Facebook has long been described as an advertiser’s dream. It has unparalleled reach, excellent advertising tools, and, famously, “social data.” We’ll come to that.
The good news is that Facebook is a superb marketing platform. Your brand should be using it. However, just being there isn’t enough. You still need a consistent marketing strategy. You still need to optimize your posts. And you need to understand how Facebook lets you do that.
The team at BRANDefenders is here to explain Facebook post optimization for marketers in depth. Let’s get started.
1. Optimize for Buyers at Different Stages
One of the most basic rules of marketing is that you adapt your pitch to the customer. You understand where they are on their buying journey and help them navigate to the next step. Yep, it’s the sales funnel.
Optimizing Facebook posts is no different. You should create separate campaigns for users at various stages of the funnel.
Discovery Posts
This is arguably the most important type since social media is about discovery. Facebook allows an unprecedented range of customers to discover your brand, so you must make a strong first impression. Image or video posts are typically the best way to achieve this.
Discovery posts are designed to stick in the viewer’s mind. They don’t need to say much about your specific products, but they should make your name memorable. There’s a reason that TV adverts often feature people singing the brand’s name repeatedly. It’s just meant to get it stuck in your head.
It might even seem annoying at first, but now you know who they are and have a vague idea of what they do. The next time you need that service, you’ll consider them – and being considered is the object of discovery.
Consideration Posts
You should create posts targeted toward people who know your brand but haven’t shopped with you yet. These people will often be friends of your brand’s fans. You can use this metric for targeted ads or encourage your fans to share these posts.
They say more about your brand than discovery posts. They give the user a better idea of what you do and why you do it better than your competitors. As ever, brevity is key – infographic images and videos are excellent choices for consideration posts.
Selling Posts
The final point of any marketing campaign is sales. They’re targeted toward a known audience. You should use selling posts with discounts, coupons, refer-a-friend benefits, and other sales tactics – and all posts should funnel directly to your website’s sales interface.
BRANDefenders helps marketers understand where each type of post needs to be seen and by whom. Optimizing Facebook ads for your users is an evergreen strategy for consistently driving sales and engagement.
2. Use Social Marketing to Target Your Posts
When Facebook was almost the only social media game in town, marketers wrote volumes about how “social data” would change advertising. This data type wasn’t just about shopping or search behavior (see: Amazon, Google). It was about consumers’ everyday lives, interests, brand engagements, and social circles.
You’d be able to cherry-pick your audience and consistently engage with them. They’d recommend you to their friends and do your ad work for you.
It was called social marketing, and it was going to be glorious.
Did this dream come true? Well – kind of. The reality is a bit more complicated. Facebook does have a formidable cache of social data. It gives marketers some access to this to help target their ads. The key word is “some” – you still have to do some legwork in identifying your audience, where they are, and what they want. Here’s how.
Social Interests
The most enticing information is users’ social interests. People freely post these on Facebook. This helps them find businesses that match these interests. Likewise, it allows brands to advertise to an audience that has already stated an interest. Simple, right?
The blunt approach to this is to stick to your brand’s niche. If you sell yoga mats, you optimize your ads for people interested in yoga. But what about people who list similar terms? Wellness, meditation, spirituality, mindfulness… you can reach a much wider audience with discovery-level ads if you take ten minutes to brainstorm. Make a list and optimize.
Brand Interests
Brands are often listed in users’ social interests. This is important because Facebook doesn’t consider this “competitor” information – it’s an interest, not a brand. So while you can’t find out who shops at your competitors’ stores and advertise directly to them, self-reporting allows you to see if someone is interested enough in a brand to list it as their passion.
This allows you to identify and target marketing towards particular markets, especially in niches where the brand is an important part of someone’s life. Fitness-oriented people might list certain types of health-tracking watches or apps among their interests. Fashion lovers are highly likely to list their favorite designers and brands.
This gives you another critical insight into these customers – they’re loyal. They value the brands they choose. This will make them excellent ambassadors, which is why they’re such an important audience to reach.
Knowing what you can and can’t do is the first stage of any successful marketing campaign.
3. Choose an Appropriate Post Format
We touched on how video posts and infographics are effective for discovery and consideration. Infographics are great because they’re cheap and easy to produce, but high-quality video content is more expensive.
Good news – there are plenty of options. Here are a few of them.
Video Posts
Video need to hit hard and fast. This is because:
- As mentioned, videos aren’t always cheap to produce
- Users typically have just a couple of seconds to stop scrolling and pay attention.
Those first seconds need to make an impression. The rest of your video can focus on brand storytelling – your immediate strategy is to give the user a reason to stop scrolling. This could be:
- A direct question
- An appealing image (especially for visual industries like food, jewelry, fashion, travel, etc.)
- A startling or funny image or event
- Something strange and unique or a meme (handle with care)
Video posts are excellent for consideration. They can create an emotive and engaging story around your brand. The team at BRANDefenders has years of experience helping businesses learn how to make cost-effective video posts to drive engagement.
Image Posts
Images and infographics are optimal choices for discovery. They can be absorbed almost instantly – note that the type of customer you’re optimizing this post for is the least likely to stop and wait for you. These are the friends of your fans, the people with related interests to your offering, and people who shop for similar brands.
Optimizing these posts doesn’t just require a memorable image or idea. You must ensure that your brand’s name is visible in the post. The two should be connected, boosting discovery and sticking in your customer’s memory.
Text Posts
These are best for sales posts. You can swiftly outline an offer and provide a clickable link to your brand’s store.
Longer-form text posts can work when you’re speaking directly to your fans. They’re more likely to stop and read your message. These posts could be about current affairs or put out a sympathetic message (e.g., health awareness causes and information about your support for these causes).
User-Generated Posts
Here’s that holy grail of social marketing – when your consumers become your marketing department. Users will occasionally post about great experiences they’ve had with your brand or how happy they were with a recent product.
Knowing what people are saying about your brand has always been critical. Customers listen to other customers. Testimonials and reviews have long been posted on company websites and even pinned up in stores. Facebook advertising makes this easier and more effective than ever.
Take time to find users’ comments and select those which set your brand apart from the competition. You can share these messages free of charge, although depending on the content and how you intend to share it, you may wish to approach the user and ask for their permission.
The BRANDefenders team are experts in managing the relationships between consumers and brands. Sensitivity, positivity, and shared interests are at the center of all social Facebook advertising.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Forget the CTA!
Our final optimization tip is to remember that your funnel needs a way out – and that’s through the checkout! You should be linking to your website, product pages, or sales interface at all stages. Engagement is a worthy cause, but sales keep your brand alive.
The expert social media marketing strategists at BRANDefenders can help your business build a positive, mutually beneficial relationship with your customers on Facebook. Grow your audience. Build brand loyalty. When you optimize your Facebook presence, you optimize your company’s prospects.