Upgrade Your Facebook Marketing Strategy for 2022

Want better results on Facebook? Are you taking advantage of all that the platform has available?

In this article, you'll discover five ways to supercharge your Facebook strategy.

#1: Include Short-Form Content

Create Short-Form Video for Facebook Reels

Borrowing another Instagram-first feature, Facebook launched Reels in late September 2021. These short-form videos made a splash when they launched on Instagram a year earlier so it's no surprise that they've already begun to generate buzz on Facebook.

Facebook reels can last up to 30 seconds and can include a mix of video, audio, and creative effects. Similar to stories, they appear in their own dedicated panel at the top of users' Facebook feeds, integrated into news feeds, and even in Facebook groups.

Although reels don't have the linking capabilities of stories, they're ideal for driving discovery, as well as growing audiences and building communities. Because Facebook is currently testing additional options like sharing reels from Instagram, advertising in reels, and monetizing reels, this is a feature you'll want to watch.

To create Facebook reels for your business, open the mobile app and navigate to your page. Tap the Reel button at the bottom of the screen and create up to 30 seconds of video. Use the creative tools to add music, insert special effects, or adjust the speed before publishing to your page.

Compose Facebook Stories

Have you tested out this Instagram-first feature on Facebook yet? Although Facebook stories exist for just 24 hours before disappearing from view, they've become many marketers' go-to solutions for generating engagement, improving visibility, and creating more authentic content.

Yet scheduling Facebook Stories has always been tricky, making creating and publishing them a challenge for busy social media marketers. Although some third-party apps have allowed brands to plan stories, scheduling them to publish automatically hasn't been an option.

At least, it wasn't possible until Facebook launched story scheduling via Business Suite in mid-2021. Now you can take advantage of the benefits of Stories while still planning ahead.

With the Facebook Business Suite mobile app, creating and scheduling stories is easy. Open the app, navigate to your page, and tap the blue plus icon to create new content. Select Story from the pop-up menu and start creating with newly produced video or pre-existing content from your gallery.

Then add text, graphics, or interactive stickers to make your story more engaging. You can also add a link that followers can tap to visit your website, buy a product, or download a freebie.

When you're done creating your story, tap the white Share On button in the lower-right corner. Choose whether you want to publish to Facebook, Instagram, or both. Then tap the Schedule for Later option and set a time.

After your stories go live, take time to review the analytics. Identify the best times to publish so you can keep scheduling stories when your followers are most likely to engage.

#2: Incorporate Third-Party Content

Source and Share User-Generated Content on Facebook

When you think of user-generated content (UGC), there's a good chance Facebook isn't the first social media channel that comes to mind. Instead, hashtag-driven channels like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are much more widely known for their UGC capabilities.

However, Facebook has become a key channel for finding and sharing UGC, which can enhance virtually any business' 2022 social media strategy. When you incorporate UGC into your publishing routine, you can share authentic content that resonates, reinforce relationships with customers, and potentially even reduce your production costs.

To find UGC on Facebook, your best bet is to set up a simple workflow.

In your Facebook inbox, create labels for potential and approved UGC. Add a potential UGC label to any mentions or reviews that contain consumer-created content you want to share.

Reach out to the original creator to get permission to share the photo or video. Once you confirm permission, replace the potential label with an approved label.

When you share the original post or content on Facebook, mention the creator in the caption to give them full credit.

Manage Influencer Partnerships

Influencer partnerships are also increasingly important for marketing your business on Facebook in 2022. Fortunately, Facebook has Brand Collabs Manager, a built-in tool to streamline influencer marketing. It offers a variety of helpful features, from finding the right creator for a project to disclosing your relationship correctly.

To access Brand Collabs Manager, navigate to your page's monetization tools in Creator Studio. From there, you can find influencers to work with, make sure their audiences align with yours, and approve partners. You can also share project briefs and review analytics from influencer collaborations—without having to ask for reports.

But be aware that Facebook may be planning substantial changes to this tool. If you're serious about influencer marketing, keep an eye on the new partnership features that Instagram announced in October 2021—as Facebook could adopt a similar approach in the future. Instagram is testing a DM folder for partnerships and an influencer finder tool for businesses, which could significantly improve the experience for both creators and brands.

#3: Invest in On-Platform Community

If you've noticed declining organic reach and engagement on your Facebook page, creating reels and stories may help you turn those numbers around. But publishing more content on your page isn't the right solution for every business.

Instead, Facebook groups are becoming increasingly important for brands looking for more creative solutions for driving engagement. What's the difference between groups and pages? Essentially, pages are ideal for promoting your business, while groups are designed for building a community around your business.

You can certainly have both but it's important to know how to differentiate the two. While your business has complete control of the content on a page, groups rely much more on contributions from members.

To help your group reach its full potential, think about how you can encourage participation—such as by asking thoughtful questions or hosting weekly events. You can also invite members to create posts and start discussions to give your group a life of its own.

To make your group as visible as possible, link it to your page. Open your page in Business Manager and navigate to the settings. Click Templates and Tabs and turn on the Groups tab.

Then click on the new tab and link an existing group or create a new one.

For example, the @elemntor Facebook page features the brand's official Elementor Community on its Groups tab. The group complements the page by allowing members to ask questions, share tips, and even seek resources for hiring experts using the brand's web design software.

No matter how you organize your group, be sure to use all of the available tools and keep an eye out for new ones. In November 2021, Facebook announced several new features including community chats, fundraisers, and shops to help admins do more with their groups.

#4: Increase Your Revenue From Facebook

Host a Paid Online Event With Facebook Live

Are you looking for even more ways to improve reach and engagement? Facebook Live continues to gain steam, largely due to the authentic appeal of live video. The engagement potential of Facebook Live is no joke. A Socialinsider study shows that live video engagement surpasses pre-recorded video engagement, sometimes by more than double.

Once you master the art of hosting Facebook Live events or live streaming via third-party webinar tools, consider taking advantage of Facebook's newest monetization option. Facebook now allows creators to host paid online events so you can recoup some of the expenses from your hard work.

To get started, navigate to your page's Events tab in Facebook Business Manager and click Paid Online Events. You'll need to apply for monetization and create a payout account. After processing, you can create your first paid online event.

In Business Manager or Creator Studio, click the blue Create Paid Online Event button. Give your event a name and description and set the date and ticket price. You can offer early purchase discounts to incentivize attendees or limit capacity for a more exclusive event. You can also host your event on Facebook Live or via an external link.

Note that Facebook doesn't intend to collect fees for paid online events through 2022. That means you currently receive 100% of what you earn, giving you all the more reason to test this tool now. Starting in 2023, that may change, as Facebook has announced it will collect fees at a rate that's competitive with other platforms.

Sell Products via a Facebook Shop

If your business sells products online, there's never been a better time to integrate your eCommerce with Facebook. The social channel supports eCommerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce so you can easily connect your online store.

Even if you don't have an eCommerce site, you can still set up Facebook Shops and sell directly through your page. Because Facebook has waived standard selling fees through June 2022 and doesn't charge a subscription fee, you don't have to worry about additional overhead.

To set up Facebook Shops, go to Facebook Commerce Manager and choose a checkout method. In addition to low-friction checkouts with Facebook or Instagram, you can complete checkouts through Messenger, WhatsApp, or a third-party site. Then you can add your product catalog, link your website, and add shipping and return policies.

Once your Facebook shop is live, you can feature it on your page for added exposure. As you post content on your page, you can also tag products so customers can browse and check out seamlessly. Plus, if or when Facebook eventually makes live shopping widely available to all pages, you'll be ready to start selling via live stream.

For example, this @FranksRedHot Facebook post includes shoppable products. When customers click on the interactive icon, they go right to the brand's Facebook shop. From there, they can click to browse or make a purchase on the brand's website.

#5: Enhance 1 to 1 Messaging With Customers

Chatbots, WhatsApp, and Messenger are seeing an increase in adoption by brands looking to create faster customer service and marketing channels with consumers. Consider these three options to update your communications in the coming months.

Set Up Automated Responses in Facebook Messenger

Starting conversations in post comments is great. But if engagement is important to your business, you're also going to want to make use of Facebook's new tools for Messenger—where you can do anything from answering frequently asked questions (FAQs) to accepting payments.

If you get a lot of repeated questions, you can automate keyword-based responses in Messenger. Go to your Facebook inbox in Business Manager and click the Automated Responses tab. Then click to create your own custom response.

Enter the keywords that you want to trigger the response and type a message. You can also add personalization or a hyperlinked button to your message to increase the chance of resolving the issue via an automated response. That way, your team can spend less time typing the same replies over and over and more time on higher-level tasks.

To make it even easier for customers to get answers, set up FAQs for your page. When someone clicks to message your page, they'll see all of your questions in the chat window. Then they can click to get an instant response to one or all of your FAQs.

For example, the @Zatarains Facebook page features the brand's FAQs in a panel at the upper right and in Messenger. Customers can tap in either place to ask a question and get the information they need right away.

Add a Messenger Chatbot to Your Website

Automating basic customer service tasks with Facebook Messenger can save you a ton of time. But why stop there? With a chatbot, you can get even more mileage out of your automations.

If you haven't experimented with chatbots yet, you may be missing out, as this technology has seen impressive growth in recent years. In fact, according to research by Drift, nearly 60% of business-to-business companies have already implemented this tech.

The good news is that Facebook makes it easy to add a Messenger chatbot to your website. Open your Facebook Inbox in Business Manager and go to the Chat Plugin tab.

Enter your business' website URL and a greeting to welcome site visitors.

Then add FAQs to get the conversation started. You can use the same questions you added to Facebook Messenger or create a completely new list.

Then press Publish and complete the setup on your website.

Integrate WhatsApp Messaging With Your Facebook Page

With 2 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp easily outranks Facebook Messenger's 1.3 billion users. Given this large user base, it's no surprise that Facebook has begun to integrate some WhatsApp features into Facebook pages.

To link your WhatsApp business account with your Facebook page, open Business Manager and navigate to Page Settings. Click the WhatsApp tab and enter the phone number associated with your business account to complete the connection.

If you want to get WhatsApp messages via organic content, open your page in Business Manager. Click the Get WhatsApp Messages button to add this call to action (CTA) to your post and publish your content. When it's live, followers will see a WhatsApp prompt below your post.

To generate even more results, create a paid Messages campaign in Facebook Ads Manager. Select WhatsApp as your messaging app of choice and launch an advertising campaign designed to start conversations and engage with potential customers.

Conclusion

Whether you aren't getting the results you want from your page or just want to optimize your approach, these Facebook marketing trends can guide your 2022 planning. From live and short-form video to community-building and monetization options, Facebook has tons of opportunities to help you stay on the cutting edge.

Get More Advice on Facebook Marketing

• Optimize your Facebook page for the latest features.

• Build warm retargeting audiences on Facebook.

• Choose the right Facebook campaign objective to achieve your business goal.