How to Leverage Facebook for Sales & Marketing Success – A 5 Step Process

Update your business profile with up to date information. It should describe what your business is about and the products or services it provides. Also, make sure you include the business for your website.

If you have other members of your business, put them into your business profile. This will enable other members of your business to spread word of it to possible consumers who may be interested in your products or services. You want to allow your business to reach as many consumers as possible.

Facebook offers an unlimited number of groups based on a wide variety of topics and interests. These groups allow you to target related areas of your business. Look for groups to join in which users who belong to these groups would possibly be interested in your products.

Facebook has a feature where you could post events for your business. Take advantage of this by scheduling events in which your fans (the term Facebook uses for people who follow your business) could attend. You could use this to provide a special sale in which customers could attend. This can also work for “online only” events. You could announce the starting date of a time and provide a link to a product at a special price. This could enhance the traffic to your site and the sales of your product.

Also, keep your fans updated regarding your business. If you have articles and posts about your business, you could simply link to your website on your Facebook page. Choose a method which works best for you. You should be updating your Facebook page on a consistent basis to keep your fans up to date regarding your business.

One of the worst mistakes you can do on Facebook, or any other social networking platform, is to always try to directly sell products or services. People don’t want to be constantly bombarded by advances from a business.

Develop relationships with those in groups. You don’t want to keep throwing your product out there after every post you make. Begin by writing well-informed posts and responses to help other people or to contribute knowledge. Answer a few questions and get involved. This will allow others to see you and your business in a positive light. This will also expose users to your business in a more natural way. As they become more comfortable with you and get to know you and your business, they will naturally see what you have to offer. Also, they will be less likely to immediately disregard what you are selling when you do advertise and sell in your posts.

While you shouldn’t always sell your product or services, you should be aware of when to sell. Once you have developed a relationship with your customers, don’t be afraid to tell them about your new products or services, or to keep them updated with your business. Post occasional news items regarding your business in the groups you are a member of, and always keep the Facebook page of your business updated.

In addition to timely selling, it is important to keep customers interested. One great way to do this is to host specials on Facebook. You could even try placing exclusive Facebook discounts for your products or services on your Facebook page or in the groups. This would stimulate interests and sales for your business. Also, the consumer base will be more likely to grow if you post specials and deals in which your customers would be interested.

With Facebook’s unlimited potential due to their high volume, it is worth considering paid advertising on Facebook. Facebook offers amazing potential and powerful ad systems.

One of Facebook’s most powerful features is its ability to target users. Advertisers can now target users based on a wide variety of filters: location, age, birthday, sex, keywords, education, workplaces, relationship, interested in, languages, and connections. This will allow you to target who could be likely to be interested in your product or services. This is especially useful for those who have business which cater to very specific demographics.

You can also track how well your ad is performing. Clicks, click through rates (CTR), actions, action rates, and more can be tracked by Facebook’s functionality to produce custom reports for your ads. Make sure you are aware of how your ads are doing and adjust accordingly. This is also a great way to test out Facebook’s ad system to see if you should invest more money. Remember to start out with a reasonable test amount to get a more accurate reading of ad performance, though.

If you decide to use Facebook’s paid advertising system, keep your goals in mind. Carefully target users who would be interested in your product, and use your financial resources wisely. Never over target customers. The most important thing to do is to develop interest in your product or services and then build these relationships. Then you will be able to sell to this customer base. Also, keep track on the resources that you are used and compare them to other paid advertising methods you are using, if applicable. You will then be able to evaluate whether Facebook is a good way to advertise your services or products your business offers.

Doug Dvorak helps companies and professionals achieve results through customized, creative and non-traditional sales training systems that are “one size fits one” and developed to the unique business needs and “sales pain points” of each client. He is available to speak on these topics.

For more information visit https://salescoach.us or call 847-359-6969 FREE

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Copyright 2008 The Sales Coaching Institute, Inc.

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Doug Dvorak, CEO of DMG International, is the Author of the forthcoming book “Build Your Own Brand” (Pelican, 2009)