Do you spend a lot of time trying to grow your thought leadership on Facebook but see no results?
Are you about to completely give up Facebook marketing?
Facebook marketing is no longer the traffic-generating machine it used to be in the early-2000s. Many different changes to Facebook algorithm resulted in a dramatical drop in reach for Facebook business pages.
However, Facebook Marketing is still a powerful thought leadership and influence building strategy.
I wanted to share 3 Facebook Marketing strategies we use to maximize our social media reach and engagement.
Facebook Marketing Strategy # 1 – Share thought leadership on personal page
Your personal Facebook page is an excellent platform to shape your audience’s perception of your thought leadership brand.
The secret to successful marketing strategy on the personal page is deciding on a story line you want to tell. Your goal is telling your story in an enticing and interesting way.
Your story line must be authentic. Your followers will immediately notice if it is fake. Start by exploring your “Internal Why” to understand your motivation and drivers.
Once you have a clear picture of your direction, choose a combination of professional and personal topics (after all, it is your personal page, make sure to include personal stuff). I recommend 3 professional topics and 1-2 personal topic to start with.
Map your interests to your thought leadership focus
If you would like to be known as a marketing technology guru, start writing about tools and technologies as well as relevant industry trends.
Talk about ways you grow your business using tools, share experiments, include successes and failures related to your experiments.
If you attend a tech event, discuss meeting CEOs of the latest marketing technology company and how excited you are to try their new software.
Add a few personal facts.
[bctt tweet=”Social Media is about YOU: always integrate personal facts into your content. ” username=”tredigital”]
For example, if you are a mom business owner, refer to yourself as a Mompreneur – This will immediately create a connection with other moms in business. In your social media posts highlight strategies on flexible work approach. Talk about growing your business between playdates and picking up kids from school.
Instead of sharing your latest trip to Teavana, tell your friends how a wonderful cup of tea motivated you to explore new marketing technologies.
When you share your personal hobbies, make sure these support of your main thought leadership focus. Stay positive and resist the temptation to complain.
Organize your content
Once you have planned your list of topics, you are ready to share posts, images, quotes, events.
In addition to creating the right mix of personal and professional posts, your goal is to stay organized and consistent with posting your content.
There are many tools for managing your social media calendar. Keep it simple by integrating your social media process with marketing you already do.
After testing many content management tools, I chose to keep a list of blog post ideas in Trello.
I use Trello for many tasks as helps me to stay focused and accountable. Therefore, it was a logical choice for social media content planning.
When I plan my social media posts for the week, I align these to the blogs I am planning to write next month.
Consistency is more important than frequency.
Choose the frequency of posts that you can maintain for a long time. One post per day is typically sufficient for Facebook, but you can do it every other day or 3 times a week. Use Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule a week worth of social media posts at once.
[bctt tweet=”Repetition creates perception: Shape how your brand is perceived via social media ” username=”tredigital”]
You will be surprised how many people who never engage with your posts are actually “stalking” you on social media.
Facebook Marketing Strategy #2 – Livestream on Facebook
Livestreaming on Facebook is still fairly new, however, it is quickly winning the battle with other platforms.
With Blab closing its doors Facebook became the most logical choice for many Livestream early adopters.
Many innovations happening in the Facebook Livestream space are also driving adoption. It just became more attractive to marketers and thought leaders by allowing two people to broadcast at the same time.
Video is an excellent option for building your personal brand.
Many people are still uncomfortable using video, therefore, it is a prime opportunity for you to build your own platform before masses jump in. Video is here for the long haul, so it is time to embrace it.
[bctt tweet=”With so many camera-shy people, Facebook Livestream space is yours to seize. ” username=”tredigital”]
However, if you choose to do Facebook Livestream, do it right.
While Facebook is encouraging you to be “in the moment” with your updates, this is not the reason to forget about strategy.
Think about the parts of your overall story and identify which parts of it can be used as a primer for your regular Livestream series.
Your Livestream from your car may feel more authentic but it will be more effective if it is aligned with your thought leadership topics.
Start slow with other topic and increase your Livestream frequency overtime. Develop a predictable rhythm for your Lifestream activities. Integrate your personality into it.
Facebook Marketing Strategy #3 – Drive traffic via targeted ads
The true power of Facebook is in knowing everything about us. It is helpful to you as you can target your ideal customers at a very granular level.
Facebook ads are not right for everyone.
[bctt tweet=”Facebook ads are not for everyone. Do you homework before investing into them.” username=”tredigital”]
As a thought leader, you are likely creating a lot of new content. Facebook ads can serve as an additional channel of driving highly targeted traffic to your content pages and your lead magnets.
Facebook News Feed Ads
Many business owners choose to boost their Facebook posts or pay for promoted posts. These are easy to create and manage and therefore, they entice many thought leaders.
I have not found them effective at all. In fact, after your boost runs out, you will find your Facebook traffic and engagement going down.
When you plan your Facebook ads, think of these in a marketing funnel context.
[bctt tweet=”When you plan Facebook ad campaign always keep marketing funnel in mind” username=”tredigital”]
Help your Facebook audience learn more about you as they progress down different parts of your funnel.
Your Ad copy: include a visually stunning image and an enticing message. You can create simple yet effective images with free tools like Canva.
Your Call to Action: Integrate a clear Call to Action. Facebook audience is not in the shopping stage. Your call to action will need to add value vs. selling. Sending them to a buy-now page may not be the right choice.
Your Landing Page: Pay special attention to the landing page. Your landing page message must match your ad otherwise you will waste time and money. Landing pages with lots of social proof and client testimonials work great.
If you are not a tech wiz, consider using existing technology to create landing pages. LeadPages is one of our favorites.
Facebook Custom Audience Targeting
If you abide by Rule # 1 of online marketing, you are already collecting email addresses.
[bctt tweet=”Rule # 1 of online marketing: Build your email list. ” username=”tredigital”]
Your email list does not have to be huge. As long as you have at least 20 people on your email list, you can start a Facebook Custom Audience campaign.
Since people who opted into your content already have a prior connection with you, they may be ready to buy. You can adjust your funnel and call to actions accordingly to engage with this audience.
Also experiment with “Look Alike” targeting to find more people who are just like your customers.
CONCLUSION:
While Facebook business page reach is decreasing, it is still too early to eliminate Facebook Marketing from your list of effective strategies.
By following these three simple Facebook Thought Leadership strategies, you will grow your online influence and reach. To further discuss your thought leadership plan, set up a FREE introductory call today.
