There is no denying that Facebook for business is a great digital marketing tool for a little added-value promotion. Like all marketing platforms, you should never rely on Facebook alone to organically promote your business. Creative Director Sophie Metcalfe shares her advice.

Having worked in media and marketing for my entire career, I can safely say that Facebook will not save your business. Nor will it increase your revenue and make you a millionaire if you do not spend a penny on advertising.

There has to be a reason you are promoting your business on Facebook. Please don’t answer that with “because it’s free” or “because everyone’s on it.”

The answer should be “because it generates sales or leads” or, crucially “because it drives traffic to my website.”

And why do you have a website? “Because it makes me money!” I hear you shout with glee. If that’s the case, then go put the kettle on. If your answer is “because everyone says I need an online presence…” then please for the love of your business, read on.

If it’s not immediately obvious to you that your website is making you money, then I can guarantee it’s not working as it should be. Likewise, Facebook should also be making you money. After all, it’s got to be worth your time and investment.

Digital marketing should always surpass simply making a return.

Myth 1: Facebook is a blogging tool

Many businesses mistake Facebook as a replacement for their website. I see businesses posting meaningless content on Facebook all the time while their website sits there for no reason other than to be a ‘presence’ in case someone happens to stumble upon it.

The content on your Facebook page should be at least 80% planned (if not 100%) allowing for last minute news or situations that arise. You should have really thought about the content and scheduled it ahead of time. Each post will have a simple, defined goal. It will either:

  1. Drive traffic to your website
  2. Encourage engagement

Myth 2: You have to post something every day

 There is an attitude with Facebook that means you feel like you need to just throw every little piece of information on your feed, just because you can. Your audience, for starters, are not interested in the slightest, unless there’s something in it for them.

I want you to ask yourself these questions every time you’re about to post anything on Facebook:

  1. Is this post really worth my time?
  2. What’s in it for my audience?

If you need help with question one, ask these further questions. How big is my Facebook audience, and, based on experience how much engagement is likely? If the answer is “pretty small and not likely” then you need to optimise your Facebook usage by creating paid ads.

If you have nothing to post, then don’t. There is no need to waste your time on boring content that will generate little to no engagement.

If you were to calculate the amount of time you have spent posting organic posts on Facebook in the past month, has it been worth it? Have you earned a return on that investment? (Time is money, remember). Has your audience grown as a result?

Probably not.

Myth 3: Facebook is not worth it for my business

Every time I hear a business owner say this, I die a little inside.

It is really hard to convince business owners that Facebook is a feat of advertising genius. Understandably, not everyone is as obsessed with Facebook algorithms as I. Moreover, if you don’t keep up to date with its ever-changing parameters, then you are not going to have a real understanding of Facebook’s potential.

Lucky for you, there are people out there like me who do! My goal is to help small business owners try to understand that it CAN and WILL work for their business.

EVERY business can advertise on Facebook. EVERY business has an audience on Facebook. You just need to know how to filter out the noise and target your audience directly. It takes time, testing, refinement – and most importantly, budget.

Continue the myth busting at our Facebook for Business Workshop

There are countless myths surrounding Facebook for business. All it takes is a little change in the way you view Facebook – allowing you to unlock a sea of possibilities in promoting your business.

Interested to learn more? Book on to our series of marketing workshops in Pocklington, East Yorkshire. Find out more here.