Having a small marketing budget may seem discouraging when it comes to trying to earn attention on Facebook. Facebook’s algorithm changes over the last few years have made it more difficult to gain exposure by only posting on your business page. Depending on the number of likes and followers, you may only be getting 1–2 likes per post. You may be tempted to ditch Facebook all together.
Time spent on Facebook per user per day: 20+ minutes
Don’t do it. Don’t ditch Facebook. These statistics should help you understand the opportunities available.
Facebook monthly active users: 2.2 billion
Facebook daily active users: 1.47 billion
Percentage of US adults over age 50 that use Facebook: 50%
Percentage of US adults aged 25–49 that use Facebook: 80%
Share of US Internet users, aged 14–17 that use Facebook: 65%
Percentage of millennials (15–34 year-olds) that use Facebook: 91%
Time spent on Facebook per user per day: 20+ minutes
Percentage of active Facebook users that visit it multiple times a day: 51%
Tapping into Facebook gives you access to more customers.
Facebook still has the attention of many people around the world. This is especially key if you’re an e-commerce business. You can’t ignore the opportunities it presents. That being said, here are four ways you can drive traffic on Facebook on a low budget:
Stick to a schedule: Human beings love and find comfort in predictability. One of the ways to do that for both current customers and potential customers is to stick to a content schedule. You can do this by creating a content calendar with a layout of the posts you plan to share on Facebook. Each post shared needs to have a purpose. This purpose can be anything from encouraging followers to sharing a video as a way to enter a giveaway to notifying followers of a limited time offer.
Sticking to a schedule will help you be consistent.
After you’ve determined what types of posts you will share, schedule each post on Facebook using the Facebook scheduling tool. Using this simple tool will allow you to auto-publish content throughout the week which will save you time.
If you’re wondering how often you post, the question you should ask yourself is, “How much time am I willing to put in?” We recommend posting three times a week whether it’s Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. Remember that the key is sustainability. Don’t do more than you’re actually willing to do. It’ll lead to burnout and frustration.
Experiment with $5 to $10: Just because you don’t have a $1,000,000 budget doesn’t mean you can use Facebook Ads. One of the best things about Facebook for businesses is how easy it is to set up and run an ad. Putting ad spend behind a Facebook post is called “boosting.” When you boost a post, you set the budget and duration of time the ad will run. You can put ad spend behind any post you’ve created from videos to a photo album. The minimum ad spend required is $1/day.
For as little as a $1/day, you can advertise on Facebook.
Depending on your goals, you can boost posts with the main goal of getting more likes and comments. You can also boost posts that are focused purely on getting Facebook users to click on a website link you’ve shared.
Facebook Live videos: Facebook puts priority on Facebook Live videos. Say your normal reach per post, is 15 people or 100 people. A Facebook Live video will often get a multiple of your usual numbers. This can mean the amount of people reached can go from 15 to 200 or 100 to 600. We know this because it worked for our Facebook pages.
Are you not sure what to talk about on Facebook Live? Here are a few topics you can tailor to your own business:
3 ways to create the perfect winter outfit with [insert you products here].
How to save time and money to doing these three things
Here’s a sneak peek at our winter catalog
Your Facebook Live videos don’t need to be long. They can be as short as 60 seconds if that is what works best for you. Keep the video moving and focus on creating value for your customers.
Create a Facebook Group: Do you have a Facebook Group for your fans to hang out? Creating a Facebook Group is an effective way to build a community around your brand. Facebook tends to reward group activity with better organic reach than business pages will receive at times. You’ll provide an environment for your customers and clients to share and exchange ideas and help each other provide solutions to the problems they’re dealing with. You will also be able to stay on top of the latest trends and conversational topics in your industry.
Invest in your brand’s community with a Facebook group.
For more on Facebook groups, visit this link for more on how to run a Facebook group.
Now that you know how to drive traffic from Facebook on a low budget, start implementing these tips. You’ll be able to benefit from Facebook’s massive user base and achieve your business goals!