Dominate Facebook With This $5 Marketing Strategy If you have ever been frustrated with your lack of organic reach on Facebook, just investing $5 wisely into selected posts can make a huge difference.
By Jason Parks Edited by Dan Bova
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You can write the greatest novel in the world, but if nobody ends up reading your book, what purpose does it serve?
The same holds true for marketers, business owners and entrepreneurs who are attempting to promote their brands on Facebook.
If you run a business Facebook page, you have likely run into the problem of reaching a limited number of users, despite creating compelling content. If you want your content to be seen, shared and talked about, you're certainly not alone.
What if I were to tell you that a simple $5 marketing strategy could revamp your entire Facebook marketing game plan, and help you dominate the social network?
Rebecca Coleman, a social-marketing guru, conducted a case study on the $5 boosted Facebook post. The results? "Awesome," Coleman said. "My post reach soared and I got a ton more comments, as well as a few shares. My advice: Every once in a while, it can be completely worth it to give Facebook $5."
The next time you pull out a $5 bill from your wallet, give Honest Abe a wink knowing that he can help you take your Facebook marketing strategy to new heights.
1. Strategize
There is nothing wrong with being frugal with your marketing budget. You should expect results for every advertising dollar that you invest into your company, so you can effectively raise awareness for your brand.
It is not recommended to boost every single Facebook post. Make sure to strategize when you pick which posts to promote for $5.
Jef Richards, a well-known advertising professor at Michigan State University, summed it up best: "Creative without strategy is called 'art.' Creative with strategy is called 'advertising.'"
Related: How to Create a Facebook Messenger Chatbot For Free Without Coding
2. Creative Media Content
On Facebook, you are not going to stand out against the competition if you post a generic stock photo linking to a blog. Sorry, but you'll have to do better than this.
Your business has a story behind it, and it is your job to captivate your audience with your story.
Related: How One Entrepreneur Grew a Global Business From Her Facebook Friends
According to Venture Beat, there are four billion daily video views on Facebook, and this number is growing daily. There are 350 million new photos added each day onto Facebook.
Dedicate one day a month, maybe on a weekend, to taking pictures and videos of your business. This high-quality, personalized content can serve as the backbone of your social-media strategy.
If you own a pizza shop in Austin, don't just take a picture of a large pepperoni pizza. Snap pictures of college students at your restaurant laughing over a large pie with some craft beer and a game on in the background.
You can then target this advertisement to University of Austin students the day before a UT football game.
You will start to notice that when you strategize your creative media beforehand, your $5 boosted post will soar.
3. Pinpoint Targeting
In the example above, we talked about the pizza-shop owner targeting millennials around Austin.
You can target your exact audience by selecting "People who like your page," "People who like your page and their friends" or you can even curate your own target audience by selecting "People you choose through targeting."
The benefit of targeting people who like your page is that they are probably already familiar with your brand. If you choose people through targeting, you can reach a new audience, just as the pizza owner could have targeted Austin millennials who attend the University of Texas.
Some other cool options to consider… You can create a look-a-like audience. If your business has a list of email addresses of customers or prospective customers, Facebook can reach new people who are likely to be interested in your business, because they are similar to your existing customers.
Your business can also create a remarketing advertisement. If someone were to visit your website and drop off, your remarketing ad will follow the user around for a 30-day timespan simply by placing a tracking pixel on the backend of your site, and then syncing it to your advertisements.
It should be noted that look-a-like audiences and remarketing ads have to be set up through Ads Manager, and they are not a part of the "boosted post."
All of these targeting options can greatly increase your exposure for just $5.
Related: 3 Simple Ways to Get More Shares on Facebook
4. Measure Your Results
At one point in time, Will Smith thought making the movie Wild Wild West would be a good idea. This of course was labeled by Time Magazine as one of the biggest blockbuster busts of all time.
Even if you believe your photography is great, your headline aligns perfectly with the photo, and your advertising is on point, this won't guarantee your success.
Analyze key metrics on Facebook such as paid reach, actions, photo clicks, page likes and post clicks. If you sent people to your website or a landing page, make sure to track conversions to see whether the UT student actually downloaded the 10 percent off coupon to your pizza shop.
Also, dig into Google Analytics to see if the Austin millennial who clicked on your Facebook ad interacted on your website. Was the average time onsite 15 seconds or did they visit an average of seven pages and stay on the site longer than two minutes?
Facebook Piggybank
If you have already seen great results with boosted Facebook posts, there is room to improve with compelling media, pinpoint targeting and constant analysis.
If you have ever been frustrated with your lack of organic reach on Facebook, just strategizing and investing $5 wisely into selected posts can make a huge difference.
Set aside $20 into your Facebook piggybank for next month so you can boost four posts. You will start to see which content delivers solid results and which posts deliver blockbuster flops.
If you continue to use your creativity and post great content and test different advertisements, you will eventually hit your sweet spot.
Just don't forget to thank Honest Abe for helping you generate exposure.
