Summary: This is the second part of the Small Business Owners series I started recently. Last time I talked about <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/small-business-owners-social-media">harnessing the power of social media</a>. Today, we’re going to focus on the biggest social network and I’m going to reveal to you a few strategies on how to deploy Facebook advertising in order to boost exposure, onboard more of the right prospects and clients, and increase sales.<br> Facebook is the most powerful social platform on the planet. The company’s portfolio includes major apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. <br> Facebook has <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1.86 billion monthly active users</a> as of December 2016 and 1.23 billion daily active users on average. More than half of Facebook’s advertising revenue comes from mobile; that’s over <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/01/29/facebooks-promise-of-growth-a-portfolio-of-apps.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$1 billion in mobile revenue</a>. The social network continues its solid performance, which means that Facebook is likely to be around longer than some analysts might think or predict.<br> By now, I assume you know that you can have a personal Facebook profile and create several Facebook Pages where you can share the latest news about your business. You can post articles, upload images and videos or do a live webinar. You can highlight your services, create offers and events, add job postings and of course, advertise your business. <br> There are tons of features and Facebook keeps adding new ones on the fly — which often causes overwhelm.<br> In this article I’d like to focus on the advertising aspect of your business while putting an emphasis on the fact that you will get better outcomes if you leverage and integrate both sides of Facebook (organic and paid). This being said, let’s dive deeper into Facebook advertising.<br> Why Advertise on Facebook<br> Let’s start with the most important question first: Why should you spend money aka invest on Facebook?<br> <br> * Because your ideal audience is most likely on Facebook — unless of course you’re in China or selling to kids / young teenagers who spend the majority of their time on Snapchat for example.<br> <br> <br> * Because Facebook provides you with the most powerful targeting options ever available, allowing you to micro-segment and put your message in front of those who’re most relevant to your business.<br> * Because users on Facebook are willing to buy and have the ability to buy. Active users on Facebook are valued at an average of $122 as opposed to $70 for active users on Twitter and $63 for LinkedIn users. (Forbes, <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2014/05/27/harsh-math-youre-worth-122-on-facebook-far-less-elsewhere/#254334d411be" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">May 2014</a>)<br> <br> For a detailed list of reasons why you must add Facebook advertising to your list of marketing weapons, I invite you to read my blog post <a style="color: #3366ff;" href="http://www.strengthinbusiness.com/eye-opening-facebook-advertising-facts/">10 Eye-Opening Facts About Facebook Ads</a>.<br> The Small Business Owners Dilemma<br> Wait a second: I’m a small business owner, I have ten employees running around in my local store, I have to generate cash flow to pay the bills and on top of everything else, you tell me to do Facebook advertising?<br> As a small business owner, you have more important things to do than posting cute pictures on Facebook or hitting that boost post button. As a matter of fact, your number one job as a small business owner is to get more of the right customers through the door so that you can increa...
