When you think online social media, it’s natural that Facebook pops into your mind first. It’s the behemoth in the industry. Their statistics can quickly overwhelm you. (And excite you.)
- Worldwide, there are over 2 billion monthly active Facebook users
- There are 1.15 billion mobile daily active users
- On average, the Like and Share buttons are viewed across 10 million websites daily
- Five new profiles are created every second
- Photo uploads total 300 million per day
- On Thursdays and Fridays, engagement is 18 percent higher
Still think you can ignore Facebook?
But for many businesses, Facebook marketing is like a foreign language. Sure, you know Facebook is there. But how in the world do you navigate it to reach out to prospects and clients? Should you? Could you? How?
Lots of questions. Luckily, we have lots of answers.
Digital ads work. People spend hours online every day, and up to 30 percent of it is allocated to social media interaction.
Facebook has the most detailed demographic data available, meaning you can define your ideal target client in as much depth as possible. Your ads can be as specific as you want them to be.
If you understand your customers and what makes them tick, they’ll reward you with sales. Lots and lots of sales.
Like everything online, Facebook changes quickly. What worked yesterday might not work today. Facebook is continually working to improve their algorithms to make the user experience more user-friendly. That means giving their users what they want most.
If you are using old and outdated information (like a DIY Facebook training video from last year) you may actually be doing your Facebook marketing plan more harm than good. 2018 is a new year. And that means Facebook marketing trends are changing right along with it.
It’s A Visual World With Video
When was the last time you checked your Facebook feed? Did you notice the videos? In 2017, video became the king of content. And while the way video was viewed and displayed may have morphed over the past few months, the concept of using video on Facebook hasn’t gone away.
Mark Zuckerberg pushes what works. And when he sees that people watch an average of 100 million hours of video on his site every day, he’s going to make video more user-friendly. Easier use. Easier to consume. In fact, he continues to say that videos get far more organic reach than a mere photograph – up to 135 percent more reach.
Can you ignore that fact?
If you haven’t moved to video, now may be the time.
Going Live
The next step in giving your customers a visual experience is to move from video to a live experience. Facebook rolled out Facebook Live in 2016, and it’s been growing strong ever since. Facebook states that Live engagement is as much as 178 percent higher than the average post engagement. And the average reach of a Live post has almost doubled.
Facebook Live obviously isn’t for every business. But many businesses can benefit from a live experience. And if you haven’t thought much about it before, now may be the time. Are there ways you can utilize Live into your business marketing model? Q&A sessions? A live tour of your facilities? A live broadcast of a training session or demo? Live gives a more organic feel online, as well as allows real-time interactions between you the marketer and your prospects and clients. It gives you a new way to reach out to the people that are looking to spend money with you.
Dig Deeper
Why Your Business Needs Social Customer Relationship Management
Social Media Post Timing – How Much Is Too Much?
Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality
AR/VR stands for augmented reality and virtual reality. Augmented reality is a technology that gives you a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input from sound, video, graphics, etc. Virtual reality is an immersive multimedia computer-simulated reality that replicates an environment that simulates a physical presence in a real or imagined world, allowing the user to interact in that world. Zuckerberg has made it no secret of his interest in both of these technologies by talking in depth about Facebook’s Camera Effects Platform and Spaces.
While these may still be in their infancy, like anything, technology moves fast. Tech savvy business owners know that to reach out to tomorrow’s consumers, they’ll have to think outside the box. And that means thinking like their customers today and figuring out what they want. A flat, one dimensional ad? How boring. Not when you can use real-time visuals, 3D effects, or create an imagined space where you can connect with your prospects and customers in an entirely new way.
You know how Facebook recognizes faces when you upload an image to the platform? What if it recognized everything: locations, objects, virtually anything? How could your brand benefit by becoming a part of a virtual world?
Just Talk With Your Customers
Feeling a little overwhelmed? Don’t worry; we know how confusing all of this new technology can be. Don’t feel you have to jump into a virtual world to kick your marketing into gear. Sometimes it’s staying simple and perfecting the things that really matter.
Like honing in on who your customer is and what they want. Or talking to them when they feel lost in a sea of overwhelm.
According to Facebook, over 100,000 monthly active bots on their Messenger program provide instant connections between businesses and their customers. If customer service is important to you, a chatbot may be the perfect feature to drive sales. It can address basic queries and issues, or automate interaction to drive sales.
Chatbots are meant to feel personal. They’re meant to be an initial connection between you and the people viewing your contact. This technology won’t be perfect, but using it now can help you move to the next frontier.
Stay simple. Stay focused. And ask for help along the way. One thing is for certain: Facebook will continue to change every day. By starting now, you can take advantage of one of the largest platforms online and some of the most phenomenal demographics in the history of marketing.
