Facebook & Instagram
(find out how to use META to improve the results of your online business)
The importance of social networks:
​
Social networks continue to be the real protagonists of our daily lives. Whether you want to admit it or not, everyone uses them (some more and some less). We shouldn't make a speech about using it as a person, but evaluate it as a means by which we can spread our brand, create quality traffic and, even, obtain sales.
​
To get a clearer idea of why it's important to know your way around social media platforms, we're going to show you some recent data. According to an INESDI document from 2022, the most used social networks in Spain are:
​
Whatsapp (used by +80% of the Spanish population)
Youtube (the most used video platform in the world)
Facebook (despite having lost ground, still has +20 million users)
Instagram (+ 20 million users)
Twitter (closes again at 5 million)
Facebook Messenger
LinkedIn (nearly 15 million users)
Pinterest (+14 million unique visitors)
Skype
TikTok (+15 million, but overwhelmingly trending)
In essence, by putting two different social networks together, we almost certainly include the entire population. Below we also report another table that interests us a little more, which tells us the percentage of the Spanish population between the ages of 16 and 64 who uses each social network (this is more than 95% of the population who shop on the Internet ).
​
Now that we have these numbers clear, we can understand a little more why to improve an online business it is necessary to have a marketing strategy that considers social networks and, in particular, Facebook and Instagram, which are the ones that give us the most opportunities from sales point of view. This is why we will start with these two social networks, even if we will also have documents on WhatsApp (which we believe is important above all in terms of involvement and as a platform to accompany email marketing), YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest (to which we will dedicate a single document and which will support us above all at SEO level, as well as as content for a multiplatform strategy). Instead, we will talk about TIKTOK at the end of this document, because its characteristics are reminiscent of META social networks, albeit with a different audience.
FACEBOOK and INSTRAGRAM
​
With regard to these two social networks (although the same could be said for all social networks in general), there are those who sometimes tell us that keeping social networks updated and with new content is very difficult because it takes a lot of time and that it is an unnecessary means of selling.
We can honestly accept the first point, but not the second: while having a social media plan is complicated, it is also true that it is necessary for several reasons:
​
Although they are no longer the only platforms on the market (see TikTok and others that have gained ground), they are still the two most used social networks in the vast majority of European countries
Our competition does (so we can't be left behind)
It's an effective way to build brand trust (because if you don't post anything, the user might even think your website is a lie) and loyalty
Increase our search results in Google, because we will also appear in our publications, which improves SEO
Bring quality traffic to our website, because they are people who know why they visit us
It allows us to reach a potentially infinite audience (because we have seen that almost 80% of people who buy on the internet have FB or IG)
It can generate direct sales (FB already gives you the possibility to upload a product catalogue, which is often automatically configured with your web platform and linked to your website, but you can also sell via Facebook Shop, if it's physical products)
It is necessary if you want to invest in FB Ads, because many users who see the ads, also search for publications of the same brand before going to their website.
​
That said, it is true that for optimal management of social networks, a person dedicated exclusively to this is necessary (think also that in some companies each social network is managed by a different person, because the ideal would be to have a different type of strategy and publications and connected to each other).
Then we will explain the most important points and it will only depend on you and your time whether said social strategy is more or less effective.
​
The main difference between Facebook and Instagram is the age of their audience: Facebook is currently more used by adults (over 40), while Instagram is more for the millennial generation (between 25 and 40); On the other hand, TikTok has nearly 70% of its users under the age of 30.
This information is the most important because, depending on your type of target, it will be more important to generate content on one or another social network, although an optimal marketing strategy is based on multichannel, so you must always try to be present (even if not with the same frequency) in all social networks, but the same applies as described above (depending on resources and time available).
​
Honestly, even if we are convinced of the importance of being present on social media, we also believe that for most companies this is not the most effective way to sell, and therefore our strategy is rather aimed at trying to get the best result with minimum effort (because what allows us to generate profits in the first place are FB ads and email campaigns and automatic flows.
With this very clear premise, we can continue to say that Facebook and Instagram content can go together, because normally everyone prefers one to the other; This means that it is unlikely that a person who finds your content on Instagram will also search for it on Facebook. This allows us to schedule our posts to be published on both platforms at the same time. Just remember that when you do this, you must always post a multimedia content (video or photo), because if you only have text, you won't be able to post on Instagram.
​
The simplest and most effective program for organizing your weekly or monthly schedule is offered by Facebook itself, with META BUSINESS SUITE; You can access this page directly by searching for it on the Internet and access it with the same Facebook passwords.
Its potential is great because it allows you to have total control over everything related to these two social networks, from publications to comments and messages, as well as statistics.
In this document, we will only focus on its content publication planning function and to do this, all you have to do is go to the menu on the left, select Posts and Stories and then click on the Create publication button at the top right.
At this moment, a page will open where you will need to create your content.
Next, we'll add our photo (or video); then we write the copy in the textual part with the hashtags and click on Schedule, to decide the date and time of publication on the two platforms. Of course we can publish right then, but our advice is always to go ahead and schedule publications at least for the week or month (just so you don't have to waste a lot of time every day publishing content). It is also more convenient because in this way you can be clearer about which multimedia contents to publish and follow a logic, as well as being able to follow any promotional campaigns already scheduled in your planning calendar (this is another usefulness of having a good preparation) . By creating content related to both your website and your emails at all times, the user will perceive your brand as more valuable and will be more attentive to receiving the direct and indirect messages you want to convey.
​
Evidentemente existen algunas pautas a tener en cuenta a la hora de planificar tus publicaciones, tanto a nivel técnico como de contenido:
​
El formato más recomendado (por ser el más común) para las fotografías es de al menos 1000 x 1000 píxeles y debe ser cuadrado.
Las mejores fotos son aquellas de mayor calidad y donde el producto que se quiere resaltar es fácilmente reconocible dentro de la foto (es decir, FB/IG dan prioridad a una foto de una manzana roja con fondo blanco, antes que la misma foto con fondo rojo o fondo naranja). Además, las fotografías con varios elementos son mejores que las fotografías con un solo elemento.
El alcance de tus fotografías depende mucho de las primeras interacciones que los usuarios tengan con ellas y, por tanto, también del momento de publicación. Entonces, si nunca has publicado nada antes, te recomendamos hacer dos semanas de prueba de publicación de contenido todos los días en diferentes momentos del día, para ver cuáles son los mejores momentos para publicar para cada día. Puede parecer una tontería, pero entre una hora y otra puedes llegar a 5 veces más audiencia y recuerda que no publicamos para tener un bonito Instagram, sino para que mucha gente nos vea, se interese por nuestros productos o servicios y acabe. comprando o contactándonos.
Siempre es recomendable (especialmente para Instagram) tener continuidad en cuanto a contenidos; lo que queremos decir es que cuando alguien ingresa a tu perfil de Instagram, siempre podrá ver al menos las últimas 9-12 fotos publicadas; así que no estaría mal que el tono o el color o el estilo de tus fotos siempre siguieran una lógica para al menos 9-12 fotos, para que un usuario también te reconozca por tu estilo o note que tus publicaciones no son aleatorias, pero son un reflejo de tu marca.
Los hashtags son muy importantes porque, especialmente en Instagram, ayudan a que el algoritmo llegue a más personas. Aquí puedes leer libros y libros sobre el tema y aún quedarte con mucha confusión, por lo que nuestra recomendación es ceñirte a 10-15 hashtags y dividir entre hashtags genéricos de base amplia y hashtags más específicos; porque de esta manera tendrás la posibilidad de llegar a personas, donde la competencia en las publicaciones es muy poca, y de vez en cuando también a personas que solo ven categorías donde miles de personas publican cada día. Otra cosa importante es añadir siempre un hashtag original y único con tu marca, para que la gente te reconozca.
La frecuencia de publicación es otro tema delicado: todo el mundo recomienda publicar una o dos veces al día para hacer esperar al usuario, pero se aplica lo que ya se ha explicado ampliamente en este documento: para publicar dos veces al día se necesita mucho contenido y mucho trabajo. , y la verdad es que no siempre sale rentable. Así que nuestro consejo es publicar un mínimo de 3 veces por semana y, si tienes tiempo y no te cuesta mucho trabajo, subir a 1 publicación por día.
Siempre que sea posible, y especialmente si tu negocio tiene potencial local, agrega una ubicación a tus publicaciones (incluso si no es tu ubicación real). Esto permitirá que su publicación llegue a más personas y las personas cercanas intentarán interactuar con usted.
Los reales tienen más alcance que las fotos: ahora que TikTok se ha convertido en una amenaza para META, todos empiezan a competir más en la parte que antes era monopolio de la plataforma china, es decir, los vídeos cortos (es algo que se puede apreciar no sólo en META , pero también en Youtube).; entonces, si publicamos un carrete obtendremos más alcance porque META quiere que se publiquen más carretes ahora.
No olvides publicar historias de vez en cuando, porque tienen un alcance mucho mayor que las publicaciones normales, tienen la ventaja de poder agregar un botón con un enlace que tú mismo puedes elegir y que puede llevar directamente a tu sitio web. o a una página del producto. Las stories son muy recomendables, sobre todo en el caso de promociones, ofertas, concursos o para mostrar a un cliente satisfecho que nos etiqueta (en este caso sólo tendremos que publicar su historia, y tendremos contenido gratuito y sin perder tiempo); También son útiles sobre todo porque nos permiten interactuar con nuestros seguidores, porque podemos hacer preguntas, pedir opiniones o hacer encuestas (en la práctica es como hacer tests A/B gratuitos y recibir respuestas de nuestro target directo), y lo cual le brinda al usuario la posibilidad de que nos siga de expresar su opinión lo que automáticamente generará más engagement.
​
Your first goal must always be to reach at least 10k followers on Instagram, because this allows you to have a very useful option for stories, that is, it allows you to add a direct link that you can decide yourself in each story, so it is very powerful because, for example, you can create a story with a 24-hour offer and also place a direct link to this web page and thus drive interested traffic.
Remember to create folders where you can group all your stories, so it will be easier for your followers to find them even after 24 hours (because if you don't save them they disappear) and create a description of your profile that is direct, short and explains what you do. what you offer and your values. A piece of advice here is, if your brand and what you sell allow it, help yourself with emojis, because they make the whole profile more informal and suitable for the Instagram target; and if you sell or offer your services not only in your country, but also in others, the ideal would be to have at least the profile in English so that it is known that you are an international brand.
Before talking about the new Chinese social network, we will tell you how to increase your Instagram followers if you are just starting out and want to increase them little by little, organically and without using BOTs that can cause your account to be closed.
Spoiler Alert: It's a time consuming job (even if we're talking about 5-10 minutes a day) and it's quite boring, but if you're just starting out it's a good way to get started faster (because especially at the beginning, the followers of Instagram are people who tend to buy more in your store).
The technique is very simple: you have to search for the hashtags related to your store or your products and the photos with likes appear. You have to enter the list of likes and follow the contacts you see. This is because a person who likes a photo related to your product or brand will be more likely to follow you if you post similar content.
​
Now, pay attention to the number of people you're going to follow: according to our experience, to be sure of doing it without Instagram alerts, you shouldn't exceed 30 requests per hour and in no case exceed 150 total requests per day. This will allow you to increase your followers and is a technique that you can use until you reach 7500 people followed (for you). At this limit you will have to unfollow these people first, and then start the technique explained above again. As far as unfollowing is concerned, there are limits here too: we advise you not to unfollow more than 30 people per hour and not to exceed 200 people per day. By following these guidelines you shouldn't have any problems.
Another topic related to Instagram and which is often talked about is that of INFLUENCERS, to which we will dedicate a separate document.
​
Finally, going back to the social network with which it all started, i.e. Facebook, it offers you a low-budget opportunity to generate leads and, more generally, traffic to your website. It is also a useful technique at an SEO level, but now we will only talk about the strategic side. We're referring to research groups and pages where you discuss a product or service similar to what we're offering on our website (the more quirky and unique, the better) and pretend you're a potential customer looking for something or has some suggestions. Let's go into more detail: if you sell packages and shipping services, you can look for a group or FB page where people talk about the best shipping platforms in Spain, introduce yourself as a person with a question and ask for a similar quality service, their prices and conditions. Sure, if it's an active group, many people will start giving you suggestions by telling their experience. Gradually, you might use it to your advantage and get them to your website (because they don't know you're the owner of that site): after a few days you might say you've found a page that caught your attention for its reviews, or for their prices, and ask. If some already know you, they could confirm that your idea is good or tell you that it is not and why (in this case it will also be useful because you will know what causes others not to choose you and you will be able to correct or improve it); In any case, it is very likely that others who do not know you will be curious to know how the website you just mentioned works and its conditions and that it will bring you traffic of people who are really interested in the service you offer, so you can be quite useful and it's a free strategy.