How start-ups can generate business through Facebook

by Startacus Admin

Henna Sheth writes for Gorilla Accounting, a technology-driven, specialist accountancy provider for Contractors and Freelancers. Here she writes about how start-ups can use Facebook to spark new business.  

"You’ve taken the reins, established a brand and won your first client, but what now? The mammoth task of generating a steady stream of clients is arguably one of the most testing jobs that you will face, as it’s what stands between the long-running success of your new business, and failure. 

The answer to this has been virtually sitting in front of you; it’s the friend of all friends, it’s the conversation starter of all conversations – Facebook. If you’re a traditional procurer of business, or a technology-driven entrepreneur, Facebook is your ideal middle man as it has all the tricks of the trade. 

We’ve rounded up five ways you can use Facebook to drum up business:

Join the Community – FB Groups 

This feature allows you to narrow down your target audience by locality, interests, and behaviours. The main selling point of this feature is that you can discover banks of users with mutual interests under one Facebook group.  

You can either go two ways from here. Connect with like-minded thinkers through networking. This can lead to word-of-mouth advertising, which could eventually lead to more business. You can alternatively use Facebook to connect with your target audience by sharing your knowledge, a personal approach which will help promote your service. 

Become a Marketer - Audience Insights

If only there was a tool that could learn about your ‘target audiences, including aggregate information about geography, demographics, and purchase behaviour,’ as defined by Facebook.

The ‘Audience Insights’ tab is available through Facebook Business, and allows you identify valuable information about users connected to your page, and your current customers on Facebook. You can access anonymous information such as: 

Top Page Likes - Pages your customers have liked.

Facebook Usage - How often FB is accessed and log-in device (mobile/desktop).

Location – Where customers live and what language they speak. 

This information is free which cuts the cost of your market research, it’s instantly accessible, and it’s tailored to your customers. This data can be used when launching adverts through Facebook, and when launching external advertising, detached from Facebook. 

Showcase your Business – FB Advertising  

In conjunction with the data gathered from Audience Insights, you can create a personalised advert which will find the right people, and you can even implement Facebook Remarketing.  

What’s Facebook Remarketing?

The idea is to follow the crowds. If a potential customer happens to click on your site, lingers for a second or two, and then leaves, your advertisement will follow them as they travel through the web, and onto social media sites. Facebook Remarketing can also be used to target existing customers. 

It’s essential that as a business, you track how often a customer clicks through to your site through a FB Remarketing campaign. A custom landing page can help you track conversions. 

Produce a Live View – FB Live 

Instant access, on demand, speedy sign up - they’re catch words we hear on adverts and read on countless landing pages. This is how we’ve been eased into the media landscape of today, which is never sleeping, never resting, and never stopping. 

Facebook implemented the live feature to allow audiences to connect through live broadcasting. The social media giant previously said, “we’ve seen that people comment more than 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos,” as it allows interaction in real time, making it easier for viewers to express their feelings. 

It is becoming increasingly essential for businesses to promote their products through FB Live, in particular, product launches. Take the new Samsung S8 ‘Unbox Your Phone’ campaign, it appears exclusive, personal, and it makes you want to impulse buy.  

Now let’s talk incentives; it generates word-of-mouth, it’s usually limited to a time period and it’s a quick win because it adds exposure to your brand. Take this to another level and make it a Facebook Live competition or giveaway. Have a look at when website builder, Wix, took to Facebook to award a lucky winner. 

As a start-up, you’ll understand that exposure, leads, and site traffic will always be on your priority list as it’s a lifeline. Facebook provides a bank of free features that can be used to gather valuable insight, which can be used to increase the above.

Henna Sheth is a blogger and copywriter at Gorilla Accounting. 

If you like this post you might want to also read 'How to encourage customer engagement online'.

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Published on: 30th May 2017