There is no doubt that Facebook is the king of social media platforms but with the great opportunities that comes with this platform there are also great difficulties. How do you get potential customers to see your business page content?

There is no easy quick fix for this problem. In fact, even the experts struggle to deliver content to their selected markets. There are two reasons for this difficulty.

1. Facebook is an entertainment website. Users login to Facebook to connect with friends and find interesting media. They do not want to be sold to.
2. Competition is high! Most businesses now know the potential Facebook has to offer in terms of advertising so they all seek to push their products and brand on this platform.

Despite the difficulties mentioned above, there are still things you can do as a business owner to improve your success on Facebook. See below for the 6 secrets to success with Facebook business pages.

1 – Publish content every day

Understand how Facebook content is graded.

The default rule for any social media platform is consistency wins. Good content, that is of value to your target market, published consistently will always win. On Facebook, consistency involves at least one good quality post every day.

There are two reasons why this strategy works. Firstly, you have a higher chance of your audience seeing one of your updates if you are publishing content every day. Secondly, over time, you will develop a momentum of interactions from your audience. Facebook’s algorithms which determine the value and popularity of content will therefore score your content higher. This, in turn, means your content is more likely to be published to an even wider selection of your audience.

Think of it this way; Facebook does not want to flood its timeline with poor content as users will stop using the platform. So it rates content by interactions received. If you consistently receive likes, your content will be perceived as higher value and shown to more of the audience.

2 – Facebook loves videos

Understanding the value of different kinds of content.

Not only does Facebook consider the amount of interactions your content receives but it also likes different types of content. Facebook currently loves videos. This means it grades video content as high value.

Facebook sees itself as an entertainment hub. A place users go to spend time with friends and family. As such, it places emphasis on videos as these are more entertaining. You will find that if you publish a video that receives a few likes and comments your whole page will be lifted in terms of interactions and views. A good piece of content can help deliver your page to more of your audience.

Use this to your advantage by reacting to successful content with more targeted updates. For example, if you post a video and it received higher than normal likes and comments, follow up this post with something of value. The next few updates, due to the increase in likes and comments, will be seen by more of the audience. Understand this and use it to your advantage.

3 – Know When To Advertise

Good updates first then advertise.

This is the biggest mistake we see on Facebook. Big brands going into this platform and outgunning each other on advertising spend. This benefits only one person – Facebook. In essence, Facebook is an advertising agency. It is how they make all their money. This is not to say that advertising is a waste of time; on the contrary, it is essential. However, using it effectively is also important.

If you are going to advertise on Facebook make sure you optimize your success. Why bother spending all that money on pushing your content to targeted audiences if your page lacks valuable content. Always lead with a content first policy. Once you have established consistent and valuable content then boost it with targeted adverts. You will get more value for money and beat lacklustre competitors.

4 – Publish Professional Photos

The basics done right.

Photos are the foundation of Facebook. Recently Facebook has become more a video platform but its roots lie in photo sharing. Good photos still do well so do not neglect them. After videos, photos are the next piece of important content. This places them above standard text updates.

Again, if you are going to publish photos on your page, don’t hold back on quality. Pay a professional photographer to shoot the photos for you. An experienced photographer will make sure all the settings are correct on the camera and everything is optimized. Anyone can upload a photo to Facebook. It takes skill to upload a quality shot.

5 – Update Your Bio

What does your Facebook bio say about you?

The constant work involved in keeping on top of your daily social media updates can result in some factors being missed. A common part of a Facebook page that is often forgotten is the bio. Don’t skimp on time when it comes to your bio.

All it takes is one hour every three months to make sure everything is up to date. Take a minute today to examine your bio. Have you noticed that recently Facebook added a service section to business pages?

When did you last update your bio?

6 – Understand Facebook’s Future

Stay ahead of the competition and implement new strategies before anyone else.

If you wish to reach the higher echelons of Facebook marketing you need to have a vague understanding of what Facebook is most likely to become. A good place to find this information is on Facebook’s very own blog. Also, look at Mark Zuckerberg’s personal profile. Both share news about future developments.

The next big developments for Facebook are that of virtual reality and 360 videos. For more information on both topics see our previous blogs:

What you need to know about 360 videos

Virtual Reality – Future Communication

Conclusion

With a bit of time, a good plan and consistent effort you will not be disappointed as to what you can achieve on Facebook for your business. It is like any other marketing activity and can be as in-depth, complicated or as simple as you want it to be. The question is, what do you want to get out of it?