Expert Insights On Using Facebook to Grow Your Brand and Your Business

Social media trends may come and go, but Facebook’s dominance as the largest social network remains a constant. The platform’s massive active user base, high daily engagement, and diverse products and experiences have made Facebook an indispensable marketing tool for businesses of any size. Here are a few tips to navigate Facebook for local businesses.

One of the biggest draws to Facebook—especially among local businesses—is the low investment required to build and grow a presence on this social platform. Business pages are free to create, and organic reach can be generated by following the recommended best practices of posting, commenting, and engaging with your brand’s target audience.

But building and maintaining a successful Facebook business page is easier said than done. As the platform evolves and introduces new products, the recommendations for an optimized Facebook presence are constantly changing.

To help small businesses stay current on their Facebook marketing strategy, we’ve put together some of our own expert tips to help you drive better results and increase the ROI of your Facebook business page.

Post When Your Audience is Active

Facebook doesn’t show every post or video your business makes to every single one of your followers. But when you publish well-timed, engaging content that generates a response from your audience, it can persuade the platform to share your content among a larger audience.

The timing of your activity is one of the easiest variables to control. For most businesses, Facebook followers are most active and engaged during working hours on the weekdays. For even better engagement, try targeting your posts to the morning hours between 8 AM and 1 PM.

There may be times when you can’t afford to wait for these optimal windows to arrive—especially if you’re sharing time-sensitive information about sudden closures, product availability, or other updates you want to spread the word on quickly. For the most part, though, try to focus your activity during peak periods of audience activity—it could lead to better engagement and organic audience growth.

Experiment With Short-Form Video

Short-form video found its footing on other platforms like TikTok, but Facebook has jumped on the bandwagon with its Stories and Reels products.

According to a survey of marketers by HubSpot, short-form video now ranks as the #1 marketing channel in terms of ROI. Local businesses should be testing out different types of short-form video, as well as video products like Reels and Stories, to identify the strategies and channels that best support their marketing goals.

This video experimentation should also take place alongside in-feed video and in-stream mobile video—especially if your business has already found success with these formats. By diversifying and testing new approaches, you can reach a wider audience, compare performance metrics across different video formats, and figure out which products drive the best results for your business.

Incentivize Facebook Reviews From Satisfied Customers

Online reviews are key to building consumer trust regardless of the platform where they’re published. But because Facebook business pages receive so much traffic from consumers researching local businesses, a strong rating from Facebook reviews can be a great asset for your business.

Facebook’s platform allows for businesses to offer incentives to customers in exchange for reviews, so your business may want to consider offering a one-time discount or other promotion in exchange for a customer reviewing your business.

Satisfied customers will be eager to capture a savings opportunity in exchange for their two cents, and the exchange will help build up your brand’s online reputation while generating repeat purchase opportunities among your existing customers.

Build Brand Authenticity Through Meaningful Interactions

Authenticity is the gateway to building trust with your customer base. It’s also a key ingredient to creating social content that fosters engagement with your target audience.

How do you build that sense of authenticity into your Facebook presence? We recommend focusing on content and interactions built around the following four categories:

• Acts of Care: Business-sponsored volunteer efforts, charitable initiatives and other acts of service can demonstrate your brand’s investment in your local community.
• Community Leadership: Educational content, expert guidance, and access to valuable resources can help local businesses build authenticity by using their visibility and expertise to provide valuable information and support for local community members. A local HVAC company, for example, can share videos on how to troubleshoot common problems with home air conditioners—and encourage the viewer to schedule an appointment if those tips don’t solve the problem.
• Inspirational Stories: Features highlighting inspiring stories connected to your business, such as experiences shared by employees or customers, can spark heart-warming and motivational connection with your audience.
• Fostering Connection: This can be achieved by hosting in-person or virtual events, participating in community conversations, holding live Facebook Q&As, and publicizing partnerships with other businesses and organizations.

As the best practices for building a brand on Facebook change, businesses can stay ahead of the curve by partnering with a small business marketing consultant to plan, manage, and optimize their Facebook presence.

Cox Media’s experts can help you with every phase of curating a Facebook presence for your brand, including your messaging, content creation, and organic and paid engagement strategies. We make sure your social accounts are optimized for success while small business leaders can focus on running other parts of the business.

Getting started on Facebook for your local business? Check out this webinar for all the basics.

Contact us today to learn more about Cox Media’s social media services.