Knowing what to do with your business’ Facebook page can be a difficult task. You know you need to post and engage with your audience, but you don’t necessarily know what to post or even how often to post. When used correctly, Facebook can be a powerful tool to build relationships and even drive leads. To help make sure you are getting the most out of your business’ Facebook presence, we’ve compiled a list of the top nine Facebook marketing ideas every business should use.

1. Update your profile thoroughly

One of the easiest things your business can do to improve its Facebook presence is also something many businesses neglect to do—thoroughly complete your profile. You should start by filling the About Your Page section, adding your web address, and uploading a profile picture. But that’s only the beginning.

Once you have filled out the basic information about your business, you should go into the settings of your page and update the Page Info. This will allow you to add information about when your business was founded, your address and contact information, as well as a longer description of your business and your company mission.

2. Know your audience

Not many things are more frustrating than creating what you think is an awesome piece of content that doesn’t seem to resonate or garner the number of likes or shares you think it should. Oftentimes, this happens because you didn’t take the time to really know and understand the audience you were trying to reach.

Luckily, Facebook has a number of internal tools that can help you have a better grasp on the people connected to your page. In addition, you can create custom audiences to make sure your targeted posts are reaching the right individuals, allowing you to maximize your spend on Facebook. You’ll be able to see things like age, gender, education level, job titles, and even relationship status.

3. Build a funnel

You might not think that Facebook can be an effective lead source for your business, but it’s much more efficient than other online options available to you. For example, the average cost-per-click for on Adwords is $2.32, compared to just $0.64 on Facebook.

And the beauty of advertising on Facebook, according to Neil Patel, is how versatile it is. It can help with relationship building, improve interactions while also driving traffic to either your Facebook page or your actual webpage. The key is knowing how to utilize it to your advantage to help build up your sales funnel and actually capture leads that turn into new customers. In this blog post, Patel walks you through what you need to do to build up that funnel to maximize your efforts on Facebook.

4. Create Targeted Ads

Another Facebook marketing idea that you should consider implementing is targeted Facebook ads. Facebook Ad Manager makes it super easy for you to set up an ad campaign that reaches the right audience for your business.

5. Optimize posting times

If you want to ensure consumers are engaging with your Facebook posts, you need to identify the optimal posting times for your audience. According to Hootsuite the best time to post on Facebook is between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and on Saturday and Sunday between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. But make sure you are monitoring your post engagement regularly to determine exactly which times are best for you.

6. Dictate the conversation

Another good Facebook marketing idea that will improve your online presence is making sure that you are dictating the conversation that’s happening about your business on Facebook. Ask your audience questions and post about topics that are relevant to not only your business but your audience as well. Just make sure your content is fresh and updated on a regular basis.

The number of times you should post varies depending on the size of your audience as well as whether you desire engagement or clicks to your website. Patel suggests in an article on Forbes that if your business has a smaller following and you want more clicks, posting 1-5 times per month will result in double the amount of traffic. However, if you are posting a few times per week, your engagement will increase.

7. Use catchy imagery

Another way to increase engagement on your posts is by taking the time to find eye-catching images. People love to like and comment on pictures, especially funny or inspiring images or even images that capture what your business is all about. Posts with images are 40x more likely to get shared than any other type of content.

8. Manage your reputation

The way that consumers research and find your business has changed significantly in recent years. Now, instead of relying on your marketing and advertising or recommendations from their friends or family, they are turning to online reviews.

Facebook has made reviews a key component of its profiles for local businesses. If you want your business to stand out from your competitors, you should actively seek feedback and reviews from your customers on Facebook. This process can be streamlined by implementing an online review management platform like the one offered by Podium. The right platform will eliminate barriers that previously inhibited your customers from leaving a review and should result in a significant increase in reviews to your profile.

9. Interact with Facebook Messenger

When customers choose to interact with your business, they want to do it on their terms. Now, that means via some sort of messenger app, whether that be SMS text messaging or third-party messaging apps like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.

Making it possible for customers to interact with your business through Facebook Messenger is a simple and convenient way for you to build relationships with customers. Using Facebook Messenger is also a discrete channel to resolve concerns, solve problems, or even just answer simple questions your customers might have.

Facebook Marketing Strategy: 9 Ideas Every Business Should Use

Ready to grow?