Splashy video-first platforms like TikTok get talked about more than old timer Facebook, but Facebook marketing is critical for businesses in 2024. With over three billion active monthly users<\/a>, Facebook is still the world\u2019s most-used social platform<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t let clickbait news headlines sway you: Gen Z and Millennials are<\/em> using Facebook. People ages 25-34 are Facebook\u2019s largest audience<\/a>, closely followed by those 18-24 years old.<\/p>\n Marketing on Facebook doesn\u2019t have to cost a lot, either. Whether you\u2019re just starting out with social media marketing or you\u2019ve had a Facebook Page since 2007, these tips will get you the best possible Facebook marketing ROI.<\/p>\n Facebook marketing is promoting your company or brand on the Facebook platform. Facebook marketing grows your audience, brings in leads and sales, and establishes your brand.<\/p>\n Specific types of Facebook marketing for businesses include:<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Schedule posts, answer messages, and manage ads from one place. Then, show off your results in beautiful reports. It\u2019s so easy.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart free 30-day trial<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n To start marketing on Facebook, you need to set up a Facebook Page. Your Page is the foundation of everything: it\u2019s where your audience will follow you and it enables you to try advanced Facebook marketing features, like paid ads, should you want to.<\/p>\n To get the most out of Facebook marketing for your business, you should:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s walk through how to do each of these.<\/p>\n To set up a business Facebook Page, you\u2019ll need to use your personal Facebook account. Log in to Facebook and click the menu icon<\/strong> at the top right next to your profile photo. Then click on Pages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Click Create a new profile or Page<\/strong> at the top left. Fill in your business name, category, and description. You\u2019ll see a preview of your Page on the right. Click Create Page<\/strong> and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n Your Page is now live, but you can continue to add details like contact information, website URL, and more. Check out our Facebook Page optimization guide<\/a> for how to connect it to your Instagram account, add a Page admin, and other useful tips.<\/p>\n To verify your Facebook Business Page, you need to meet certain criteria<\/a>, like either being a recognizable individual (e.g. in the public eye) or well-known brand.<\/p>\n Verified Facebook Pages have the blue check icon next to their names, reassuring your audience you are who you say you are.<\/p>\n Not super famous but still want that lil\u2019 blue check? There\u2019s a new option: subscribing to Meta Verified<\/a>, a paid subscription any business or creator can sign up for to get a checkmark on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.<\/p>\n The plan comes with impersonation protection, access to Meta support personnel, and rather vaguely phrased \u201cfeatures to help with discovery.\u201d<\/a> Subscribing doesn\u2019t require you to be \u201crecognizable,\u201d but you do still need to meet eligibility requirements<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even if you don\u2019t plan to use paid Facebook ads right now, it\u2019s a good idea to get your Meta Ads account set up so it\u2019s ready to use when or if you do.<\/p>\n To enable your ads account, login to Facebook with the profile that has admin access to your Facebook Page, then go to Meta Ads Manager<\/a>. Before you can run any ads, you\u2019ll have to add your business and payment information.<\/p>\n Alternatively, you can also add this information inside Meta Business Suite<\/a>. Go to Settings (the gear icon)<\/strong>, then Billing and payments<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see your ad account(s) listed. Click View details<\/strong>. Facebook will alert you if you need to add any missing info to complete your ads account set up. Check everything for accuracy, add a payment method, and you\u2019re good to go.<\/p>\n Not sure how to jump into Facebook ads? Check out our step-by-step guide to Facebook advertising<\/a>.<\/p>\n Okay, but when<\/em> should you start Facebook ads? Keep reading and we\u2019ll cover that in a bit.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Build and post ads for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. Our targeting and reporting are seriously easy.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart free 30-day trial<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Everyone starts their Facebook marketing strategy how-to articles with goal setting. Sorry to be boring, but it\u2019s true: your Facebook marketing can\u2019t be successful if you haven\u2019t defined what success looks like.<\/p>\n Do you want to:<\/p>\n There\u2019s no wrong answer here.<\/p>\n Just make sure you define a clear goal for your Facebook marketing efforts and tie it into your overall business objectives.<\/p>\n Who are you trying to sell to and\/or reach? What do they want to see on Facebook? Answer those two questions first before creating a Facebook content strategy.<\/p>\n Why? Because your content needs to be about what they want to see, not about what you want to post.<\/p>\n At minimum, you need to define your target audience<\/a> by answering the following:<\/p>\n Not sure where to start? If you already have followers on your Facebook Page, check out Audience Insights<\/a> inside Meta Business Suite to see the demographics of your existing audience.<\/p>\n Does your data line up with the customers you want to attract? Perfect, keep up the good work. Not so much? Adjust your content strategy and watch your Insights to see what works for shifting your audience to the one you want.<\/p>\n This data is also valuable for ad targeting if you want to explore Facebook advertising.<\/p>\n Ready to dig deep? Here\u2019s how to get all the nerdy info you want from Facebook Audience Insights<\/a>.<\/p>\n Your content strategy is fluid, so don\u2019t over complicate it. Results not coming through, or just want to try out a new type of Facebook post? Change it up. The key is to have a strategy\u2014a \u201cwhy\u201d behind what you\u2019re posting\u2014instead of willy-nilly posting whatever comes to mind.<\/p>\n Once again, there\u2019s no wrong answer when it comes to content strategy. What works for one individual or organization may not work for another, even in the same industry.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to align your Facebook content with your:<\/p>\n On Facebook, will you share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your process? Will you post exclusive discounts? Will you stick to business or include some fun and games?<\/p>\n Let your imagination run wild with ideas\u2014 Ha! Just kidding. You\u2019re gonna post what your audience wants, right? From all that research you did in the previous step, right?<\/p>\n Creativity is encouraged, though. Blend what you know about your target audience with what you think will perform well. (Psst\u2014we\u2019ve researched all the best social media trends<\/a>, so you don\u2019t have to.)<\/p>\n Think of your Facebook content strategy like buckets. Each bucket is a topic.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n You get the idea. And you know what makes everything, including creativity, more fun? Rules!<\/p>\n A few classic social media content strategy rules to consider:<\/p>\n In addition to what you\u2019ll post about, you need to consider where on Facebook you\u2019ll post it and what types of posts you\u2019ll make.<\/p>\n For post types, ideally you should have a mix of:<\/p>\n As for where to post them, most likely it\u2019ll be on your Facebook Page. But also consider:<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Schedule posts, answer messages, and manage ads from one place. Then, show off your results in beautiful reports. It\u2019s so easy.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart free 30-day trial<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Once you\u2019ve decided what to post, deciding when to post is the last puzzle piece.<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, Facebook Audience Insights can help here, although our research has found the best time to post on Facebook<\/strong><\/a> is 7 a.m. PST on Tuesdays<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Of course, that\u2019s a massive generalization. Like everything else in your strategy, experiment! Try different times and see when you get the most engagement.<\/p>\n Or, use Hootsuite\u2019s powerful analytics to tell you when the best times to post<\/a> are, based on your personalized data, and you can auto-schedule your posts for these magic times with one click. Magic.<\/p>\n Depending on your other marketing activities and what you want to achieve with Facebook, you may want to pursue ads, influencer partnerships, or other types of paid Facebook marketing.<\/p>\n While you can set your budget however you like, research shows that most companies spend 27.1%<\/a> of their total marketing budget on social media ads.<\/p>\n Want some help? Read how to set your Facebook ads budget<\/a>, then use our free Facebook ads budget calculator<\/a> as a starting point or to evaluate your current budget.<\/p>\n Facebook isn\u2019t a one way street. Postin\u2019 and peacin\u2019 out won\u2019t get you very far. To grow your audience and encourage people to take action, you need to actually be\u2026 y\u2019know, social<\/em>.<\/p>\n Set aside time every day to reply to comments and messages and moderate any spam on your Page.<\/p>\n Every. Day? Really?!<\/em><\/p>\n Yep, but don\u2019t sweat it: You can do this manually, but chances are you have other platforms to manage besides Facebook. Switching between them and engaging with everyone can quickly turn into its own full-time job.<\/p>\nKey Takeaways<\/h3>\n
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What is Facebook marketing?<\/span><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Facebook-Inpost-CTA-1.png.webp\"\/)
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t#1 for Facebook marketing\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\nHow to set up Facebook for business<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Create a Facebook Page for your business<\/h3>\n
![\"menu](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image11-1-620x1152.jpg?resize=620%2C1152&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Create](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image3-3-620x540.jpg?resize=620%2C540&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\nVerify your Facebook Page (optional)<\/h3>\n
![\"Hootsuite](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image8-2-620x219.jpg?resize=620%2C219&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\nCreate a Facebook Ads account<\/h3>\n
![\"Meta](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image15-620x540.jpg?resize=620%2C540&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Billings](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image7-1-620x462.jpg?resize=620%2C462&ssl=1\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t#1 Easy Social Advertising\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\nHow to create a Facebook marketing strategy: 8 easy steps<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Define your Facebook marketing goals<\/h3>\n
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2. Define your audience<\/h3>\n
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![\"Meta](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image18-620x543.jpg?resize=620%2C543&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n3. Create a Facebook content strategy<\/h3>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t#1 for Facebook marketing\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n4. Post at the right times<\/h3>\n
![\"Facebook](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image20-620x363.jpg?resize=620%2C363&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n5. Establish your Facebook marketing budget<\/h3>\n
![\"Hootsuite](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image13-2-620x384.jpg?resize=620%2C384&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n6. Engage with your audience (like, all the time!)<\/h3>\n