By Hannah Whittenly

Since Facebook took off as a major social media platform, it has gradually become one of the most important modern marketing tools for businesses as well. Some businesses, though, have yet to learn how to use Facebook to its fullest when it comes to marketing. Some even have Facebook pages set up, but aren’t really sure how to use them. Here are four steps your business can take to improve its Facebook marketing, build a larger audience and generate more sales.

Link To Real Content

One of the biggest mistakes many businesses make in using Facebook is creating what amount to traditional ads only. Though normal ads can do fairly well on the Facebook platform, today’s internet users prefer content to small ads that just tell them to buy something. Mix links to blog posts on your website in with your purely promotional Facebook posts, and you’ll start to see more engagement with your page. For a good example of this strategy of mixing valuable content with more promotional posts, take a look at the Nu Skin Facebook page.

Define Your Target Audience

One of the massive strengths of Facebook as a marketing platform is the fact that it can be used to specifically target people based on demographics and interests. That power, however, is only as useful as your target customer profile allows it to be. If your business knows exactly who its ideal customer is, you’ll have no problem using the basic characteristics you look for to target a Facebook campaign to your most likely buyers. If your marketing is too broad, though, you lose the ability to increase your conversions and ROI with targeted ads. Before you launch another Facebook campaign, be sure to define your target audience. If your business sells many different products and services, you may have to define a slightly different target audience for each one.

When You Make Ads, Use Video

As stated above, creating valuable content is key to getting audience engagement on your page. There’s also a great middle ground between traditional ads and pure content, which is video-based advertising. Video ads can be entertaining and informative, but still promote specific products or services in the way a traditional ad does. Video ads also tend to encourage engagement and even sharing, widening the reach of the campaign you pay for. Best of all, once a video is made, it can be used in your marketing campaigns over and over again.

Post Regularly

Many small businesses make the critical mistake of only creating new Facebook posts once a week or even once a month. In order to build and keep an engaged audience, your Facebook page needs to turn out new posts on a much more frequent basis. There is considerable debate as to what constitutes the optimal number of Facebook posts per day. Many marketers argue for two posts a day being the best number, though some are more convinced by the argument for one post per day or a post every two days. Regardless of the exact number you settle on, remember to post fairly often to keep your audience engaged.

With these four simple tips, you’ll be able to improve your Facebook marketing and build a larger, more engaged audience for your brand. Most importantly, that audience will eventually begin to convert into paying customers, helping your business become more successful and profitable. Keep in mind that all of these strategies will require you to devote time and resources to your social media marketing efforts on a regular basis. If you want to succeed in Facebook marketing, be prepared to actively work toward that success every day.

Today’s Guest Post is By Hannah Whittenly, a freelance writer and mother of two from Sacramento, CA. She enjoys kayaking and reading books by the lake.