November 21, 2019

2020 guide to Facebook marketing

Digital Strategy

Facebook Advertising

Facebook: the biggest social network in the world. Two billion users, 66% of whom use the site daily. And you, your company, your clients and your potential users.

How can you increase your conversions and make the best use of Facebook for your business? With engaging content, prime position in the News Feed, hints and tips and the latest trends to follow in 2020, we present our complete guide to help you succeed on Facebook.

Stories: the new News Feeds

Stories need no real introduction. An ephemeral form of content which first appeared on Snapchat, they’ve seen a resurgence in popularity and reached a new audience thanks to Instagram and, since last year, Facebook. However, their potential often still remains untapped by brands in their communications with their audience.

Now that stories are also available for pages, there’s no excuse not to use them! This is true for several reasons.

First, stories’ strategic position at the top of the News Feed means that they are often the first thing the user clicks on, especially in the Facebook app.

The second and most important advantage offered by the stories is the fact that once they’re in, the user is “trapped” psychologically. Indeed, if you’re a fan of stories yourself, you will have seen that the autoplay function is a very powerful tool. After you’ve viewed one story, you’re taken directly to the next one, unless you manage to get over the psychological barrier of the “Back” button.

On desktop too, stories are showcased clearly, above the new content in the News Feed. It’s therefore not surprising that we’re now referring to them as “the new News Feed”.

Source: Digital Information World

In fact, we could go so far as to say that stories have changed the way people consume video content, as the format is no longer restricted to landscape orientation as it was before.

Ephemeral content: Facebook Live

Live content on Facebook is still just as present, occupying a prime position among the stories.

Source: Sprout Social

A study conducted by Social Insider has found that live streaming leads to an increase in engagement!

Why is this? Well, it’s probably because during a Live broadcast, users can react directly using one of six emojis, or even by commenting on the video, thus drastically increasing the engagement rate.

Interaction is always key!

As we explained in our article on this subject, interaction forms the basis for your sales. More interaction means potential clients who are more interested and more involved, and therefore more likely to turn to your products or services.

Some ways to interact more with your users on Facebook include by running Live broadcasts, posting stories, posting regularly, running competitions (“tag and share”-style), posting video content and using messenger bots.

Increasing interaction also offers another advantage: it gives you a super-precise analysis of what your clients want.

Take the time to communicate with them and understand what strikes a chord with them with regard to the products and/or services you offer. This will allow you to adapt your offering and marketing accordingly.

You can never have too much video

To put it simply, what are you waiting for? Investing in video content guarantees that you’ll see your click rate soar.

And not investing in video content means you’ll risk seeing your online advertising investment crumble! A study conducted by Cisco found that up to 82% of the content on social networking platforms could be in video form by 2022, which is… Tomorrow, or almost.

Search Engine Journal sums the situation up as follows: “Among the next generation of soon-to-be-adults, visual social media reigns supreme.” So, if you haven’t done so already, take a look at our article on this subject!

One fact, however, needs to be highlighted: the length of the video is less important than the relevance and quality of the content. Pages like Brut and the World Economic Forum have decided to specialise in short, hard-hitting videos with subtitles which they post on Facebook.

Source: World Economic Forum

Increased customisation of pages

Let’s start with the cover photo. This is the shop window for your page, the first things users see on your site. A cover photo is another name for a fantastic advertising banner!

It’s likely that you use your commercial window to proudly showcase your latest products, services or promotions. On Facebook, you just need the opportunity to do the same, and you have exactly that! Far too many pages fail to take advantage of this: make the most of it to stand out from the crowd!

The second element of customising your pages is the on-page CTA. You might have already noticed the blue button in the photo above, which you can configure to direct towards a particular page on your site!

Whether you modify your homepage to correspond to the banner, or adapt the link for this CTA, don’t miss the opportunity to redirect potential clients towards your (new) products or services.

Let’s talk about influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a recognised term now, but it doesn’t always have a positive ring to it. We’ve all seen big Instagram, Facebook and YouTube accounts promoting products left, right and centre, which sometimes seem extremely random.

However, we think that influencers really can help your business, providing that they take things seriously. Here are our recommendations.

Unless you’re a large company with unlimited means, it’s best to work with several influencers, each with their own niche. Next, make sure that your products are showcased in the best possible way. Choose influencers who use your products themselves, because they will connect best with your target audience, who will relate to them.

For example, a number of exceptional hotel establishments work with Canadian Scott C. Bakken, who showcases their products on his Instagram account. And it works in exactly the same way on Facebook!

Source : Instagram

Be inspired…

We’re not asking you to be inspired like a poet or writer faced with a blank sheet of paper. Quite the contrary – all great artists look for inspiration.

Follow big accounts which spend millions on digital marketing and copy their best practices. How often does Apple post? What about Adidas? What industry are you in, and what is the leading company within it? If something works for them, learn from it and apply their techniques.

… and stay attentive

Finally, stay attentive to the latest market trends. In marketing, the first rule of Ries and Trout’s timeless “22 immutable laws” is to be the first in your product or service category.

What if you used this rule by keeping track of developments in virtual reality, for example? Imagine the impact it could have on your business if you developed and broadcast a VR ad using Oculus.

This is all the more relevant for Generations Y and Z who are true digital natives, and as they get older, technology will always be adopted and developed more quickly.

If you’re not convinced that virtual reality is for you, you can always create a buzz by making your own lenses on social media! Snapchat today, Facebook Messenger tomorrow…!

Source: The Sun. Facebook Horizon, the virtual world of the future

2020, the year of personalisation

We’ve all seen Amazon’s personalised homepage, offering us all sorts of product recommendations.

Source: Amazon

One of the reasons for Amazon’s success, and for the success of Facebook in general, is this power of personalisation, this ability to show us things that are unique to us.

On your level and on social media, how can you increase the amount of personalisation? We think the answer lies in increased targeting and retargeting. Indeed, offering your audience more personalised messages is one of the keys to showing your prospective clients content that’s relevant to them.

Depending on the type of post, also remember to modify your landing pages. This is a fairly simple tip to implement, but something that far too many companies still fail to do. For more information about this, contact us!

To finish, let’s talk about Instagram and its strategy which allows you to share content with selected friends only, or “close friends”. An increasing number of influencers are allowing people to access this list and benefit from exclusive content. Will this phenomenon spread to Facebook? We’ll see what happens in 2020.

A final word

We’re now in 2020 and Facebook is no longer the only social network in our digital world. Platforms which were once quite niche, such as TikTok, which was initially very popular with young people in China, are now taking on the European markets.

So, think about boosting your digital activities on the other platforms too!