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Social Media :: Utilizing Facebook

Friday, September 13, 2019

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Social Media :: Utilizing Facebook

Establishing social media pages for your livestock operation is almost a must in today’s day and age. While most of us obviously go to leader in all things social media, Facebook, we can often times over look the importance of also launching an Instagram page or even having a presence on Snapchat. With all of these social media tools, there are a lot of Do’s and Don’ts to keep in mind as well. So how are you supposed to navigate to social media marketing world? Below are some tips to consider and think about when using Facebook to advertise and market your brand.

CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY, CONSISTENCY

With so many different platforms (Website, E-Blast, Facebook, Instagram, Print Ads, Etc.) it can be pretty easy for your brand and marketing to become muddled. What we mean by that is if you don’t prioritize staying consistent in your messaging and branding across ALL areas, your brand won’t become as strong and recognizable to the people who come across it on a daily basis. Once you have decided on a logo and colors, you have to stick to those! Graphics and designs that are used on your website, should cross over and be implemented on your social media pages. You need to create one unifying theme that will resonate with customers and clients. The ultimate goal is for people to know who you are based off a design or ad, without even needing to read your name or see your logo.

So how do we accomplish this on social media? People tend to argue that posting the same thing across multiple platforms becomes redundant, and while this may hold true at times, the truth is that the repetitiveness is actually stamping your brand and look into people’s minds. When you are creating content for social media, it should fall in line with the same look, feel and verbiage that anyone would see elsewhere from your brand. And yes, what you post on Facebook should also be posted on Instagram. But we will get into other forms of social media marketing in next week’s blog post.

Creating content that replicates what is seen on a website or a print ad can be difficult if you aren’t a graphic designer, but most any marketing professional today offers social media management services, and this maybe something for you and your operation to look into if you are struggling to form a consistent look!

Launching your Facebook Page

Let’s talk about launching your business Facebook page. Your brand/logo should be used as your profile picture. It will be the first thing people associate with your Facebook page and the image that resonates the strongest with them! After that, determining what to place as a cover photo can be challenging. This image will be the first large branding piece that people see when visiting your page. Initially, having a graphic with names, contact information and even your website url, maybe helpful in letting people know who you are or how to learn more about your brand.

What do I post?

In order to answer this question, you need to first know what your goal is with marketing on Facebook. Is it for people to get to know you? Are you trying to sell pigs? Do you want to advertise winners? More than likely, it is probably a combination of all of the above! Your content needs to reflect your goals. In the beginning, you may want to give background and pictures reflecting your brand and the people behind it. As time goes on and people have your face established with your brand, you can then focus more on advertising your sale pigs and posting pictures of potential winners. Once you have reached a certain point in your Facebook marketing, creating a calendar to plan out some of your posts or content can be extremely helpful.

Do I need to create content?

During certain times of the year, sale season in particular, you will have a lot of content to post, but it is important to remember that you need to consistently post content throughout the year. This gives you an opportunity to highlight foundation sows, boars or even the juniors that maybe exhibiting your livestock. This is when it is important to create the content that continues to keep people engaging with your page. During busy times, you may be posting to Facebook between 5-6 times a week. During slower times, you should still be posting 2-3 times a week to keep people following your brand and your story. *HELPFUL POSTING TIP*: Posting during the week will get more engagement than posting on the weekend!

What is boosting? How does it work?

We often get asked what boosting a post on Facebook means and how does it help you. Well first and foremost, in order to boost a post, you should ensure that there isn’t text covering more than 20% of the image you are promoting. Previously, Facebook wouldn’t allow you to boost these images, and while they sometimes allow it now, your post won’t be as successful when boosting if it contains a lot of text and Facebook will send a warning about the amount of text contained in an image.

Boosted posts, just like many of the things we have talked about, should have a goal in mind. Each boosted post should have a clear and concise message, directing people to take an action. When boosting, you are given two options; get more likes or get people to message you. If you are trying publicize a winner, it would be best to try to get more likes and engagement, meanwhile, if you are trying to sell pigs, you may want people to directly message or contact you. The amount you decide to spend is entirely up to you. The more you spend, however, the more engagement you will get. Typically, posts that are boosted for an extended period of time will be the most successful. Plan to make a post and boost it, depending on the event or item you are advertising, for anywhere between 3-10 days.

Struggling with putting together a social media plan? Don’t know how to manage your Facebook content? Let showpig.com help! Contact the Showpig.com team and let us help you get started!

Katey Brattain 765-720-2769

Stacey Watje 209-604-2542

Emily Miller 419-575-5999

Taylor Miller 419-822-1796