Social media marketing has become indispensable for new businesses that are looking to establish an online presence. Relying solely on websites is no longer good enough to keep your new business competitive. Riding on the wave of social media has turned out to be the fastest and smartest way of promoting a new business. A social media platform like Facebook is something that everyone is acquainted with. If your business can make an impact on Facebook, it is undoubtedly going to attract the attention of hundreds or thousands of people that may have never heard about your business if you had stuck to antiquated digital marketing strategies.

What New Marketing Tools Can You Find on Facebook?

Facebook loves to keep evolving. Its ingenious strategies for development and relentless endeavour to introduce positive change make it the undisputed champion of the social media universe. Facebook makes sure that it looks out for its casual users as well as those who are interested to use the website as a marketing platform.

The developers are well aware of the website’s value as a launching pad for new businesses. This is why it is fair to assume that some of the latest Facebook features are intended to optimize the social media marketing strategies of promising new enterprises. Here are three of the new features that have become a global phenomenon so far:

a) Live: This is Facebook’s reply to Periscope. As the name clearly suggests, this option allows Facebook users including business pages to live stream videos directly to Facebook.

b) Reactions: Everybody was praying for a much needed “dislike” button when Facebook decided to offer them something far more useful. The reaction buttons are supplementary to the like button and allows users to react to a Facebook post through certain expressive emojis.

c) 360 Photos and Videos: Virtual reality is the next big technology that the world is patiently awaiting. Facebook has taken a step towards improving the existing VR technology by bringing it to the masses with 360 videos.

How Facebook Live Can Benefit Your Business

Here is an interesting piece of information to get you started. According to Social Media Examiner’s 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Facebook live is the hottest new trend for marketers around the world. The report states that 50% of marketers plan on using live video services of Facebook and Periscope. The other 50% are eager to learn more about the perks of using live video.

There is no denying the fact that the concept of going “live on social media” is unknown to a lot of marketers, especially those who prefer traditional marketing strategies. That being said, it is important for marketers to realize that the reach for a Facebook live post is significantly higher than an ordinary post. Facebook has made sure that your live videos are more likely to pop up in your audience’s News Feed courtesy of the exclusivity of the feature. Not many businesses have the appropriate content for a live video. Therefore, a business that can come up with a strategy to interact with the audience in real time is going to be favoured by Facebook over other businesses that are sending out conventional posts for boosting user engagement.

In addition to the higher reach, live Facebook sessions are invaluable when it comes to attracting a large audience and keeping them hooked to your message. Live contests, live giveaways, live tours, live product displays and live question and answer sessions are some of the few ways in which you can explore this new Facebook tool for marketing. The only drawback to using Facebook live for marketing purposes is that there are no retakes! You need to get it right at the first attempt, and even if you commit errors, you are likely to be excused by the amused live audience.

Reactions Help You Understand Your Customers Better

Start-ups that are successful have one incredibly important characteristic in common. They have all mastered the art of understanding consumer psychology within a very short period of time. Knowing how your customer feels about a particular product, service, promotion or package is essential to figuring out what works for your business and what does not.

Facebook Reactions make it easier than ever to assess the user’s state of mind. Did you post something that angered your customers? Are they liking the product or loving it? Do they find worthwhile humour in your content? Are they reacting in similar ways to your competitor’s posts? These are some of the areas that you can analyze.

In simple words, the black and white world of “liked posts” and “seen posts” have now been replaced by wide range of responses that new businesses can scrutinize to develop an accurate understanding of customer behaviour.

360 Photos and Videos are a Fantastic Bonus for Start-ups

On the surface, 360 photos and videos may not seem like an immensely helpful marketing tool. But what this new feature does really well is give new businesses an additional tactic of keeping users engaged and busy with their posts. As long as you are giving people something to talk about, you are doing a fine job of marketing your products and services.

You could also use 360 photos and videos to find out the kind of angles that the viewers prefer as Facebook is going to launch a new heat map feature in insights view of Page Insights and Video Library. This provides feedback on which parts of the 360 view are being most enjoyed by the audience.

Anna runs and owns Bronwyn Conroy Beauty School. Her training courses are perfect for Facebook promotion due to the visual aspect. This leads to a higher than average share throughout Facebook.