Social Media Marketing for Facebook 101

Published: Aug 31, 2023
8 min. read
Abbey Stephan

Lead Editor
Abbey is a digital marketer, copywriter, and lead editor. She has worked on over 200 client campaigns and WebFX, and she specializes in marketing strategy analysis and industry-specific digital marketing plans. Outside of writing and editing, you’ll likely find her taking pictures of her cat, making a new playlist, or tending to her houseplants.

If you own a business, you need new and exciting ways to reach your target customers online. With so many opportunities for getting qualified customers, how do you know what strategies work best?

Facebook has over 2 billion active users, so it’s a huge mistake not to have social media marketing on Facebook as one of your top strategies. You can reach your target customers with your social media content and use tools like Facebook ads to find qualified leads.

This page will discuss how you can use social media marketing on Facebook to increase your site traffic, improve conversions, and become closer to your target audience. Here are the 10 strategies we recommend to get the most out of social media marketing:

Set concrete goals upfront
Create buyer personas
Solidify your brand
Look into Facebook ads
Post content that your target audience cares about
Share content to your stories
Choose the right cover photo
Use a social media scheduling tool
Track your data
Interact with your customers

Let’s get started!

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1. Set concrete goals upfront

If you want your Facebook social media marketing strategy to succeed, setting concrete goals upfront is essential. Calling this your first step is a great way to ensure that you’re thinking about your campaign’s lifetime — where you currently are and where you want to be.

When you keep the end in mind, you’ll envision the steps you need to take and craft the most effective social campaign. When you determine your goals, you’ll want to look at your business model, and where you need to fill the gaps.

For example, if you’re not getting enough site traffic, you’ll want to focus on Facebook marketing strategies that attract more users to your website. If your company lacks sales, Facebook ads might be the perfect option for you.

Regardless of your end goal, it should go together with your overall business needs.

2. Create buyer personas

Knowing your audience is one of the most significant parts of the equation. After all, they’re the ones visiting your website and purchasing your products. Your job is to appeal to them via your Facebook page, and you can do so in several ways — but the first step is to get to know them.

Creating a buyer persona will outline the most critical demographics of your target customer. This persona can help you understand who is most likely to purchase from your company. These personas can include:

Age
Occupation
Gender
Education
Family size
Relationship status

Facebook targeting options are nearly endless, so be as specific as possible when coming up with your target personas. And yes, you can have more than one!

This step will be especially effective if you choose to use Facebook ads, although it’s also crucial for timeline posts.

3. Solidify your brand

This point might sound like a no-brainer, but to market your business on social media platforms like Facebook successfully, you must know your brand. Before you start posting online, determine your company’s style, tone, and overall feeling.

Upfront, it’s vital to decide if you plan to be serious, informative, humorous, or quirky with your account — and then stick with that. It makes it harder for users to get to know you if you post a funny ad, but you’re usually serious and informational with your timeline posts.

You’ll want the same style and tone across your content, graphics, calls-to-action, and link captions. When all these marketing elements are cohesive, it makes it easier for users to connect and stay loyal to your brand.

Read: What Are Brand Guidelines?

4. Look into Facebook Ads

Facebook ads can target users based on age, location, previous online behavior, and more. If you have specific business goals like more conversions, Facebook ads are an excellent opportunity to increase that number.

Ads can be highly effective if you target the correct audience, and they’ll cost you next to nothing. Ads on Facebook work as an auction system, and you can set a daily cap for how much you’d like to spend.

Here is an example ad from a Facebook Timeline:

You can use many kinds of Facebook ads, including photos, video, carousel, dynamic ads, and so on. Each ad type has its benefits, and you can have fun testing each!

5. Post content that your target audience cares about

Besides ads, you have the option to post content on your timeline. This content is significant to your brand, as it sets the tone for your business, your style, and what value you bring to your customers.

There are many options for what kind of content you post, and each has its purpose.

Links to your website:If you have a company blog or want to share a link to your newest project, Facebook is a great place to do so. Not only can it increase site traffic, but it can help users feel closer to your brand.
Videos:Video content is an excellent option for Facebook posts. They’re one of the best options since they get at least 59% more engagement than any other post type.
Photos:The options are endless when it comes to photo posts — you can post pictures of your facility, your employees, products, and services, and even events that you’ve hosted.

You should post a variety of content and keep tabs on what performs best on your page. Although video is known to get tons of interaction, every industry is different, and you should always keep an eye on what’s working best for your business.

If you want to ensure your posts are as effective as possible, try testing different kinds of photos, videos, and links. For example, images of your products and services may earn more engagement than pictures of your facility.

6. Share content to your stories

Content is more than just what you post to your timeline. Facebook Stories are a newer feature that let you share photos and videos to your followers.

Using Facebook Stories can help you capture more attention and post quick updates without crowding users’ timelines. You can use stories for a wide range of purposes, including polls, updates, directions, and more:

Since stories disappear after 24 hours, they are a great way to post content without it clogging up your feed. Stories can help with your brand awareness and keep you active across the platform.

7. Choose the right cover photo

Your cover photo is the photo on your profile that serves as a header image:

cover photo example

This photo should capture your brand’s vision overall and entice users when they arrive at your profile. You can include important contact information, like your phone number, or use it to show off your products and services.

Your cover photo is a visual tool to grab users’ attention — use it to your advantage to get more results from your Facebook profile.

8. Use a social media scheduling tool

Not everyone has the time to sit around manually posting on social media. That’s where a social media scheduling tool can come in handy.

Some examples of tools include:

A scheduling tool lets you create posts days, weeks, or even months in advance and make sure they go out on time. If you have a campaign coming up, you can knock out all your posts beforehand and save time posting them when it’s time.

9. Track your data

To have an effective campaign, you must set goals and track the right metrics. As you monitor your Facebook marketing, you can see what changes are working and which need revised.

Facebook lets you track certain metrics with your business account, like:

Engagement
Reach
Impressions
Page likes and followers

These Facebook metrics will help you see how your campaign performs and adjust where necessary.

10. Interact with your customers

Finally, our last step to social media marketing on Facebook is interacting with your customers. When people comment on your posts, you should reach out, especially if you get negative feedback:

mcdonalds screenshot

Facebook’s comments and messages are one way you get to interact with your audience directly. Be sure to use this to your advantage, build brand awareness, and show them you care about their feedback.

74% of people use social media when making a purchasing decision.

Make their decision easy with a stellar social media presence. See how your brand can level up by requesting a no-obligation proposal today.

One of our experts will be in touch within 24 hours!

WebFX knows social media marketing for Facebook

If you want to give your Facebook marketing the best chance at succeeding, working with a social media agency is your best option. At WebFX, we know how to create Facebook marketing campaigns that drive results.

We have 28 helping clients use digital marketing and social media tools to earn more clicks, conversions, and revenue. Our social media experts will create, launch, and track Facebook campaigns without adding any work to your team.

Abbey is a digital marketer, copywriter, and lead editor. She has worked on over 200 client campaigns and WebFX, and she specializes in marketing strategy analysis and industry-specific digital marketing plans. Outside of writing and editing, you’ll likely find her taking pictures of her cat, making a new playlist, or tending to her houseplants.
WebFX is a full-service marketing agency with 1,100+ client reviews and a 4.9-star rating on Clutch! Find out how our expert team and revenue-accelerating tech can drive results for you! Learn more