Social media marketing is nothing new. It’s been around for years at this point. However, it can be challenging to master for small business owners, particularly if you’ve got more pressing things to do than sit on Facebook or Twitter and promote your business.
However, you must maintain your Facebook Page and engage with your audience. The good news is that the right tools can make that a lot easier. In this guide, we’ll talk about the best Facebook Page add-ons and what they bring to you.
Before we tackle the list of the best Facebook Page add-ons for small businesses, let’s address the elephant in the room. Do you really need Facebook in the first place? Isn’t it enough to build a website, claim your Google Business Profile, and do some basic digital marketing?
In a word, no. Here’s a look at why you can’t afford to ignore Facebook.
As you can see, Facebook is a must-have for any small business owner. It’s an increasingly common way for your customers to learn about your products or services, but it’s also a vital communication channel to keep your brand top of mind for existing customers. Of course, that doesn’t make it any easier to carve out the time necessary to manage your Page or to handle the myriad of other tasks related to building and maintaining a successful Facebook presence.
That’s where add-ons can help. We’ve got a list of the most effective add-ons to help you manage your small business’s presence on Facebook.
Before you can get into all the add-ons and features that will enhance your profile, you have to get the basic page setup in order.
The single most important tool to help make using the platform easier is the Meta Business suite. This tool is available both online (which gives you more robust features and tools) and on your mobile device. There’s a native version for both iOS and Android users and they’re free. The app will allow you to track customers, visitor activity, insights, and more. Plus, this app will allow you to manage as many as 50 pages at once, so if you have a couple of different ones for your company, you can streamline it and keep track of them all in one place.
Want to take the pulse of your audience? Get feedback on an idea? Need to find out where to host your next big event? Audience surveys are what you need and SurveyMonkey is one of the tools available to help you create and share surveys through your Facebook Page. You can also use it to send surveys and polls to your email contacts, making it a great tool for email marketing. There are others out there, too, like Woobox and Wishpond if you prefer.
We just mentioned Woobox about surveys, but it’s a multi-use tool that lets you do many things. One of those is creating custom tabs for your small business’s Facebook page. With tabs, you can create dedicated pages for whatever you want, including new products and services, branded games, and so much more. With Woobox, you can customize the tab’s aesthetic and ensure that it ties in with your brand. There’s also a feature called “Fangate”, which requires people to like your page to access any additional tabs. That’s a great option if you’re trying to expand your audience on Facebook.
Finally, we have one of the most important add-ons for businesses in the retail/sales world. You can add eCommerce tools to your Facebook Page for business, including Shopify, BigCommerce, and others. This way, people can shop directly with your company, and you can run targeted ad campaigns to find the best audiences. This is a great way to connect your eCommerce with your social profiles and optimization efforts and keep everything streamlined for potential customers.
Hootsuite is just one example of a scheduling and management tool that allows you to prep and set up Facebook posts in advance and on a set schedule. You can use it for Facebook and other social networks. It saves time and allows you to schedule posts outside of working hours so that you can reach the right audiences at the right time. If you want to post a weekend sale and you’re out of the office on the weekends, for example, this could be a great way to do it.
Tools that help you manage your Facebook Page for business are going to revolutionize the way that you do things. It offers a level of automation that every company can benefit from.
Facebook Live allows companies (and users) to stream videos like a live broadcast as they arehappening. This can be ideal for companies who are trying to build their brandand have something to share. While any videos are a good choice for your page,live videos can definitely make people feel more engaged and show that yourbusiness is a real, personable entity. Make sure you practice first so that youdon’t end up with filming snafus, of course.
While reels and live videos are popular on Facebook, you can’t neglect the role that static imagery plays on the platform. Adobe Spark lets you create evocative cover photos at no cost, ensuring that you can change your cover as necessary to tie into sales, campaigns, and other events. While the base version is free, you can choose a paid membership to get access to more tools and capabilities.
If your goal is to increase visibility through social media, then you need to count on an increase in the need to communicate. Handling phone calls, fielding emails, and all the rest can take you away from your primary mission, however. That’s where Smith.ai can help.
Our virtual receptionists can streamline your communications, ensuring that every call and email is answered by a genuine human while you focus on building your business. From acting as your 24/7 answering service to setting appointments, handling outbound callbacks, and more, we ensure that you enjoy the best possible customer engagement.
Isn’t it time you had a trusted partner to handle your communications? Schedule a consultation or reach out to us at hello@smith.ai with any questions or needs you may have.