How to Get Started With Facebook Offers Here are five ways to make the most of Facebook's latest advertising opportunity for businesses.
By Brian Honigman Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Facebook Offers is a new advertising feature that allows businesses to share discounts or promotions -- in-store, online or both -- with their Facebook audience. Potential customers can claim these offers from their news feed, and they can share them with their friends and family.
This new ad unit is available starting at $5 for Page owners. The cost rises with a larger fan base, but it's always free for potential customers to claim.
Here's how to make the most of Facebook Offers for your business:
1. Advertise desirable, exclusive offers. Ensure your offers are social in nature by asking yourself if you or your friends would claim the discount if you saw it on your news feed. A quality offer is one that's shareable and doesn't feel like advertising. The more claims an offer receives, the more followers will see it in their feeds and the greater its reach.
Related: How to Convert Facebook Fans Into Paying Customers
2. Re-share the offer before posting a new one. Once your offer is posted it still needs further promotion on your Page. Depending on when your offer expires, post about it on your Facebook Page every three days to ensure proper visibility for your promotion.
Avoid posting a new offer during this time as it can compete with your original offer, diluting its success. Also, share a link to this offer on Twitter and your other social channels so your followers can claim it on Facebook.
3. Pin the offers post to the top of your Page. The Facebook Timeline pin feature allows you to pin a post of your choosing to the top of your Page, making sure it is the first post fans and non-fans see when visiting your Page. To do this, click the pencil at the top right of your post and select "Pin to Top." This brings that pinned content to the top of your wall, right below your cover photo.
4. Offers should be short with a clear call to action. Use one sentence in the copy of your offer that is a clear call to action such as, "Buy one, get one free," or "Enter this promo code for 25 percent off." If it's a Facebook exclusive offer, call it out in the beginning of your copy.
According to a recent study of Facebook Pages in the retail space by New York City-based social marketing company Buddy Media, posts containing "$ off" or "coupon" receive higher engagement rates. Keep this in mind and always spell out exactly how much the discount is for.
Related: 3 Ways to Generate Better Leads on Facebook
5. Images should be colorful and simple. For your offer, consider using an image that sticks out against the white background of Facebook's news feed. If you include text in the image, choose contrasting colors to ensure the text is easy to read. The dimensions for this image are 90 pixels wide by 90 pixels tall. Designing your image with these dimensions can help avoid problems with your image shrinking or becoming pixelated when uploading to Facebook.
What techniques have worked for your business when using Facebook Offers? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
