Lou Perrine’s Gas & Groceries is getting a minor makeover, thanks to Facebook.
Owner Anthony Perrine has been advertising more on Facebook lately since a local newspaper’s advertising costs rose. Data from one of the social-media site’s business tools, Facebook Page Insights, showed him that most people reading his posts are women and millennials.
“That’s a powerful demographic that’s looking at my ads,” says Perrine. “Part of it is realizing the power of the female shopper and the power of the millennial shopper.”
He worked to make the store more female-friendly, including adding brighter lights and focusing on cleanliness: “the whole nine yards, because I want to appeal to that demographic,” says Perrine.
The family-owned shop in Kenosha, Wis., and its online presence is well-known in the community. Many of the retailer’s posts, while still advertising promotions or events, have a casual voice more likely to be seen in personal posts.
That familiar, conversational feel is very important, according to Joshua Swanson, CEO of Los Angeles-based GoToMyApartment and a speaker and consultant helping businesses use social media more effectively. He heads two ad agencies, the largest of which spends more than $1 million on Facebook ads each year.
Instead of thinking of Facebook as an ad platform, consider it a digital space in which to hang out, like an online front porch where people can kick back and catch up with their friends, Swanson says.
“If their news feed is constantly filled with sales messages, it would be like someone walking by your front porch with an electric billboard that constantly changes to a new message trying to get you to buy something,” he says. “That’s not really a place where you would be likely to pull out your wallet and make a purchase.”
Perrine engages his fans on Facebook via two methods: a traditional post on his business page, or a paid advertisement. Both have separate missions. When posting an ad, Perrine doesn’t put money behind it unless the ad pushes a product, promotion or other profitable angle.
“There’s got to be some draw for me to spend money on it,” he says.
Many of his ads and posts are also actionable. For instance, one post invites readers to the store to get tickets for an upcoming raffle. Not only does this invite more traffic into the shop, but it also has the draw of potential winnings and gives readers a mission that involves an action beyond just coming in the store and buying something.
“You have to put out content that’s going to help enrich other peoples’ lives,” says Swanson. He suggests posting how-to videos or instructions on Facebook to draw in customers, such as how to make the best pulled-pork sandwich or iced coffee. “You’re the expert on something,” Swanson says, “so you want to be the expert on that subject matter on Facebook.”
But isn’t that a little like giving away business secrets? Swanson says it is, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“Everyone’s always afraid to give away their secrets, and I say give away everything, because in the end, people are too busy to do it anyway,” says Swanson. “Maybe they’ll try that coffee recipe once or twice, but in the end, they’re going to remember that you gave them the tip and they’re going to come to your business and give you their business because we’re all too busy to do anything anymore.”
While Facebook is more of a platform for storytelling than salesmanship, its back end has data and tools that businesses can use to get their message in front of the right people.
Swanson suggests retailers study data from Facebook Page Insights to find out more about their average customer. Insights has troves of information about viewers, from age and interests to location and gender. Once retailers have a clear picture of their average customer, they can use another tool—Ad Manager—to target similar people in untapped areas.
For Perrine, the ability to target specific ZIP codes and types of people is important for getting the word out about his store’s delivery service. “I have people who like my page [who live] in Racine and Milwaukee, Wis., Zion, Ill., and all over the place, and that doesn’t do me any good,” he says. “So I pinpointed area codes and things of that nature where we deliver to, to target and market to certain people.”
But if the content of a Facebook post or advertisement isn’t compelling, all of that research won’t matter. Swanson says retailers should pay close attention to two metrics—engagement and reach—to measure the success of posts.
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