With more than 2.2 billion users worldwide as of 2017, Facebook is undoubtedly the biggest social network on the web today. And although the site has undergone drastic changes since its introduction in 2004, most users still primarily utilize the service to connect them to friends, family, and the world at large – including the businesses around them.
Conveniently, Facebook’s evolution has also made it an invaluable platform for business owners. Thousands of businesses have incorporated Facebook as a core pillar of their online marketing strategy, using it to fuel and drive their continued growth.
Although the future is never quite certain, it would seem that Facebook is here to stay. Businesses that have mastered Facebook as a versatile marketing tool will likely continue to reap the rewards. And for those that haven’t – well, it’s never too late to start!
From us at Yocale to you – here’s how to win over new clients with the power of Facebook appointment booking!
Look Good Online With A Facebook Business Page
Because many people use Facebook to browse and interact with local businesses, setting up and maintaining a Facebook business page is a fantastic way to draw in new clients.
In fact, once you’ve set up a Facebook page for your business, it practically markets itself!
Take Facebook check-ins, for example – many Facebook users love broadcasting their locations as a way of sharing their favourite spots with family and friends. These Facebook check-ins don’t just serve as flattery, either – they’re essentially free marketing for your business and can potentially score you dozens of new clients!
Why miss out? With a Facebook business page, anyone can tag your business in their status updates, which will include some of your business details in their post.
From here, the user’s friends and family can get a quick look at the name and location of your business. Most importantly, they can easily click through to your business page where they’ll be able to view more details such as your hours and user reviews.
Keep in mind that Facebook makes your business look good across a wide range of platforms and devices, too!
We mention this because often, this isn’t the case with other business websites – which can be unoptimized or just downright clunky. However, because Facebook is well-optimized for desktop and mobile, you can rest assured that your business will be well-represented across nearly any user interface.
In general, Facebook presents your business to new clients in a professional and upstanding manner, featuring any pictures or videos you’ve included on your page prominently. And of course, once your page has satisfied one’s curiosity, Facebook makes it effortless for users to book with you in seconds!
An Invaluable Online Marketing Tool
Even though an estimated half of internet users have a Facebook account, it’s likely true that a sizeable portion of your prospective clients isn’t exactly made up of Facebook devotees.
So, you might be wondering – is it worth expending the effort to market your business via Facebook? After all, there are many other marketing channels out there.
Well, despite the fact that only half of internet users have a Facebook account, a whopping 92% of US internet users do use search engines. And that’s another reason why taking the time to set up a Facebook booking page is likely time well-spent.
Why? Well, as you might know, online marketing centres around creating visibility for your brand or business across as many channels as possible.
Simply put – the more reach, the better.
And with a Facebook business page, your business gets another search-engine-optimized listing across search engines like Google and Yahoo. Because Facebook pages generally rank highly on these sites, a potential client that’s searching for your business – even if they’re not a Facebook user – is very likely to be pointed in the direction of your Facebook page.
This is good because once a user lands on your page, Facebook doesn’t require them to have an account to view your business details. They’ll be able to browse through your user reviews and photos just like any other Facebook user would be able to.
So what’s the advantage here?
Well, in the process of doing so, your Facebook page may prove very persuasive from a marketing angle. Ensure that your “book now” button is functioning, and who knows – in a matter of minutes, you might have a new client on your hands!
But one thing is for sure – none of this is possible without a Facebook business page.
Thankfully, getting one up-and-running is free and takes little effort, so don’t miss out!
Incentivize New Business With Social Proofing
Have you ever bought into a brand or purchased a product because others had done the same? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, psychological science has deemed this phenomenon “social proofing” – and marketing teams are having a field day integrating it into their respective marketing strategies.
The general idea of social proofing is that we’re drawn to nearly anything – products, services, events – if its value is corroborated by the people and culture around us. Simply put, we love to follow the crowd.
And, as it turns out, fewer platforms provide better social proofing than Facebook – or more specifically, Facebook pages.
After all, even just a quick glance at a Facebook business page reveals some social proofing at work. For instance, user metrics like page likes and follows give us a glimpse at a business’s overall customer favour.
Dig a little deeper, and you’ll likely notice that Facebook provides many other outlets for social proofing, too. As an example, Facebook users can recount their experiences with a business’s particular services or staff members via user reviews – all of which are tallied and averaged into an overall “star rating.”
To a potential customer, a Facebook business page devoid of any reviews looks suspicious. However, a Facebook page filled with dozens of glowing reviews makes any business shine – and drastically increases the chances of new clients clicking that shiny “book now” button.
Once you’ve set up your Facebook business page, you can maximize the marketing value of your user feedback by featuring select reviews, too. Doing so will serve to “boost” the signal of your social proofing and may catch the eye of your page visitors in case they skip out on browsing your reviews.
Most businesses do this by screenshotting a review and essentially “re-posting” it as a status update on their page, complete with a caption.
You can also find similar – or even greater – success by posting customer testimonial photos featuring your in-person clients. Just make sure to ask for their permission first before snapping that pic!
A Social “Hub” For Your Business
Beyond social proofing, a Facebook business page also provides your visitors with a friendly, social glimpse into the community you’ve built around your business and services.
Facebook, in particular, does this better than most other social media platforms because every piece of user activity on a business page comes attached with a real name that represents a real customer.
In essence, a Facebook business page is an open “forum” for your business – and that resonates with your users, both new and old. Users can start discussions, ask questions, and share their experiences – all of which centre around your business.
And for new or prospective clients, all this social buzz that builds around your business can be exciting. We mentioned social proofing earlier in this post, and it certainly applies here!
You don’t have to leave it to your users to keep your Facebook business page alive and kicking, though. In fact, you’re more likely to see your user engagement skyrocket by stoking the flame of activity yourself!
For starters, many appointment-based businesses make a point of updating their page with that day or week’s schedule, while including a compelling statistic like “there are only three timeslots left this week!”
While it might seem archaic to manually post details about your business’s schedule in this age of digital automation, this strategy actually serves as cleverly targeted marketing.
In particular, schedule update posts do two things.
For one, they create an opportunity for personalized user engagement by reaching out to your page’s members directly. In addition, they market your services with urgency by emphasizing the limited-time nature of your schedule.
These are two marketing components that you typically won’t find with a standard “book now” button. And while it’s always good to have a CTA button you can count on, adding in manual appointment reminders is a sure-fire way to diversify your marketing game and capture the attention of new clients!
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While these strategies are just the tip of the marketing iceberg, we hope that we’ve succinctly demonstrated the remarkable value of a Facebook page for your business!
Thankfully, Facebook marketing falls into the category of “easy to learn, hard to master” – so there are countless other in-depth tactics out there that may work wonders. That said, the tips we’ve covered today should get your business moving in the right direction.
Thanks for reading! And for more ideas, don’t forget to keep up with us here at the Yocale blog, five days a week!