The Complete Guide to Facebook Marketing for Freelance Writers

Tips & tricks to start promoting your writing on Facebook

How can Facebook marketing help you as a freelance writer? First off, with the number of users increasing every day, there’s tons of opportunity to find — and land — high-paying clients on Facebook. But, it’s crucial to learn the best practices for setting up your freelance writing Business Page, as well as the strategies to help you market your service.

Let’s start with a little Facebook engagement stats to see who you could be reaching. Over two billion users visit Facebook monthly, over 180 million businesses use the Facebook app to connect with customers, and over 100 billion posts are shared daily. Features like What’s on your mind?, Facebook Stories, live streams, and Facebook videos are great tools for engagement.

Its millions of users are spread across the United States, India, United Kingdom, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines, Brazil, Nigeria, and many other countries.

The sheer number of users on the platform means that your potential reach is pretty impressive. As a freelance writer, if you aren’t applying Facebook marketing to your business, you need to get started now.

Learn how you can take your writing business to another level.

[This post has affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you purchase through links I provide.]

What Are the Benefits of Using Facebook for Your Writing Business?

Wait, do you need to have your writing business on Facebook if you already have a website? Yes, it’s good to have a website or blog. But that’s not enough anymore! Adding a Facebook Business Page is a nice addition to your marketing efforts, and it comes with a few extra benefits:

1. Creating a Facebook page and sharing content on the platform is free. And, when you want to start creating ads, getting started isn’t expensive. For as low as $5 spent on ads daily, you can promote yourself and your writing business.
2. It’s a great place to share information about your writing business and build online conversations around your brand.
3. Pictures and videos about your business help you to tell your brand story and attract potential customers without needing them to be at your physical location.
4. You can use Facebook to increase traffic from any demographic to your website. According to Statista, as of October 2020, there are:

• 9.4% male and 14.1% female active users between ages 18–24
• 13.1% male and 19.3% female active users between ages 23–34
• 7.5% male and 9.4% female active users between ages 35–44
• 5.2% male and 5.2% female active users between ages 45–54

1. Through insights from the ads you run, you can make meaningful decisions to push your freelance writing business forward.

Guide to Facebook Marketing for Freelance Writers

A Facebook Business Page is the foundation of Facebook marketing for freelance writers. It’s free and easy to use — you can create one for your freelance writing business in minutes.

You know, right after reading this article to the end.

Don’t forget, a Facebook Page is different from your personal profile, and it’s created differently. Even Facebook doesn’t encourage using your personal profile as your Business Page. You’ll end up appearing unprofessional to targeted Facebook users, and you’ll miss out on the perks that come with having a Business Page.

For instance, by creating a Page for your freelance writing business, you’ll get insights and tools to drive your marketing effectively.

Steps to Setting Up an Effective Facebook Page for Freelance Writing

Step 1: Log in to your Facebook account.

Step 2: On the top right of your profile, click the plus icon to create your Page.

Select “Page” from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Enter your Page name and choose the most relevant category your freelance writing business falls into. You can choose Writing service, Writer, or Digital Creator. Fill in all other details.

Then, click “Create Page”.

Step 4: Now, you can add images like your profile pic.

Although it reads “optional,” consider it a trap. Don’t fall in. You should definitely have a profile picture to help people identify your Page in search results.

By the way, if your photos aren’t ready, you can always return to add them during your page optimization.

Make your profile photo an all-in-one photo that summarizes your products/services. Most businesses do well with a logo, but a personal photo works if you are the face of your freelance writing business. (Yes, as a freelance writer, you can be the face of your brand.)

Here are some important tips to consider when selecting a profile photo:

• Make sure it’s clear, strong, professional, and visually appealing.
• Use the approved Facebook profile size of 360 x 360 pixels at most and not less than 180 x 180 pixels.

Step 5: Add a colorful all-in-one cover photo. This is another aspect of your profile that can help you stand out from the competition. What’s the best size of a Facebook cover photo? 820 x 312 pixels.

Congratulations! Your page is ready. Click “Save.” And there you have your business homepage waiting to be optimized just like furnishing a new apartment.

You’ve followed the basic steps needed to create your Business Page, but to make the best use of Facebook features, you need to add more page information like a description, contact details, location, and hours you are open for business. Add a page button for visitors, create a welcome post, and invite friends to boost your visibility.

Updating the Info on Your Freelance Writing Business Page

Step 1: Go to your “About” section and click on the pencil to edit any of the info on your Business Page, or click on “Edit Page Info” and find the section you want to update.

Step 2: Enter the information applicable to each field: General, Contact, Location, Hours, and more. Try not to leave anything blank. The details you fill under each field like description/about, your phone number, email address, location, website link, and others will go a long way to help your Business Page to be more visible on Facebook and Google searches.

After you fill in each field, save your changes.

Tips for Writing Your Page Description: In 255 characters, you need to create a page description for your writing business. This description should show who you are, who your ideal clients are, and the benefits you’ll bring to them.

Use keywords essential to the freelance writing services you offer. For example, freelance writing, freelance writer, writer’s service, freelancer for business writing, content creator, and digital creator are great ones to start with.

Step 3: Create your call-to-action.

Call-to-action is another tool that gives meaning to your effort at using Facebook marketing as a freelance writer. What action do you want them to take to reach you for your services or inquiries?

To do this, click “Add a Button” by your profile photo. There, you can select the action you want your Page visitors to take.

Some of the available buttons include:

• Book Now
• Get Quote
• Call Now
• Contact Us
• Send Message
• Send Email

Let’s say you want anyone who visits your page to contact you for freelance writing services. Select “Contact Us” in the options. Then, fill in the information required.

Once you do, click “Save” and your CTA button will be ready.

Facebook Page Growth Strategy for Freelance Writers

Now that you have your Business Page all set up, how do you grow your fan base? Getting enough Facebook users to like your Page will help your business to get seen by your target audience.

However, you should never pay for Likes on your Page or buy a Facebook account with a large following. There are many consequences to buying Likes — even if it does help your Page’s following to go up by thousands. In these instances, you’ll be followed by people who don’t know you or have no interest in what you do. And at the worst, you’ll be followed by bots who won’t turn into converting customers at all. You may struggle with engagement from these usually uninterested fans.

What’s the way out?

There are effective strategies to increase the fans who are attracted to your content and encourage them to Like, Share, and Comment.

Optimize Your Page

An optimized freelance writing Business Page helps you use it to its full potential. For starters, when it’s duly optimized, Facebook may be more likely to suggest your Page to users who might be interested in your services.

Fill all fields as required. Publish high-quality profile and cover photos, create an engaging description, use the keywords appropriate to your business, and set your call-to-action.

Invite Friends and Family to Like Your Page

What are friends for? Those you already know are your greatest asset when using Facebook marketing as a freelance writer.

Invite your Facebook friends and family to like your Business Page. Start with them to build your fan base. To invite friends, click the three dots to the left of the horizontal menu under the “Add a Button” feature.

Then, encourage your Followers to choose to see updates from your Page first in their News Feeds.

Create Ads for Page Likes

Page Likes Ads also work well to build your Facebook Page fan base. These ads help you target the people who may be interested in your business or have liked Business Pages similar to yours.

Use Page Plugin

With the page plugin, you can embed your Facebook page on your website. This is an amazing tool because it means visitors to your website don’t have to leave in order to Like or engage with your Facebook Page.

Engage with Other Pages and Facebook Users

Another effective and free way to build a fanbase for your freelance writing Business Page is to engage with other Pages and Facebook users.

Don’t promote your Page; just be part of the conversation. Engage in their content, which means liking, commenting, and sharing when it’s relevant and valuable to do so. Start engaging conversations, be personable, and make new friends.

Is there another way to put it? Be jolly!

Post Regularly

Once you have Likes from your friends and family, it’s time to start posting content. The content you post could be text, images, videos, infographics, Stories, and live videos. To create a post, locate the “Create post” section on your Business Page.

If it’s a photo or video format, click “Photo/Video” from the options.

You could even share content from your website, a story on writing projects you are working on, videos featuring your work process, exciting feedback from clients, industry news and insights, and more. There’s no restriction. Let your creativity and personality shine!

But before you start shelling out posts, it’s important to build a strategy. First, decide on the number of times you’ll share content weekly or monthly. Having a social media content marketing strategy and calendar will help your efforts at using Facebook marketing as a freelance writer.

And more importantly, the content you create should be relevant to your business and valuable to your fan base. When it’s valuable, you won’t have to struggle with attracting engagement.

Tips for Better Engagement on Your Facebook Business Page

Post Quality Images

It’s a good rule of thumb to always attach images to your posts. Facebook posts with images are more likely to draw attention than those without one. And make sure they’re relevant and high-quality images; the recommended image size is 1200 by 630 pixels. To post your image, click the Photo/Video option beneath the box where you write your post.

Publish Interesting Facebook Videos

Facebook videos attract high engagement. When you post a video, optimize the post by giving it a catchy title, adding a description, including relevant tags, and writing captions and subtitles if necessary. To share videos, click the Photo/Video option beneath the box where you write your post.

Utilize Facebook Live

Facebook Live is such an amazing feature to support Facebook marketing for freelance writers. It helps you add a personal touch to your Business Page and connect with your audience. Through Live, your fans can join you, engage with you, and ask questions in the comments. And because it’s live, this tool gives you a great opportunity for a real-time conversation with your audience. You can answer their questions right away, and reply with your own questions to encourage the dialogue.

To go Live, click the Live Video option on your Business Page at the top of the box where you write your posts.

On your “Live Producer” board, Facebook will prompt you to grant it access to your device’s camera and microphone. You can also set the viewership of your Live post to your friends or “only me” through the privacy setting of your broadcast.

Setting your broadcast to “Only Me” is a useful tool to do a test-run for your live video. This means your fans won’t be notified through their feeds. When you are done testing, revert the setting.

Before you click “Start Live Video”, fill in necessary details like a title and description of what the video is about.

Share Links in Your Posts

When you’ve just published a great article on your blog site, make sure people know about it! Share valuable content like blogs or press releases on your Facebook Business Page to get more traffic on your site.

To share a link to Facebook, copy the source link and drop it in the “Create Post” box on your Facebook Business Page. Facebook will generate a preview for your post, then you can remove the links.

To make your Facebook link more engaging, attach a short and compelling paragraph or two to the text.

When Is the Best Time and Day to Post on Your Facebook Business Page?

Discovering the best time to post on a Business Page will help you reach more of your audience. But is there a best time to post on a Facebook Business Page? While the best time varies for different audiences and demographics, there are some general guidelines:

According to Hubspot:

• The best days to post on Facebook are Thursday through Sunday.
• The best time to post on Facebook is 9 a.m. when people are just getting started at work. Posting between 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. is ideal, as well.
• Between 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. when people are on lunch break, Facebook usually records an increase in click-through-rates.

According to Buffer:

• The best time to post on Facebook is between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. during the week and Saturdays.
• Engagement rates increase by 18 percent on Thursdays and Fridays.

According to Sproutsocial:

• 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays are great windows to reach most people.
• Facebook showed consistent engagement on Tuesday to Thursday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Wednesday is the best day for many industries.
• Sunday is the day with the lowest engagement.

What’s your take? You see, when using Facebook marketing for freelance writing, the best time to post should be influenced by the insights you get from your own analytics. You should consider factors like your industry and the time zone of your audience, especially when you are boosting a post. The ball is in your court; play well.

Create an Effective Facebook Marketing Strategy for Your Freelance Writing Business

Know Your Customer

Before you put together a Facebook marketing strategy for your freelance writing, you first need to ask yourself, “What kind of client do I want?”

A large part of building your strategy becomes clear when you know your customer. Understand what defines your audience when it comes to factors like:

• Age
• Gender
• Occupation
• Economic status/income
• Education
• Relationship status
• How and where they spend their time online
• What they spend their money on
• Their need as it concerns your service
• Their journey to finding your Business Page

The goal of this Facebook marketing strategy for freelance writers is to help you identify what makes up your target audience persona.

A great way to find answers to the above is to take a deep look into your existing clients or even talk with them. You should also study Facebook Insights to get an idea of your audience demographics, which is available on your business home page.

Finding answers to the above and mapping out your ideal customer will help you make quality decisions about your Facebook marketing strategy, especially what to post.

Study Your Competitors

For every Facebook Business Page, there is a competitor. To be successful at Facebook marketing for freelance writing, you must study your competition. This time, to learn.When you consider the efforts of your competitor, you can find what they’re doing well, and which areas you can do better.

Use Facebook Insights to follow Pages similar to yours, so you can compare your performance and maybe get a little inspiration.

Navigate to “Insights” on your business homepage, then scroll down to find “Pages to Watch”. Once you add any Page, you can audit it and compare it with yours.

To audit your competition, click “Insights”. Click on any of the Pages to evaluate how often they post, the varieties they employ like text, images, and videos, and the level of engagement they get from their fan base.

Track Data on Your Own Posts

As you begin to post regularly, your Facebook Insights will shed more light on how you can improve engagement with your audience. Your Insights are available on your Business Page. To see the details, all you have to do is click “See All”.

For example, if Insights over a period of time reveal that your fan base engages more with videos than text with images, that’s a clue to go ahead and post more valuable videos.

It’s important to understand that the insights Facebook provides are based on the behavior of your fan base, which can always change. So, keep your posting strategy flexible. Always be ready to tweak your strategy based on what the stats are saying about your recent posts.

Boost Your Posts

The visibility of your post doesn’t have to be limited to your Followers. You can reach a wider audience through post boosting. This feature allows you to target specific people based on a set demographic. That way, you can find and connect with the users who are most likely to engage with your brand and convert into a customer.

Getting Leads for Your Freelance Writing Services through Facebook

Sharing valuable content regularly is important for your growth when using Facebook marketing as a freelance writer. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You need to invest in getting leads through Facebook, and most times, you need to employ other means to generate leads for your freelance writing business.

Posting valuable content is part of your lead magnet. But don’t stop there. Use Facebook ads to reach more relevant audiences that will be interested in your service.

You can post an ad to promote many things, like:

• Discount offers
• Free eBook on content creation
• Workshop or event
• Sending traffic to your website
• Booking appointments
• Signing up to your mailing list

When any of the above is your goal, add a corresponding call to action for that objective.

When you have successfully built an impressive fan base through Page Likes Ads and regular posting, you may no longer struggle with getting engagement on your post. At that point, email marketing is an effective method to build deeper and authentic relationships with your fans, cultivate their attention, and eventually get them to hire you.

So, after sharing a valuable post on your page — let’s say content writing tips for small business owners — include a CTA like, “Subscribe to receive newsletters that help your business grow.” For added engagement, boost the post!

There’s one thing you can bet on, as long you aren’t spammy and unnecessarily salesy, email marketing gives you one of the most amazing returns on content marketing.

What’s Stopping You from Using Facebook Marketing for Your Freelance Writing Business?

Using Facebook marketing for your freelance writing business begins with having an active and purposeful Facebook page. Building your fan base and gaining visibility is a job you should regularly invest in.

Understand your customers, share valuable and relevant posts in various formats, and study your Facebook Insights and your competition. Employ other marketing strategies like boosting your posts and page, and encourage newsletter subscription to generate relevant leads.

Making use of Facebook marketing for freelance writers is a great decision. Now that you know, take your time to set up a Facebook Business Page. Then, contact us if you have any questions. We’re here to help you build a successful freelance writing business through Facebook marketing.

Originally published at https://jenniferberube.com on January 27, 2021.