Forget the fact that Facebook has more than a billion members. 99.% aren’t interested in what you’re selling or don’t live anywhere near where you’re selling it.
But that small group that are interested and are geographically desirable can improve your bottom line significantly. Here’s how. [level-members]
First, as with any kind of marketing, you have to know who you’re talking to. It’s impossible to craft an effective message without knowing your audience. For small businesses on Facebook, your friends, fans and followers are likely to wants some combination of information and conversation.
Information can be as simple as announcing that a formerly sold-out popular wine is back in stock, or what tastings and events you have on tap for the weekend. (You are doing tastings and events, right?)
Conversation might include topics of local interest, wine and food pairings, announcements about tie-ins with other local businesses, etc.
Other marketing truisms hold for Facebook, as well. Judicious keyword use in your profile and posts can boost your page’s effectiveness.
Knowing the lay of the land helps, too. Since most interaction is likely to be in your fans’ feeds, you have to know when they’re most likely going to be paying attention. They won’t see your post if it’s already scrolled off the bottom of their feed. Posting at the wrong time isn’t much better than not posting at all.
There are some general guidelines we’ve seen – retail posts work well on Mondays; travel and leisure on Friday – Sunday – but the best way to hone in on the most productive times to post is to test. Post at a variety of times and gauge response. (You can also gauge the effectiveness of the kinds of content you post, but don’t test both at the same time …)
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