Who, Why, and When
The first thing you need to know about Facebook (FB) is who uses it, why they use it, and when they are most active. If these three factors fit with your target audience, this is a great platform to add to your marketing strategy! And if you need help finding your target audience, use our worksheet and then come back to this blog.
Who
Facebook is the most used social media platform in the world with over three billion active users monthly as of the second quarter of 2023. More than 2 billion people use Facebook daily, and believe it or not, Gen Z and Millennials are among them! In fact, Millennials make up almost half of the platform’s audience with just over 49% of users being between 25 and 44 years old. And while Gen Z mostly uses YouTube and TikTok, they’re Facebook’s second largest audience at 21.5% of users. More men (56.3%) than women (43.7%) use the platform, but we would argue that Facebook is still useful if your target audience is mostly women.
Why
According to Oberlo, the top five reasons people use Facebook are:
- Message friends and family (72.4% of people)
- Post or share photos or videos (63.2%)
- Keep up to date with news and current events (58.2%)
- Look for funny or entertaining content (54.7%)
- Follow or research brands and products (53%)
Since you are probably not your target audience’s friends and family, you’ll probably want to focus on reasons 4 and 5!
When
Any social media marketing plan needs to have a strategy about when to post. The following best times to post are a great place to start, but it’s important to keep in mind that your audience may be more active at different times! Keep an eye on your analytics to learn what time is best for you and your audience.
- Monday at 8am
- Tuesday at 7am
- Wednesday at 7am
- Thursday at 8am
- Friday at 7am
- Saturday at 10am
- Sunday at 11am
Overall, the best time to post is Tuesday at 7am!
Setting Up Your Account
Both Facebook and Instagram are owned by Meta. With this in mind, it makes sense that there are three types of profiles you can create on Facebook, just like Instagram. A Profile on Facebook is for a personal user. Profiles also have an optional Professional Mode which is usually used by public figures, creators, and influencers. You most likely are going to want to create a Page with the New Pages Experience. You’ll need to create your Page through your personal Facebook profile.
Once you’ve created your Page, you’ll need to set it up. Make sure your account name is easily searchable and your profile picture is recognizable like your logo. Also make sure you fill in all of the available fields with your business’s information, because ⅔ of Facebook users visit a local business’s page at least once a week! Think of it almost like a second website. If you want to create ads on the platform you’ll also need an ads account. We won’t cover that in today’s blog since we’re focusing on organic (free) content, so click here for Facebook’s guidance!
Using Your Account
Content on your Page is managed by the Meta Business Suite. This is where you’ll find your scheduled content, your Page’s analytics, and more! It’s fairly easy to post and schedule content through here, but for help and more features check out SproutSocial’s guide to Meta Business Suite.
There are several different ways to create posts on Facebook:
Posts
These are what show up on the main feed and can be text-based or have an image or video attached to them. These are the bread and butter of the platform! Hootsuite tells us that image posts have the highest engagement rate, so more of these may be a solid strategy for your Page. Also according to Hootsuite, more than 80% of users access Facebook on their phones, so make sure to keep your content mobile friendly by avoiding small text on any content you create.
Posts with links in the caption have the lowest engagement rate of all posts on Facebook, so we recommend including your link in the first comment of your posts. Unfortunately, Meta Business Suite doesn’t allow you to include links in the first comment for scheduled posts, but many social media scheduling tools do!
Stories
Facebook Stories are vertical posts that appear in clips. They disappear after 24 hours and live at the top of a user’s feed, just like on Instagram. Also similar to Instagram, many users browse a brand’s website for more info or to purchase a product or service after seeing a Story. 58% of users browse the website, 50% visit the site to purchase, and 31% report going to a store to check out the business in person! Stories can also be watched and posted from the Facebook Messenger app, which gives your audience two opportunities to see your content with just one post. There’s not much of a strategy here that’s different from regular posts though. According to Promo, “the only key is to keep them short, sweet, and engaging and understand the content your audience likes.”
Reels
The final similarity between Facebook and Instagram is their Reels. Reels are vertical, full-screen videos that perform best when they’re shorter than 3-4 minutes. They appear in the main feed but also have their own tab where you can view them in a TikTok-style feed where you can swipe up to view the next video. 50% of time spent on Facebook is spent watching video content, more than 2 billion people watch videos each month, and vertical video with audio has a 35% higher click-through rate on the platform. No matter who your audience is, make sure you include Reels in your Facebook strategy!
Community Groups
Here’s where things get fun! Facebook Groups are an often-overlooked tool to add to your strategy. Each Group can function essentially like the main feed, but it’s more personalized for the user. Why it matters for you though is each Group is a much more targeted audience for you to access. Over 1.8 billion people use Facebook Groups every month, so this tool really is essential to add to your toolbelt. You can create your own Group for your audience to join or engage with other community Groups as your Page. Creating your own Group is a great opportunity to connect more intimately with your top customers. Posts in your Group will bypass the algorithm and get your posts in front of people who opted in to see it!
We also highly recommend fusing your social media and networking strategies through Groups! By engaging with other people’s posts you can recommend your own business but also recommend your networking partners (and they can recommend you). We count this as a promotion in our Flourish Networking groups.
Create Engagement
Strategies related to what type of content to post to encourage engagement all work for Facebook, but we love this advice from Michelle Martin, “to grow your audience and encourage people to take action, you need to actually be… y’know, social.” Plenty of companies take the social out of social media by continuously posting boring, salesy content and leaving it at that. Those are also the Pages that don’t generate much engagement. It’s still a better strategy than not ever posting on social media, but not by much! Post content your audience wants to see and they’ll likely leave a comment. Include content that deliberately encourages engagement like asking if your followers prefer coffee or tea!
Some recommendations say you need to hop on every trend out there. We see this on TikTok, mostly, but that content makes its way over to Facebook Reels eventually. We love what Jessica Yost, Strategic Marketing Consultant at Powerhouse Planning, says: “I am amazed at how many marketers feel the need to jump on trends, even if they don’t align with their company’s mission. Sure, put your own spin on the trend if it serves your audience, but always make sure every post brings value to loyal followers.” This brings light to the ultimate strategy that will keep your followers’ attention and keep them liking, commenting, and sharing: be authentic. Your fans came for what your company offers, but they’ll stay because they like how you engage with them and what kind of content your brand offers. You can still post promotional content (just make sure to follow the 80/20 rule), but it should be in the mix with plenty of non-salesy content.
General Advice
Facebook tends to be the standard we think of when anyone mentions social media, especially in the context of marketing. With that in mind, most of the general advice out there is applicable here!
- Use hashtags (aim for 2-3 and a mix of general and specific keywords)
- Engage with your followers
- Get creative with repurposing your content
- Keep an eye on your analytics
- Keep your profile information up-to-date
- Have a strategy outside FB to grow your follower count
As Facebook matures, so should your strategy. Posting content is just the beginning! With the right combination of timing, engaging posts, and smart use of features like Reels and Groups, you can harness the power of Facebook for the greater good of your business. But remember, it’s not just about content; it’s about interaction, authenticity, and knowing what your audience wants. Take the time to analyze what works, stay flexible with your approach, and, most importantly, stay social!
If you need help setting up your Facebook strategy, we’re here to help! Whether you need some advice or a full-fledged Roadmap, we’ll make sure you get started on the right foot. We’ll even help you learn if Instagram is the right platform for your business! Click here to schedule a consultation and we’ll help ease your social media worries.
