How to use Facebook for network marketing

Facebook can be a powerful tool for business networking. With over 2.8 billion users worldwide, Facebook offers a massive base of people to connect with. 

Still, when using Facebook as a professional networking tool, it’s crucial to do it the right way and establish some boundaries between your personal image and your professional one. Doing this will help make your business more credible and memorable and make your networking more effective. 

This guide will explain how to use Facebook for network marketing to help grow your business. We’ll cover:

• Tips for successful Facebook networking
• How to use Facebook for network marketing
• How a tool like Countingup helps you network more effectively

Before you begin your networking journey, optimise your profile by covering the following two steps:

A vanity URL is a custom domain on Facebook and the first thing you want to get sorted to help your profile stand out. Setting your vanity URL will change your domain from “facebook.com/a5656f875gu” to “facebook.com/YourBusinessName”.

Looks better, doesn’t it?

This new vanity URL will also double as your Facebook email address, meaning it’ll become YourBusinessName@facebook.com. Use Facebook’s Customised URL page to set yours now.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and the one you choose for your Facebook business profile can significantly impact your networking success. If you have a logo, using it as your profile picture is an excellent way to get people to instantly recognise your brand when you comment on or like posts on Facebook. 

If you want, you can use a photo of yourself as your profile picture. Remember to select a photo that relates to the type of person you are and what you do. For example, if you’re a self-employed hairdresser, your profile picture could be of you in action while doing someone’s hair. 

Once you’ve optimised your Facebook profile, these tips will help you use the platform to grow your network. 

The first step when figuring out how to use Facebook for network marketing is to find niche groups to target. Niche groups provide a valuable opportunity to connect with other companies and potential clients. 

Joining groups that specifically relate to your occupation allows you to communicate with people who will already care about what you have to say. You can find these groups by using the Facebook search bar to look up keywords relating to your business and filter the results to show only Facebook groups.

People often join Facebook groups to learn something. As a networker, your aim is to learn more about your target audience, mainly:

• The interests, trends, likes, and dislikes of the members of your group
• How you can use this audience data to improve your business

Effective networking requires you to learn exactly what appeals to the members of your niche community. Knowing what your target audience wants is key to making yourself valuable to them. So use your groups to learn everything you can about what matters to people in your niche. 

In addition, you can learn how to improve your networking and marketing methods by observing how other people post and interact within the groups. Take note of which posts get more likes, comments and shares, and use that to influence your own posts. This brings us to our next point. 

A big part of Facebook networking is posting content that provides value to your target audience and encourages them to interact with you. Using the hairdresser example again, you could post some quick tips for healthier hair or a video demonstration of a hairdo. 

Although, coming up with valuable content and posting it in different groups can be very time-consuming. Tools like Post Planner make it easier and faster to find posts. Simply use Post Planner’s search tool to find pre-made content streams full of relevant posts for your niche. 

An important step in learning how to use Facebook for network marketing is focusing on building connections rather than sales pitches. Trying to pitch to people as soon as you connect with them comes off as pushy. Instead, begin by striking up meaningful conversations with people. 

Facebook makes it easy to reach out. Just take a look at peoples’ profiles to find everything you need to start a conversation. Your goal is to find out if these people have a problem that your business could solve. Ask questions to learn about your prospects problems, then offer your services as a helping hand rather than a sales pitch. 

Building on the previous point; networking is about give and take. That means that offering help and support to other Facebook group members can increase your chances of attracting customers. 

Always be ready to answer someone’s question to establish yourself as helpful and knowledgeable. If you have a blog post on your website that relates to the question, share a link in your comment so people can learn more. 

Even if you can’t offer the help your community needs, pointing people in the right direction makes you look good and can start conversations that eventually lead to a sale. 

Financial management can be stressful and time-consuming when you’re self-employed. But by using Countingup, you can streamline your finance tasks and free up time to grow your Facebook network.

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one simple app.

Key features include:

• Create and send unlimited customised invoices to clients with a few taps on your phone. Once someone pays, Countingup matches the payment to its relevant invoice. 
• Scan paper receipts into the system using your smartphone camera. Countingup sorts your expenses into HMRC-approved categories to keep your records organised. 
• View key business insights like cash flow reports and tax estimates to monitor how your business performs at any time. 

Take the stress out of bookkeeping and start your three-month free trial today. 

Find out more here.