How to Promote Local Business on Facebook

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY CHERYL PHAN ON HER FAUX FINISHING BLOG

How to Find Local Business Through Facebook

FEBRUARY 24, 2018

What if I told you, you can promote your local business on Facebook without spending a dime? I DO IT all the time.

You’re probably thinking YA RIGHT? I’ve never heard of such a thing.

I get an average of 2-3 referrals every month just by posting the work I’ve done.

What I’m about to tell you is mind-blowing.

Did you know that there are over 2.2 billion people on Facebook and many of them live close to you and your business?

OH, and besides that Facebook is FREE and so is a business Facebook page. SCORE!

Before I tell you how you can use Facebook for local advertising, let me show you a few of the jobs I got just from posting on my FB business page…

Stained Staircase Rail | Cheryl Phan
Here’s one of the jobs I just completed from someone who found me on FB. Cha-Ching!

They were following me and seeing all the pictures I posted of my work and decided to reach out to me. These clients literally lived 8 minutes from me.

This is another project that I was commissioned to do.

This client found me because one of their friends shared my post on their page. Thank you, Jesus! and Facebook.

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION YET!?!?!

So, you’re probably asking “Is this going to cost me money?”

The answer is YES & NO

Let’s start with NO.

NO, you don’t have to spend money to start a Business FB page. It’s FREE
NO, you do not have to spend money
NO, you don’t have to have a huge following
NO, it doesn’t take a lot of time

Now here’s the YES!

Yes, you can pay to boost your post, but you don’t have to. There are other ways to find new customers without spending a dime.

Let me explain …

Attract new, local customers on Facebook For FREE

#1 Build a Business Facebook page

Make sure your profile picture is a picture of you, not your building or a product. People want to see you
Take nice pictures of your work. Pictures speak 1000 words. The optimal size is 1,200 x 630
Write engaging content. Tell them a little about the picture and ask them a question to get engagement
Engage with people who comment on your post. At the very least LIKE their comment. This is how people will get to know, like and trust you.
Ask your friend to LIKE and SHARE your posts. The more people who see your post, the better.
It only takes about 5-10 minutes a day.

Remember that kitchen makeover I showed you earlier. That was from a shared post.

Now I’ll address the $$ question

Yes, you can Boost your post (there is a small cost)

If you’re a local business and your income comes directly from your geographic area, it might be advantageous for you to spend a couple of dollars targeting your ideal clients in your geographic area.

Here’s how you can do that.

First tip: Don’t select the boost from FB. FB will not target your ideal customer. When you leave it up to them to boost a post it will go out to everyone. Everyone is not your ideal customer. That’s like shooting from the hip.

Here’s what I would suggest:

Go to your business page. At the top click on insights. You’re going to see a lot of stats, Ignore it. Scroll down to your most recent posts. It will look like this. BTW, (this is not mine) Look and see what posts had the most engagement.
Click on boost post.
Click: Edit and select the gender and age of your ideal client
Click on the: X (where it says United States) and add in your selected geographic area. The surrounding towns your serve.
Click: Include people that match one of the following. (For instance, if you’re in the decorative painting business like me, I select; people who watch HGTV, DIY etc.) Then save it

Budget and Duration

Put in the amount you want to spend
How many days do you want it to run 1 day, 7 days,14 days
Or put in the date you want it to run until in the box.
Then put in your payment options.

Facebook is a great tool for promoting your business. Not many things come free in life, so take advantage and get on the social media bandwagon

P.S. If you’re ready to turn your passion into a paycheck and struggle with how to use social media and tech to grow your business? Join my monthly FB group Empowering Women. I’ll show you the shortcuts.

Cheryl Phan