Facebook remains to be the largest social media company in the world, with more than 1.62 billion users who actively check their news feeds daily. For years, companies have leveraged the channel to develop loyal returning customers who are willing to tell their friends and family about their positive experiences.
So, how do these companies do it? While there is no magic bullet to answer this question (because every company and audience is different) here are some general guidelines that might help.
Understand Your Audience and Who You Want to Reach
In order to grow and cultivate a loyal fan base on Facebook, the first step is to understand your customers. Who are they? What are their demographics (age, race, gender, geographic location, household income)? What are their psychographics (interests, hobbies, beliefs)?
Take a moment to think through your different audiences and jot them down. Many of you have been in your field for a long time and you have a strong knowledge of the types of customers that you see every day in your shop. Make a list of your audiences for your different services, including automotive tinting, residential flat glass and commercial flat glass. Perhaps some of these audiences are the same but perhaps you find they are different. Perhaps this helps you realize that you might be attracting the wrong audience and you want to shift focus to reach a different audience.
Know who your current Facebook audience is, as well. Facebook Insights will shine a light on your current audience and their demographics. When you select “People” from the menu, you can find out your audience’s gender, age and geographic location. When you click on “Posts,” Insights will give you the day of the week and time that most of your current fans are online. You also can see your top performing posts, which gives you an idea of the types of content your followers like.
Knowing your audience is the most important element in creating a loyal fan base. This is because it isn’t about you. It’s about them and what they want. That’s where we get into creating the right kind of content.
Create Content that Resonates with Your Audience
The adage “Content is King” remains to be true. Creating content that resonates with your audience takes time but the results are worth the effort.
There are a lot of different formulas and theories related to content and what you should post. For instance, Inc. magazine talks about the 80/20 rule, in which 80 percent of what you post should be designed to inform, educate and entertain, while the remaining 20 percent should be used for hard sell. Meanwhile, Business.com discusses the 5:3:2 ratio rule, in which:
- 5 posts should be content from other sources that are relevant to your brand.
- 3 posts should be content that you have created.
- 2 posts should be personal, fun content that humanizes your brand.
If you are the kind of person who needs a formula, either one of these works well. The commonality between the two is that the content needs to be designed for the audience – not for your company. It’s about what the audience wants.
So, what does your audience want? Research suggests the audience is using social media for five basic reasons:
- To be informed or educated
- To identify with others
- To be entertained
- To socially interact
- To escape the stresses of daily life
Nothing could be more true of Facebook, so the more content that you create with these five goals in mind – while keeping in mind who your audience is and what they want to see – the more successful you will be.
Need examples? While the sky is the limit, here are some ideas that we have seen:
To Be Informed or Educated
- Provide informational posts about how 3M’s products work to solve customer’s pain points.
- Share 3M Film’s posts, which are typically designed to be informative.
- Share Accent Distributing’s posts, which are typically designed to be informative.
- Post links to your blogs.
- Give Facebook Live demonstrations of films and what they can do using a heat lamp.
To Identify with Others
- Provide posts about your employees – such as an Employee of the Month program.
- Provide posts with photos that show what is happening behind the scenes (including a tint job in process).
- Share Facebook reviews and customer testimonies on your page.
- Give Facebook Live demonstrations on how you helped solve someone’s pain points.
To Be Entertained
- Make posts that show before and after photos.
- Create a Facebook Live regular shop show that walks through how-to steps, including removing old tint, proper ways to wash your car and how to care for your tint.
- Post funny memes that are related to the window film industry.
To Socially Interact
- Join the conversation and post replies and comments in the thread of your company’s posts.
- Make posts that ask questions of your audience to spur engagement and conversation.
- Tag other companies and people in your posts and replies/comments when relevant. (We caution against over tagging.)
- Use hashtags so that people can find you in other threads related to subjects.
To Escape Stresses of Daily Life
- All of the above examples help meet this reason why people are on social media.
Remember that Facebook is Social, So Be Social
Facebook was never designed to be a podium and megaphone in which you can step up, announce your news and then abruptly leave the lectern. Rather, Facebook provides people an engaging platform in which they can connect with each other virtually. And the truth is that your audience is following your page because they want to connect with you.
It’s all about shifting your mindset. If you approach the management of your company page as a way to listen and engage with your customers, your audience is more likely to return the favor and listen and engage back.
One creative way to be social is to utilize Facebook Groups. Facebook, as a company, is encouraging participation in Groups. In fact, for the first time ever, Facebook advertised on television. The spot was broadcast during the commercial lineup of the 2020 NFL Super Bowl and it focused on Facebook Groups.
Think of Facebook Groups this way: Your audience is already engaging online, in a category that interests them the most. If you can pinpoint where they are – for instance, a car lovers group or a local moms group – then you can join the group and enter the conversation. Be careful with this though. We never recommend you overtly advertise your services. Simply just joining the conversation and adding your personal two cents into a discussion thread can lead to Group members learning more about you and your company. It’s an organic and more personal way to advertise.
Speaking of advertising, boosting posts can be a way to generate loyal fans.
Pay to Play: Boost Posts that Really Matter
The reality is that Facebook is a company looking to increase revenue just as your tint shop is looking to increase revenue. And we cannot blame them for wanting to be part of the American Dream. That said, in recent years, the Facebook algorithm has made it more difficult to get your company’s Page posts seen organically. Basically, you must pay to play.
One way to increase your reach and attract new fans is to boost posts that really matter. We have seen success in simply boosting blog content once a month. This increased brand awareness and allows for more people to find you.
Fortunately, you should not have to spend much to make a difference. Try $20 to boost a post and see what happens. You can increase from there.
Don’t want to pay? Quick tips include more Facebook Live, more Facebook Video posts and – as mentioned – interact personally on Facebook Groups to gain more awareness among your targeted audiences.
Understanding your audience, providing content that matters most and approaching Facebook as the social backyard BBQ party that it is designed to be will go a lot farther in developing a loyal fan base for your company.
Have questions? Accent Distributing provides marketing assistance for its 3M™ Authorized Dealers. Contact Inside Sales at [email protected] or at (941) 922-5268 to request to be connected with a marketing professional.
