Facebook Marketing has come a long way since the first big ad campaign of a young Mark Zuckerberg posting his college dorm room photo on a wall. Today, the social networking giant is an internet behemoth, having sold more shares to investors this week than Google and Microsoft combined. With over two billion daily users, Facebook has also grown into one of the biggest venues for social interaction in the world. Since its founding almost seventeen years ago, Facebook has slowly but surely grown to become the most popular social media venue, with millions of users from around the globe.

Facebook Marketing tools Just as with any other tool or channel, Facebook marketing requires careful planning and execution. One major factor in an effective strategy is finding a proper audience to target. Engagement is what keeps a brand alive and kicking, which is why social media engagement is so important. Facebook now has several ways to engage a brand’s audience. These include:

Branding Facebook’s official application, the “Like” button, is a highly effective method of social media marketing. Users can “Like” anything posted by a friend on the platform and this will generate additional engagement on a brand’s part. Like functionality has also been integrated into Facebook’s core search function, which will allow a user to find any recent content posted by a friend instantly. Additionally, the chatbot “Zlomeration” allows a user to find posts on a brand’s page by keywords, making it easy to share vital information with a specific audience.

Content Marketing The second strategy for engaging a target audience is through content marketing, which uses Facebook’s in-built editorial guidelines to give brand content a significant boost in the search engine rankings. A good way to market content is through user-generated content. In fact, Facebook boasts one of the most active user communities on the internet. Therefore, when creating content, it is crucial that a brand ensures that it is Search Engine Optimized (SEO). This helps in increasing visibility, which in turn improves overall performance.

Video Content Facebook’s video section features an endless selection of short promotional videos, many of which are well-produced. The videos can be used as direct marketing tools or can be shared as part of social sharing. One advantage of video content is that it is Search Engine Optimized and can be picked up by viewers. However, it should be noted that ads displayed in video content are not as prominent as ads in blog or forum content.

Paid Ads Some marketers have taken to Facebook as a venue to run paid ads, which generate maximum traffic at a lower cost than traditional media strategies. Unlike regular ads in the real world, marketers are able to place targeted ads on Facebook. The ads can be targeted based on a market segment, such as weddings, babies or the elderly. As these ads are specifically tailored to a particular audience, they tend to stand out more when posted on Facebook. Facebook Marketing allows marketers to create engaging ads that attract prospects and convince them to buy a product or service. However, to be successful in Facebook Marketing, marketers need to work in a balanced way to post ads and engaging with users to build customer loyalty and trust.