I’ve read and seen first hand where people post with a personal account (Joe Smith) onto local FB groups with posts like “Anyone need some soft washing on their homes?” I’ve seen it generate decent interest with people asking for more info or a free quote.
So, you would not post the same sort of message with a FB business account, right? Like Joe’s Pressure Washing. I would think that would typically not be allowed in a FB local group, right?
If it’s true you only post to local FB groups with your personal account, then do you guys create a new account as Joe Smith and just keep it related to pressure washing stuff? This would eliminate customers being able to see my personal FB page.
It just depends on what the group allows. Whoever started the fb group is the one who decides that. There should be a list of guidelines for the group you’re wanting to post in.
I think the idea of posting in a local group with your personal account is just that… It’s personal. Theoretically your personal account is linked to lots of friends and is active and is about you. Some customers like the idea of a person in their local circle being the one who does the work. Using an account that isn’t too pretty might be more effective. Then again, if your personal Facebook page shows you being deplorable in your time off, then, yeah… You might want to create a more, er, “publicly acceptable” personal page.
You’ll create a separate business Facebook page (Facebook requires that you have a personal page in order to create a business profile, though you don’t have to allow viewers of your business page to see any link to your personal Facebook stuff). Most local groups that your business joins would likely frown on repeated business postings offering services, unless it’s a networking group, chamber of commerce group or something like that.
Your best bet is to use your Facebook business page to post interesting stories/pictures (like before and after pictures) that people/clients might like or share. Getting enough likes, comments and shares will trigger Facebook to automatically push your posts outside of your business followers. This means consumers in your area will see your posts for free. It can be tough to get enough comments, like and shares for this to get you enough impact. At the very least, your Facebook will lend to your legitimacy as a business, and be one (of many) places for you to collect positive reviews from your clients.
You’ll also use Facebook ads to get you paid exposure to people in specific areas (via zip code) and selected demographics (like income or age, etc). You’ll be able to see the number of ads shown, the number of ads clicked on to expend the details shown, and how many click throughs your ads get. If you set up lead tracking on your site using the Facebook pixel, you can also get data on actual converted leads (cost per booked lead, and which ads get you the most booked leads) , but for what we do that’s probably overkill. Especially with Facebook’s tracking changes this week due to Apple finally implementing the ios 14 privacy rules.
