7.2 Promote on Facebook

With over two billion monthly active users, Facebook is the world’s largest social media network and an incredible marketing tool for affiliates. With no upstart costs, you can develop a Facebook presence and start personally engaging with your followers on a daily basis. Below are three outreach tools you can take advantage of.

Personal Profile

Changing algorithms have made it more challenging for followers to see Fan Page posts, so many influencers have turned to their personal profiles for their marketing initiatives. Profiles are effective in getting your posts to appear in your followers’ feeds. If you decide to use your profile for marketing, keep your professional goals in mind when posting. Be mindful that if you choose to post political or controversial posts, they could alienate many of your followers. 

Business/Fan Page 

Fan Pages are free to create, and Facebook has a tutorial for creating Pages. Once your page is live, include links to your website, email addresses, and any other ways your followers can reach you. This is how you will build your following. 

One advantage of a Fan Page versus your profile is the ability to boost posts. As mentioned in the paragraph above, Facebook algorithms make it so that many of your followers won’t be able to see posts on your Fan Page. Boosting a Facebook post not only allows your existing followers to see it, but you have the ability to select a targeted audience. You can select this audience based on pages they like, gender, hobbies, keywords, and more. Facebook created a tutorial on boosting posts in their advertiser help center. Note that Shopify’s affiliate program policy on paid media requires that you direct traffic from to a landing page rather than direct linking. 

In addition to boosts, you can also advertise on Facebook through the sidebar ads if you have a Business Page . You still have the ability to target your audience and set a daily budget. Best practice is to start with a small budget until you are satisfied with your ROI (return on investment) and/or conversions. Similar to optimizing for search engines, focus on specific and long-tail keywords under the Interests tab for best results. Keep in mind that direct linking and trademark bidding is not permitted.

Groups

Facebook Groups are another free and effective way to build a community. Since the average person spends around 1 hour a day on Facebook, chances are your followers are already on Facebook and ready to engage. There are two benefits to creating a Facebook Group. One, you have an increased chance of appearing in your followers’ feeds. Two, people are more willing to ask questions and engage in the relative privacy of a Facebook Group. Comments and posts made in a group do not appear in their personal feeds.

To create a group, click on the top right of Facebook and select Create a group. Select your group preferences. You can have a Public Group that is visible in searches and within feeds. The other option is a Closed Group, which means that group posts don’t appear in search results and posts will not appear in feeds of non-members. As the admin, you have total control over approving or denying requests to join. Lastly, there is the Secret Group. This group is invitation only and is excellent for creating a sense of exclusivity.

Images reign on Facebook. When a user is scrolling through their feed, images (including videos) are what users notice first. Use original photography whenever possible.