How to Build a Facebook Marketing Plan for Small Businesses

Facebook is a popular platform for adults of all ages, making it the perfect place to market your small business.

While the platform is filled with paid ads, that’s not the only way to get noticed by potential customers. 

To execute a successful digital marketing strategy, first, you must develop a plan. Here are the 4 most important steps you need to take when building a Facebook marketing plan. 

1. Set Goals

Using Facebook for business starts with setting goals. However, choose your goals carefully. While you should already have big objectives in mind, like increasing brand awareness or sales, you also need smaller goals. 

Your goals should be SMART and targeted to your specific audience.

You can break down goals into two categories; macro and micro-goals. The goals mentioned above are macro goals, while the actions you take to reach them are micro-goals.

2. Develop a Strategy

This part of the planning process involves setting specific, measurable milestones. Here, you’ll need to determine the KPIs (key performance indicators) and metrics you’ll track to reach them.

Here’s an example: Let’s say your big goal is to increase sales on your website. The strategy you build to reach this goal will implement tactics like using display ads or increasing the videos on your page to inform your audience.

Then, you’ll want to set KPIs like more landing page conversions or email sign-ups. The metrics you measure (e.g. demographics, bounce rates, traffic) will tell you how close you are to achieving these KPIs. From there, you can adjust goals and campaign strategies that aren’t effective.

3. Conduct Research

Research is an integral part of the process because it ensures your efforts are meaningful and reach your predetermined audience. Part of this is keyword research, competitor analysis, and finding optimal posting times.

Finding out which keywords your competitor is using and which keywords are relevant to your industry can show you what to include in both content and ads. Meanwhile, effective social media marketing relies on posting your content at the right time to get in front of the right people.

4. Develop Quality Content

When you’re ready to put your marketing plan into motion, you must consider the quality of the content you’ll be producing. It seems more cost-efficient to stick to promotional posts and paid ads. However, creating content that’s informational and educational is much more engaging for potential customers. 

Hayes Barnard, CEO, Chairman, and Co-founder of Loanpal, demonstrates this well on the Loanpal Facebook page. The content has a great mix of promotional and informational posts, while the videos and text are to the point and engaging.

If you are going the paid ad route, ensure your ads always include a call-to-action and relevant keywords. These are some of the best ways to make sure your ads show up in front of the right people and lead to conversions.

Building Your Facebook Marketing Plan

Building a Facebook marketing plan for your small business doesn’t have to be intimidating. Start small and stick to your goals. 

Keeping things in order and following a strategic plan when marketing with Facebook can make the process more manageable.

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