Do businesses serving a defined geographical area find much value in advertising on Facebook? And if so, what works best? These are logical questions for any contractor.
Clearly, if your market is within a fairly contained driving distance, having worldwide reach to a billion-plus users is a bit of overkill, shall we say. But for targeted reach, don’t overlook its appeal.
According to a local business network firm, Alignable, the most successful reason local businesses use Facebook marketing is to generate awareness. This is a matter of letting people know you exist and what you do. In an advisory, friendly way, help your prospects see what they need so they’ll think things like: “I didn’t realize indoor air could be such a problem. I wonder if I should call them.” “I’m not sure it’s smart to have so many devices plugged into one outlet. I might need to get that checked out.” “It’s time to do something about that dripping faucet.”
Alignable’s research also shows that 61% of local businesses paying to advertise on Facebook spend $50 or less per month. So, it’s not the place for hard-hitting direct response offers and doesn’t require the bulk of your marketing budget, but it does have uses. For post possibilities:
- Boost engagement with rewards. Ask fans to Like your Page, and you’ll enter their name in a drawing for a big discount, free service or gift card.
- Publish links to your blogs, videos, reports and other content on your website to generate traffic to your site.
- Ask questions to generate comments. Despite the fact that people often say “open-ended questions” reveal more information (true), simple yes or no questions actually take us into easy-to-answer territory. Even brief engagement from followers is useful in getting your post in front of others (including the friends’ news feeds of those who answer yes or no).