Facebook is a valuable social platform for every business!

By Patrick O’Neill, 4th year Digital Media & Society Student

As a fourth year student of BSc (Hons) in Digital Media and Society at GMIT, I have spent extensive time investigating the best options to provide your business with a strong online presence.

Karola Karlson is a freelance marketer and a contributor to blogs like Kissmetrics, HubSpot, and Content Marketing Institute. In her article, on Social Media Examiner, you will discover a five-step plan for promoting blog posts on Facebook. She states that Facebook posts that catch peoples attention have the same qualities, such as a catchy headline and a design that draws your eye.

Source: Karola Karlson – http://bit.ly/2B6D6Ol

How to target specialised audiences with Facebook Ads is what Alen Barysevich, @ab80 the Chief Marketing Officer atLink-Assistant.com talks about in his article from Social Media Examiner. Here, he gives a very descriptive overview of using Facebook Ads to reach your target audience. He will show you, how to Create a Saved Audience of Your Ideal Customer Demographics. The image below depicts this.

Source: Alen Barysevich – http://bit.ly/2zVAHIS

Jennifer Sneeden  works with therapists, counselors and psychologists who are sick of earning less than they are worth and totally ready to build thriving, 6-figure private practices. In her article in Thriving Therapy Practice, she gives a great example of how she uses Facebook to drive her business and it has been her number one source for clients since 2010. She says that your Facebook Ads and your website should work in conjunction with each other.

Source: Thriving therapy Practice – http://bit.ly/2ka6sYZ

From my research, I have identified three tips to keep in mind when using Facebook to develope your online marketing strategy:

1. Identify your ideal customer:
   Create a fictional persona of your ideal customer. Envision your ideal customer as an avatar and give it a name. As an example you could imagine how many kids it has, its age or what it does on the weekend. By creating an avatar of your one prefect listener you can help narrow your niche to the audience members you are trying to reach.
2. Choose your timing:
   Sharing your blog articles on Facebook at the right time to the right audience will significantly improve your post’s reach. If you’re also able to write compelling copy and use an eye-catching design, you’re bound to succeed.
3. One size does not fit all:
   The key here, the takeaway is know the ask that is appropriate for the audience that you are marketing to. Your will  need to have the appropriate objective for this specific group; that you are marketing too.

Patrick O’Neill is in the final year of his BSc (Hons) in Digital Media and Society Course at GMIT, Mayo. He also holds a Degree for BSc in IT Administration. He has a keen interest in Digital Media/Marketing and Information Technology. This blog is being submitted as part of a practical element in related to hi