Think Facebook is fazed out and irrelevant for your business? Think again. Facebook is the world’s leading social media networking site, with well over 2 billion monthly users.
You’d be making a huge mistake to ignore this social and FREE media outlet for your online marketing strategy.
But we don’t necessarily mean marketing solely to make sales. We mean gaining success by gaining the trust of your customers and followers, who will then comment on, share and promote your Facebook page and business.
Just how can you garner trust in a world with fake news planted all over social media, on its largest platform?
Here are some things you can and should do to make Facebook work for your business.
How Facebook Can Help Establish Trust in Your Brand
1. Respond to your audience in a timely manner
When a user leaves a comment on your Facebook, you’ll do yourself a favor to get into the habit of responding to them.
Even if it’s just “thanks for the feedback,” doing so will leave a positive impression on users. We all feel validated and valued when someone has taken the time to respond to any message we have sent. No one likes to be left hanging. Being present and responsive is a step to earning trust with your customers.
And don’t ignore or delete negative comments! Use them as an opportunity to address the user’s concern and possibly turn a bad situation into a more positive one. You could start the response with “thank you for your interest … etc.”
Even if the user is incorrect, you can acknowledge his or her concern without agreeing with it. Just be sure not to get into an online battle.
As an added bonus — each time you respond to a user’s comment, you also create content for your Facebook page — content that search engines love. Making things right while boosting your SEO; talk about a win-win situation!
2. Post images and videos, especially live videos
Facebook users typically seek content that’s short, sweet and easy to digest, making images the perfect candidate. When compared to pure text, posts containing images have a higher chance of being “liked,” shared, or commented on.
But even stronger now than images and memes are live videos. They have surpassed other longer videos. Let’s face it: attention spans are not getting any longer. And you want to keep up with your competitors.
You might have a very helpful how-to video on YouTube, but you should also show what’s new and going on with your business to personalize your brand with a live video. You will gain trust by being relatable to your followers.
3. Get relevant followers and ask for reviews
You do want your family and friends to support your business, but if they live far away and cannot really be a regular customer, how does their “like” really help you?
You want followers who will be repeat customers and who will bring in other prospective customers.
But how do you that?
By asking for reviews from your existing customers. They not only help your SEO, but they establish trust in your brand since the overwhelming majority of consumers today read reviews before making any decisions.
4. Link your networks together
One of the first things you should do after creating a Facebook page for your business is to add your website URL in your profile. When a visitor wants to learn more about your business, they can visit your site directly through the profile link.
Again, this establishes trust from your customer. It shows you are a professional brand and authority that keeps updated and relevant information available to your customers.
In addition to linking your business’ website, you should have links to your other social media pages. Having more than just Facebook will boost your online presence.
Speaking of boost, there are ways to boost and promote your page. Check out the information here for how to do so to keep up with the competition.
Focus on providing value and trust rather than making a profit
As you may have noticed, your Facebook posts should be mostly about connecting with and building trust with your followers. You can still promote specials and events for your business about a quarter of the time. But for the most part, you want to strive to be helpful, useful, and valuable to your customers.
Need some more guidance on getting your online marketing strategy up to par? Schedule a FREE business review here to see how we can help.
