If you are a small business, there is just no denying at this point the value of Facebook. With over 1.7 billion users, it is, for all intents and purposes, where everyone hangs out. It’s a vitally important marketplace. Of course, many of those people may be potential customers of your farm, but understanding how to reach them isn’t always so cut and dry. Here are few ideas to help you understand how Facebook works and reach the people who are looking for you but don’t know it yet.
Designing Your Page
Facebook doesn’t allow you a lot of options in terms of design, but what few it does should be taken full advantage of, starting with your profile picture.
Profile Picture
This picture should be your logo—something recognizable that you use across all of your social media, including your website.
Cover Photo
Next, put something for the cover photo that is complimentary and eye catching. This is not as important as your profile picture, but it should look nice.
About Section
Be sure to fill out all the requisite information in your “About” section to ensure people know what you do when they show up to your page.
Pinned Post
Facebook now gives you the option of pinning a post—that post should be nicely designed (described below) and have a relevant picture that complements the rest of your page.
Do these things and you will see an increase in likes—the currency of business today.
Post Frequency
When posting content about your farm, or sharing content that is relevant to what you do, don’t overdo it. Three posts a day is plenty, if not too much. It is better to focus on a few well-designed posts a week, than a bunch every day. People should be interested in what you’re posting, not immune to it. And when they visit your page, they should be able to see how well your followers engage (and, for that matter, how well you engage with them).
Post Design
If you can make or share nice videos, they are very effective at drawing traffic to your page or website. If not, a photo will do, but make sure it’s as nice as you can possibly make it despite being a farmer with a million other things to worry about. If you link your Twitter or Instagram accounts to your Facebook, don’t always feel compelled to share every post. Focus on the best-looking ones. Also, keep the text short, and even ask a question from time to time to boost engagement. The Facebook algorithm thrives on interactions: The more people who engage, the more people will see it and the more successful each post will be.
Is Boosting Posts Worth It?
Facebook, for its part, is not unaware of its utility for small businesses. Where small businesses used to be able to share their content with all of their followers, Facebook has started to flag promotional posts and suggest you “boost” them instead. This is annoying but actually positive.
Creating an ad can be extremely useful and cheap. You can use this function to engage with the exact customers you want. And the more well-designed the campaign is—with a good photo or video, plus engaging text—the more organic the response will be, that is, the more it will share itself. Start small, paying $5 to $10 for an ad, and just see how it works for you. Pick the age group, location and even similar interests. Take notes and watch your analytics to see what works best.
