Facebook Marketing in 2014

Facebook has easily retained its title as the leader in social networking. With a billion active users, a recent major overhaul and plenty of advancements planned for the coming year, not even the likes of Twitter, Pinterest or Google+ could knock the Zuckerberg juggernaut from its lofty perch. This means that, as a brand, small business or marketing manager; if you’re not on Facebook, you need to be. Whether you are upgrading your current Facebook strategy or starting anew in 2014, here is how to get ahead on everyone’s favorite social network, Facebook.

Not Just Fans. Targeted Fans.

Effective Facebook marketing in 2014 requires you to gather as many targeted fans as you can find and entice to Like your page. Become helpful to those people who seem to be interested in your subject matter or similar types of products and services that your company offers. Speak their language and share their posts. Offer advice when you can and engage in conversation to woo potential fans, visitors and customers your way. Don’t just stop there, however. For even better results and for proper Facebook marketing that will help you truly ramp up your results as we head into the middle of the year, engage with fans of your fans. The more targeted your fan base, the more effective marketing on Facebook will be.

Proper Facebook Marketing Engagement

If you are just starting out with Facebook marketing, start out by promoting quality content from around the web that pertains to your business and its products and services. Then mix your Facebook marketing posts up by sharing your own blogs and by posting fill-in-the-blank style posts that have a high likelihood of causing comment frenzies. Use photos and videos whenever you can, as those seem to get more attention than text-only posts, and strive to be both informative and entertaining for maximum effect.

Facebook Insights

If you have been posting for some time, use Facebook Insights to find out what is working and what’s not. If you can identify posts that seem to have more reach than others, replicate those posts for even greater Facebook marketing engagement. Insights can also tell when you when to post, as you can find out when your fans are most likely to be online. In short, Insights is invaluable for marketing on Facebook and should be utilized if your goal is to improve your Facebook ROI this year.

Be Seen in the Timeline

For the purposes of proper Facebook marketing, try to keep up with all Facebook changes. The Timeline dimensions are now 851×315 and your profile photo size is now 180×180. With the proper images and the right Facebook marketing content, you will get noticed by your primary audience before your competitors. You can become even more visible by adding a calls-to-action and by announcing any promotions where they can be seen by all fans and potential fans. Also, use all the functionality that Facebook lends to advertisers, such as Pinned posts, Highlighted posts, apps that can improve engagement and a way to capture contact information for the purposes of future marketing on Facebook.

Remember, you have about three seconds to tell people everything you intend to tell them in order to further your reach and marketing goals. Make use of that time by adhering to all changes and by using all functionality to really bring your Facebook marketing message home to those who matter most.

Facebook Marketing Contests

Facebook marketing experts recommend that you run one or more contests throughout the year to keep fans excited about keeping you on their radar and to further brand engagement for new and current fans alike. Marketing on Facebook with contests is easy once you get the hang of it. Some ideas include awarding prizes to those who share your content the most, combining your website and Facebook profile into an integrated contest, hosting a joint contest with a co-brand partner, having fans vote on a favorite choice related to your brand and hosting photo and video contests, preferably of the fan generated variety. You can also crowdsource other contest ideas by asking your fans what types of contests they would like to participate in, as well as what types of prizes they would like to win. Use ContestBurner for your social media contest software. .

How to Get the Most From Facebook Ads

To get the absolute most out of Facebook marketing, use the social network’s new and improved ad platform. Facebook gives you a range of choices to help you better target your ads towards your consumer base. The best advice you could ever receive for marketing on Facebook with ads is to keep your ads simple, target fans as well as fans of fans, and use Power Editor and Boost Post for simplicity and budget-friendliness. News Feed ads are said to offer the best click-through rates, so focus on those the most. Then target your ads to interests and likes and make use of geographical targeting if it pertains to your business.

Final Words

When Facebook marketing, focus on your mobile fan base. Keep your messages short and concise and use images that really pop. Reward fans at every turn, through contests and just for sharing your posts or tagging your business. When posting blogs on your website, include Facebook marketing buttons and Like boxes to make the sharing of your content easy.

Facebook isn’t going anywhere and you should adopt an ambitious Facebook strategy if you haven’t already. Follow the above advice and remember to be social and your Facebook marketing results should improve. Whether you simply want more fans, improved ROI or you expect higher sales and a boost in revenue, you can have everything you desire. You only need to take the time to learn the steps for proper Facebook marketing in 2014. The above information should get you started. Roll with the punches, tailor your approach around any future changes and you’ll remain a step ahead of all competitors as you ramp up your Facebook marketing efforts and results. Your audience is waiting for you to post. Really wow them to get your supercharged Facebook campaign started.