As a small business owner, CHEAP is great, but FREE is always best! This post will walk you through 10 free Facebook marketing tips and how to use them in your business.
Top 10 Facebook Marketing Tips…
1. Use Canva to create an eye-catching cover photo
You don’t have to hire a professional designer to create a stunning and engaging cover photo. There are many great FREE tools you can use to create or edit your images. One of my absolute favorites is Canva. They offer layouts specifically for Facebook covers; meaning you don’t have to guess if your image is the right size or format. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for in their wide selection of free templates, you can choose from many, many others that will still only cost you a buck!
2. Be mindful of moving your fans to your email list
While Facebook is an extremely useful and powerful marketing tool, remember that you will never truly ‘own’ your audience. Your communications with your Facebook fans will always be limited by Facebook’s algorithms and filtered feed. For this reason, it’s important to make sure you’re always moving your fans to your email list. One of my favorite ways to do this is to promote a valuable free Ebook in exchange for an email address!
3. Ask questions to boost engagement
Some business owners are still using Facebook as a way to broadcast a one-way message to their fans. However, Facebook works best when you use it for two-way conversations. One of the best ways to do this is to use questions in your posts. Ask your audience for their thoughts and opinions, then be sure to respond to their feedback.
4. Consult Facebook Insights to find out which types of posts resonate with your audience
I like to think of Facebook Insights as my own personal Facebook advisor. You don’t need to guess at which types of posts are getting the most engagement with your audience! Regularly consult your Insights to see which post types and topics are resonating with your audience…and then post these more often!
5. Post image quotes
If you follow me on Facebook, you know I LOVE to use image quotes! They’re easy to create using a variety of free tools, and are amazing for getting likes, comments and shares. Simply overlay a funny, motivational or inspiration quote (your own or someone else’s) on an eye-catching background, and then share it on your page. Here are some of my favorite free tools for creating amazing graphics!
6. Use Buzzsumo to find new content ideas
Tired of posting content that gets no traction? Use a free tool like Buzzsumo to find the most popular content for a given subject. Plug in a relevant topic, and Buzzsumo will give you a list of the most popular content on that topic, based on the number of social shares.
7. Offer exclusive deals and promotions
42% of people like a brand page to get coupons or discounts. Overlay graphics with promotional content or coupon codes, and share it on your Facebook page. You can also create a Facebook offer from your page for free; I like to use offers to promote a free infoproduct like an eBook. This is a great way to move your fans into your online marketing funnel! (see #2 above).
8. Try posting link updates
Buffer wanted to know which types of posts worked best on Facebook, so they tested out a variety of strategies. After a week of sharing only link updates, their median reach increased by about 70%, and clicks increased by almost 10%. Try it out for yourself!
9. Integrate your website with your Facebook page
When you’re working with a small (or non-existent) budget, it’s critical that you find ways to leverage your existing audience to grow your Facebook page. For this reason, I recommend using Facebook buttons and badges to encourage social sharing and to grow your Facebook page likes. If you have a WordPress site, I’d also recommend using a plugin like Facebook Comments to add a Facebook comment box to your blog.
10. Be committed, and be consistent
The final (and perhaps most important) tip I can give you for marketing your business for free on Facebook is to be consistent. Don’t be like that annoying uncle who only shows up when he wants something; show up consistently, post content regularly, and respond to questions and comments promptly. This is the way to build relationships with your audience that are built on trust.
Wondering how to get FREE traffic from Facebook? You’ll love my post, Free Facebook Traffic Is Possible (And You Can Do It Too!). Or, you can also check out How You Make Money on Facebook.
There you have it: the top 10 Facebook marketing tips when you have NO budget!