CEO of Social Republic Rob Illidge offers his top tips for using Facebook as an effective marketing tool for your business

If you want to use Facebook to help your business, you firstly need to start by getting to know your target audience.

Research so you can develop customer personas. Think about what they read, the TV shows they watch, their hobbies, job, marital status and more.

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Also take a look at what your ideal customer is doing on Facebook – for example, what groups are they active in, what pages do they like, what days and times are they most active on the platform?

• Set up a group

Once you’ve built up detailed customer personas and understand their online behaviours you need to know about the Facebook algorithm and how you can increase your chances of being seen.

At the moment, Facebook prioritises business pages that own and build engaging groups.

These groups should be relevant and connected to your core business, but they shouldn’t be used to sell.

For example, you could set up a Facebook group linked to your business page that provides inspiration on new kitchen or bathroom trends.

• Use video

You should also explore how to use Facebook Live and native video – in other words, video you’ve uploaded directly to Facebook rather than a link shared to a video hosted on another site. Facebook currently prioritises this sort of content above posts with just text or images.

• Plan content

Finally, combine your understanding of your customers and how Facebook works to create a content plan.

Make sure you share regular, relevant and interesting content that encourages engagement with your target audience.

Respond to comment and questions, and leverage your content with help from influencers and industry experts.

These will help you reach even more people, position yourself as a market leader, and – most importantly – drive traffic to your website and increase sales.