A Consultants Guide to using Facebook
If you are a consultant who provides professional services to business owners, there are ways to use Facebook to promote your business.
Facebook continues to be the most popular social networking platform with 91% of B2B marketers using Facebook (2019 Industry Research: Social Media Examiner). Here are some ways to reach your clients through Facebook so you can let them know you are in business, engage with them online, and build your reputation as a thought leader.
Getting Started with Facebook for Consultants
As an independent consultant, you want to set up a company page for your business. Creating a Facebook business page allows people to follow and/or like your page, add information about your business, get feedback/ratings, gather insights to the activity and more. Here is how to set up a Facebook business page - facebook.com/business/pages. You need to have a personal page to set up a business page, but that is only for administrative purposes. Your personal information is not public to your page visitors or followers.
As an independent consultant, you are your brand.
The first thing people see when visiting your page is your profile photo and cover photo. You want to make sure they see a photo of you, and they see your logo. The logo adds a level of professionalism and reinforces your brand as a consultant. For the profile photo of your company page, you can either use your logo or your professional profile photo. If you decide to use a logo in your professional profile pic, make sure it is formatted correctly (badge style) to fit inside the area and then incorporate a photo of yourself into the cover photo. A cover photo can easily be created in the correct size by using canva.com. If you decide to include your professional photo as the profile image, select a high-resolution image that represents your business and includes your logo and possibly a short tag line. Keep wording to a minimum.
Let them know about you and your Facebook community.
It is important to fill out the ABOUT section of your Facebook page as it lets people know a bit about your business, and what type of content and interactions to expect as part of your Facebook community. There is also a place to add your hours and contact information.
Now it is time to create content and start engaging with your audience! Make sure to create a few posts before promoting your business.
Also read: How to Know Your Audience
Here are some tips on how to drive traffic to your Facebook page
Have a link in your email signature
Include a link on your website
Paid promotion to build followers with Facebook Ads
Send an email to your clients
Do you offer digital downloads, webinars/events, e-book? A giveaway contest may be an option. Make sure to follow Facebook contest rules.
Create content that informs and encourages engagement.
Facebook provides a platform where consultants can share information to help their clients at various stages of the buying process. The content you share will help build your reputation as a thought leader in your industry which will help build trust for your clients to hire you. Once they trust that you know you are an expert in your field and the type of person they want to do business with, they often still need the information to help them build their business case. And don’t forget that once they are your client, continue to provide them with answers to their questions and other required support. Inspire your viewers to comment and share your content. The Facebook algorithm favours high engagement posts, bringing them in front of more people. Building a community takes time, but worth it. If people feel safe to be able to comment and trust the information enough to share it, they will stay around longer. Remember that this community is an extension of your business and an opportunity to add value to your clients. Post content, see what works, and adjust accordingly.
How often you post or what type of content (i.e. video, graphic, photo, article, blog, etc.) will depend on your content marketing strategy. Make sure whatever you decide to do, it supports your business goals, provides value to your clients, and can be done consistently.
Create a content plan
Set Goals - Make sure you know WHY you have a Facebook page, write it down, and set goals. Goals keep you motivated and give you milestones where you can measure success! Metrics to measure can include followers, number of post comments, etc.
Types of content - Mix up the kind of information you share (topics) and type of content (i.e. video, writing, photography, graphics, etc.).
Schedule Content - Make sure your schedule is manageable. If you haven’t been using Facebook, try posting once a week and then maybe up to 2-3x per week. Scheduling content is a way you can manage your time, and Facebook lets you do that with their content publishing feature.
Also read: Pick the Right Social Media Platforms for Your Business
Here are some ideas of what types of content you can share as a consultant.
Answer frequently asked questions
What are the most popular questions your clients ask? You can have these answers on your website, but you can also answer them on Facebook. You can write a blog then add them as a post on Facebook, schedule a weekly Facebook Live event where people send in their questions or record yourself telling the answer on Facebook stories. You can publish your live event after you are finished to leave it on your Facebook feed for others to see if they missed it.
Showcase your work
It is always good to have case studies of the work you’ve done published on your website. When you share these on Facebook as a post, you can put a direct link to the case study. In the comments section include a couple of sentences that highlight the job and make sure to @mention your clients. Always get permission from your clients before posting a case study and be sure to ask them for a testimonial. Other ways to use Facebook to promote your case study is by creating a short video. A short video can be as easy as putting together a group of photos, taking a video of the completed job, an interview with a client, behind the scenes of a project showing a work in progress, or a recording of yourself talking about a project. Visuals encourage engagement, so whenever possible, try and include photography and video. Try a series of posts while the work is in progress and mix it up with Facebook stories and posts. If you have a testimonial from a client, create a graphic with the quote and say thank-you to the client in your post (make sure to @mention them). Do you have a big release date for a project or publication? Try a Facebook live event! If there are media stories about your project, Facebook is an excellent place to share these stories. Be sure to add in your comments in the post area when you share the article on social media.
Also read: How to Write a Case Study
Share and offer insights on industry news, trends and research
As a thought leader and trusted advisor, your clients look to you for the most up to date information to help them make their buying decisions. As part of your Facebook content strategy, share industry news, trends, and research articles as a post and offer a key highlight of the article in the post area. A post should only be 2-3 sentences long. Hashtags are not as popular on Facebook, but they are used. People can search on hashtags in Facebook to look for topics of interest to them. To mix up the type of content shared, try creating an infographic of some latest statistics. Write a blog with insights of the latest trends or research and share on your page. Don’t forget to include Facebook stories as options to share this information.
Facebook Events
If you are putting on free webinars, events, or seminars, as an expert in your field, Facebook events are a great way to promote your event. You can learn more about how to create an event here. If you are a guest speaker, make sure you let the organizer know your Facebook page name, so they tag you as a co-organizer. It will help with the promotion as it will extend to both Facebook audiences. Facebook events are free, but you can also add a few budget dollars behind promoting the event to extend your reach. Facebook makes it easy to ‘boost’ your event with a simple click of a button next to your event.
Create some hype before your event! To promote your event leading up to the big day, try adding some posts in your newsfeeds and stories.
Create a countdown to your event with a series of graphics that include - “1 week to go!” “2 days left to register” “24 hours to the event!”
Create a video of yourself telling your viewers what they will see by joining the event
Post a poll to see what is the greatest challenge or burning question they would like answered at the event
Ask if there are any questions people want answered at your event.
As you can see, there are quite a few advantages of having a Facebook page as a consultant. If your ideal client is on Facebook, having a business page gives the opportunity to inform and connect with your audience as well as build your reputation as a thought-leader. If you already have a personal Facebook page, having a business and personal life separate.
No time like the present to get started with Facebook
Take the time to put together a plan on how you want to use Facebook before getting started. Make sure to consider your Facebook strategy within your entire digital marketing plan in the area of brand consistency across all platforms and how you will share your content across all your channels. Social media requires a strategy, but it is never perfect. Get started posting your branded content consistently and respond to comments and direct messages. Learn what works and continue to adapt as you learn.
