With robust links, Facebook groups, and long-term active users, Facebook is a great marketing hub when done right.
While new platforms have hit the scene to great fanfare, Facebook is still one of the biggest players in social marketing. With millions of people logging in every day across different ages and interests, the platform is packed with opportunities to get your brand in front of the right audience. But here’s the catch: success takes more than tossing up a post and hoping for the best.
To really make Facebook work, you need to understand how the algorithm decides what gets seen, which types of content spark clicks, and how ads can push your reach even further. Whether you’re aiming to build awareness, grow a community, or drive traffic, the tools are there: you just need a smart Facebook marketing strategy to use them to their fullest potential.
TL;DR:
Facebook marketing involves using both organic and paid social strategies on Facebook to promote your organization, engage audiences, and drive conversions.
Organic marketing on Facebook helps you build and maintain relationships with your audience. Posts, comments, and shares help brands stay visible in the feed and encourage organic conversations with customers. Paid marketing, on the other hand, uses Facebook’s ad tools to deliver content to specific audiences based on factors like age, location, interests, and behaviors. Together, these approaches help organizations strike a balance of reach and relevance on Facebook.
With over 196 million active users in the United States, Facebook has the benefit of being one of the longest-standing social media platforms, providing a large user base, with a variety of features to make your brand and product stand out.
These features are arguably more diverse than many other social media platforms. Beyond the News Feed, businesses can use Stories, Groups, Facebook Shops, and Messenger to create different types of content and interactions with existing and potential customers. This flexibility allows marketers to support multiple goals, like building awareness or community to driving direct sales.
There are many ways to build a Facebook strategy, all of which depend on your broader marketing goals and how they relate to your social media strategy. Here are the basics of building a Facebook strategy in six steps.
Before posting or running ads, outline what you want to achieve. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. Instead of vague goals like ‘increase engagement’, a related SMART goal would be “increase post shares by 15% over the next quarter.” Setting goals help you track progress and prove the impact of your work.
Understanding who engages with your content is essential. Facebook’s built-in social media analytics provide insights into demographics, behaviors, and activity times. By studying this data, you can tailor your strategy to meet your audience’s preferences. For example, if you notice your target audience converts better on straightforward product posts, you’ll know it’s a good idea to incorporate product posts whenever possible in your Facebook campaigns.
Facebook offers a wide range of free tools designed to support marketers. Features like Business Suite, Page Insights, and social media scheduling tools help streamline content creation, publishing workflows, and help your team track and measure various social media KPIs. Consistently using these tools ensures you’re crafting your strategy and making decisions based on real-time performance, not speculation.
Content is at the core of Facebook marketing. This includes posts, videos, Stories, and live sessions meant to spark engagement and interaction. However, it takes more than polished content to stand out. Content should reflect your brand’s voice, and ideally blend educational, entertaining, and promotional content, which provides a good mix for users, and also lets you see which types of content resonate best with your audience. For brands starting out on Facebook, it’s wise to test a variety of content formats to see what sticks with your audience and what doesn’t.
Organic reach can take you far, but Facebook ads open the door to audiences you’d likely miss otherwise. With targeting tools that let you zero in on demographics, interests, and behaviors, you can make sure your content lands in front of the right people. Perhaps the best part of Facebook marketing is the ability to boost a Facebook post with any budget. This is perfect for smaller brands or larger brands looking to dip their toes into paid marketing and see what works before committing to higher spend.
Marketing on Facebook isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ effort. It’s important to regularly review analytics to see what’s working and where adjustments are needed. Look at metrics like reach, engagement, and conversions to assess success. Use these insights to refine your strategy, test new approaches, and continuously improve results over time.
Native analytics might work for a time, however, third-party social media analytics tools often offer the ability to build custom analytics dashboards, automate reports, and compare cross-channel performance on Facebook with other social media platforms.
Facebook remains one of the most effective platforms for connecting with audiences, but getting results requires more than posting at random. With the right tactics, brands can boost engagement, reach new customers, and enhance customer loyalty. Below are practical tips to help you refine your approach and maximize impact.
Using a mix of content formats lets you understand what resonates best with your audience, while making the most of the different posting options available on Facebook like Stories, video, blog links, and more. Be sure to use the right social media image size for Facebook post to ensure your visuals pack a punch.
Incorporating alt text into your content isn’t just important for social media accessibility, it also helps your brand become easier to discover within the Facebook algorithm. Well-written alt text tells the algorithm more about your content and ultimately what your brand is all about, plus, it makes your content and brand more inclusive to all audiences.
Maintaining a posting schedule is important, but for the best results, it shouldn’t be sporadic or inconsistent. With platforms like Dash Social, you can find your best time to post on Facebook based on past historical performance, so you know that you’re posting at the optimal time for your audience.
Facebook Groups are one of the most powerful tools for cultivating authentic community. Unlike regular posts, Groups invite members to participate, share their own stories and engage with one another. Whether you’re offering support, organizing events, or facilitating peer discussions, a Group gives your audience a sense of belonging and connection.
Retargeting turns interest into action. By showing ads to people who’ve already interacted with your page, video or website, you stay on their radar with messages that matter. It’s a smart, cost-effective strategy. For instance, someone who skipped your shopping cart yesterday may be ready to complete a purchase today if you offer a timely reminder, an incentive, or even a discount code. Retargeting brings back prospects and moves them closer to conversion without wasting reach on cold audiences.
Not all metrics are created equal. Instead of chasing vanity metrics that aren’t applicable to your goals, focus on those that say something meaningful, like engagement rate, click-through rate, or cost per result. These metrics show how content is actually performing with your audience and how well it contributes to your goals. Aligning your tracking to your objectives ensures you’re making decisions based on results, not assumptions. And that keeps your strategy grounded and accountable.
In 2025, Facebook continues to evolve, demanding marketers keep pace with both user shifts and platform innovations. Meta’s own data shows that time spent viewing friends’ content has fallen from 22% to 17% as the platform increasingly favors discovery and entertainment-style content over personal updates. Meta’s response includes a new “Friends” tab, designed to bring personal connections back to the forefront of the user experience.
To keep your strategy sharp, combine trend reports with real-time listening and analytics. That way, you can spot shifts early, like a spike in Reel performance, a surge in messaging behavior, or a new interactive feature and respond fast to what resonates.
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Dash’s Social Media Trends Report helps sharpen your strategy on social with data-backed insights and trends derived from the world’s best brands.
Get the 2025 Social Media Trends ReportSometimes the best way to understand what works on Facebook is to see it in action. Here are some examples of how brands market on Facebook and set themselves apart.
Happy Socks leans into its bold aesthetic. The brand frequently shares vibrant visuals, creative videos, and trendy Reels that feel joyful and authentic. They feature a ‘Shop Now’ button on their profile leading to a custom landing page, linking to their website to encourage conversions and monitor which sales come from Facebook.
Happy Socks frequently partners with artists, pop culture icons, and charitable causes to appeal to a range of audiences. These collaborations, ranging from Spiderman to the The Beatles, and WWF; keep the brand top-of-mind, highly shareable, and culturally relevant.
On Facebook, Versed leans into muted tones and a blend of inspirational, skincare tips, and humorous content in static posts to strike a balance between product placement and relatability. The brand’s feed feels cohesive and approachable, often weaving in everyday skincare moments alongside product features. This mix positions Versed as both an authority in clean beauty and a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Soap and Glory brings a silly, tongue-in-cheek energy to its Facebook feed. The brand leans into playful product names, soft-pink visuals, and offbeat humor. They spotlight fun campaigns with a mix of UGC, playful trends, and product posts to spark participation and laughter. Soap and Glory’s voice comes through in every post: lighthearted and a little irreverent.
Facebook offers a variety of promotional features, but you must be using a Facebook Business Account to get the full scope of available features and analytics. Here’s how to set up a Facebook Business account:
Facebook Groups are designed for connection, not direct selling, but they can still play a powerful role in your marketing strategy. By creating or participating in Groups, you position your brand as a trusted resource within a community. Use Groups to share exclusive content, answer questions, and gather feedback from members. Over time, this builds credibility and loyalty, which can indirectly drive sales and strengthen customer relationships.
Organic reach isn’t dead, but it has changed dramatically. Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes content from friends and posts that spark meaningful interactions. That means brand posts often don’t get the same visibility they once did. However, organic strategies can still work when they focus on quality over quantity. Think engaging videos, timely posts, and content that encourages comments and shares. While paid promotion is almost always needed for scale, organic reach remains valuable for building trust and authenticity.
Yes. Meta Business Suite (previously known as Facebook Business Manager) lets you manage ads across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger in one centralized platform. From there, you can create campaigns, set budgets, and track performance across channels without having to juggle multiple dashboards. This saves time and helps keep your campaigns consistent and easier to optimize.
Audience building on Facebook refers to the process of identifying and nurturing groups of people most likely to engage with your brand. This includes custom audiences made from website visitors, lookalike audiences based on existing customers, and interest-based audiences. It matters because the more precisely you define and grow your audience, the more effective your content and ads become. A well-built audience helps reduce wasted spend and ensures your message meets the right people.
Yes, Facebook remains a strong channel for lead generation, even in niche markets. The platform’s advanced targeting allows you to reach specific demographics, industries, and interest groups that align with your business. Lead forms, Messenger interactions, and call-to-action buttons make it easy to capture information directly on the platform. For niche industries, this precision ensures that your campaigns are reaching qualified prospects, often at a lower cost compared to broader channels.