This post is an excerpt from our free ‘Social Media Marketing and PR Cheat Sheets‘ guide.
Facebook is where people connect with friends, family, and brands. It’s also where people share photos, but the number of photos uploaded to Facebook has decreased with the introduction of sites like Instagram and Snapchat.
The people
Facebook boasts a diverse audience although the largest segment is 18-29 year olds. It’s somewhat more appealing to women; Pew Research Center finds 76 percent of women use Facebook versus 66 percent men.
Facebook users include 45 percent of the 65 years old or older demographic, a number that is up from 35 percent in 2012. Some marketers fear that an older audience will cause teenagers to abandon Facebook, but data and research contradicts that concern. Tom Webster of Edison Research suggests growth has stagnated due to reaching a saturation point rather than abandonment. In addition, Facebook has a strong hold on the Internet. Webster calls it the “plumbing” because many people use Facebook to log into sites with social logins.
The challenges
Facebook, like other social networks, has introduced native advertising. Brands that use the network to market themselves will have to pay to stay in the social media game.
The tips
1. Get your community involved. Starbucks posts photos from its Instagram account, but many of those photos aren’t original to the company. They’re taken by Starbucks brand aficionados.
2. Make your content mobile friendly if you want it to be shared. According to Business Insider, Facebook is the most popular social media app on smartphones and accounts for 66 percent of total media sharing on iPhones.
3. Optimize your Facebook page for Graph Search. If you want to be found on Facebook, have the correct category and contact information. You want your page to show up if someone searches for a term specific to your business.
4. Invest some time and money in Facebook Ads and Offers. Organic reach has and will continue to decline. Even if you have a strong community, you’ll want to pursue paid advertising options.
5. Facebook users like photos; they upload at least 350 million every day. Take advantage of their affinity. According to Ekaterina Walter, “Content with compelling visual content receives 94 percent more total views.”
6. For official guidance, visit Facebook for Business.
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