Rosalind Henshell
(July 14, 2015) we attended the Facebook Boost Your Business Summer Tour. It was a session designed specifically for small businesses who are aiming to grow through using Facebook.
There were plenty of Facebook Gurus on hand to answer questions on subjects like local targeting, brand awareness, driving sales online and Instagram, and there was also an introduction from Facebook’s SME Director Ciaran Quilty.
His talk was really aimed at pressing home the importance of mobile and video for business and he had some pretty powerful stats to back this up:
- There are 40 million SME businesses on Facebook
- 2 Million businesses regularly invest in adverts
- 70% of UK Facebook users follow least one local business via Facebook.
- The average person checks Facebook on their phone 14 times per day
- Over 1 Billion people use Facebook on their Phone every day.
- In the UK, 25 million people will use Facebook every day
- 50% of Facebook users watch one video per day
- Worldwide, there are more than 4 billion video views on Facebook every day
- Cisco predict that by 2016 69% of internet traffic will be driven by mobile video
With such massive numbers, Facebook are making various changes to their mobile platform to allow greater ease of use for businesses. Many of these changes will be around simplifying some of the existing business tools so that they can be used from a phone rather than desktop.
Here are some of the best tips we learnt if you want to reach out to your audience:
Facebook Business Page
- Think of yourself as a mobile business, even if you aren’t, because your customers are mobile.
- Your Business page allows you the platform for an instant mobile marketing strategy
- All of your business content can be delivered straight to your audience’s mobile!
- The number of people communicating with businesses on Facebook is increasing.
- They can reach out straight to your page – no need for an email address.
- Local Targeting has been rolled out across the UK, allowing you to reach an audience based on a radius around your business postcode.
- Use Your Page for Presence, Communication and Local Awareness
- Instagram for Business will be launching in September
- This means Advertising and Marketing for businesses
- Business accounts will have insights and analytics
Key Takeaways
- Video advertising is growing in popularity
- A video view counts after 3 seconds, Facebook suggest you have no more than 8 seconds to grab someone’s attention!
- Start your advertising small, and scale it as you grow or based on your results.
- Use Custom audiences to target your ideal customers
- Use Lookalike audiences to grow your reach.
- Use Retargeting to put your ads in front of people who have already taken action for you.
- Remember to focus on real business results rather than Facebook likes or comments!
What are your thoughts on Facebook for Business? Do you use Facebook Adverts at all? Let me know in the comments section below.
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