facebook marketing tipsFacebook remains the grand daddy of social media networks, despite some warnings about its demise. If limited to one platform, 52 percent of marketers would pick Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 21 percent, according to a Social Media Examiner survey of 2,800 marketers. Only 3 percent do not plan to utilize the network this year. Facebook dominates the B2C space even more; 65 percent of marketers select it as their network of choice. In addition, most marketers (84 percent) use Facebook ads.

Yet only 45 percent of marketers think that their Facebook efforts are effective. Most of those surveyed said they hope to learn more about Facebook marketing.

These are tips and tricks from leading experts on how to gain fans, boost engagement and ultimately attract and retain customers through Facebook marketing.

Change your page URL. Your page URL is instrumental in defining your business. Suppose you find a different or more specific name that may improve your marketing efforts. You can change it once. Go to facebook.com/username, select a page from the drop down menu, type a username and click check availability. If the username is available, click confirm.

Change the page name. Businesses sometimes change names due to a variety of reasons. If 200 or more people like your page, you must submit a request to Facebook in order to change your page’s name. You’re allowed to change the name once, and must have admin privileges. Here’s how: Click on About below your page’s cover photo. Click page info in the left column. Hover over the name section and click edit then on request change. Fill out the form and click send.

Embed your page on your website. Embedding part of your page on your website can attract fans and boost your overall Facebook marketing efforts. Just choose how you want the embedded page to look by selecting the width, height and what to include and copy the code supplied by Facebook into your site. People can like your page and posts directly on your website.

Learn about your audience. You can learn about your audience’s demographics through Facebook Insights, the network’s basic analytics tool. Facebook Audience Insights provides additional data on the likes, interests and other demographics. It also provides information about your competitors’ pages.

Facebook video marketing. Facebook’s algorithm now ranks video higher than other types of posts. By going to the More tab of your page, you can create a “featured video” that visitors will see when arriving on your page. You can also create a playlist of videos. Several one-minute videos, rather than one long one, will divide content it consumable pieces for visitors. Shorter videos are also easier to produce

Go native. Post videos directly on Facebook rather than posting to YouTube or Vimeo and then linking it. Statistics show that native videos get more engagement than linked ones.

Call them (to action). Include a call to action at the end of videos. You can also write contact information on the screen. Reminding viewers to call your office or visit your website increases leads and sales.

Repurpose. Consider repurposing your best Facebook videos for other channels such as a company newsletter or blog posts.

Be secure. Turn on security features like two-factor authentication to help ensure you won’t be hacked.

Check your settings. Check Facebook settings once a month. Deleting and reinstalling apps can reset settings to default.

Bottom Line: Because Facebook remains the leading social media network for B2C businesses, it’s important for marketers to learn everything they can about Facebook marketing. These tips can help gain more followers and promote your business through the network.

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