein shake formula. You can create one ad that’s intended for young male bodybuilders and create another ad that’s intended for new moms trying to lose weight.
Using the business manager tool (which is 100% free, by the way) you can make sure each of these ads reaches your intended target audience.
5. Social Messaging
If you are just utilizing Facebook for your marketing and not Facebook messenger, you are missing out.
As it turns out, messenger apps (Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, Viber) have a much bigger community of users than the big social networks sites do.
What does this mean for your facebook marketing techniques?
As it turns out, people, especially millennials, love the personal connection and transparency that one on one communication provides. In fact, 62 percent of millennials are more loyal to brands that keep in touch with them via messaging platform.
You can set up your ad so that when users click on it, it takes them directly to the chat window of your brand.
Just make sure to keep responding in a timely manner, as there is evidence that Facebook is calculating response time into their algorithm. Not to mention, your response time will be live on your page, allowing customers to see how quickly you interact with them.
The Beef
Hopefully, this article has helped you get a better picture of what’s hot in 2017 for Facebook marketing techniques.
Clearly, it is no longer enough to slap up any old ad or create a quick Facebook page for your business. If you want to stand out amongst the competition, you need to be doing a lot more.
A little overwhelmed about all there is to do? Drop us a message so we can discuss what you need to hit the ground running with Facebook marketing in 2021.
