Facebook Shares Tips with MEDA Business Development Clients

2599-11302016_bdp-facebook-workshop-social-media_blogThe challenge for the 50 million small-business pages on Facebook? How to draw potential clients’ eyes to a business Facebook ad when it’s sandwiched between cute kid pictures or a family reunion group shot on targeted users’ personal pages.

As we fast forward to 2017, social media as a business-marketing tool is all the more important, but many small ventures are still unclear on how to develop a strategy, including maximizing the power of omnipresent Facebook.

That’s where MEDA’s free Business Development workshops come in, with marketing an important piece of the seven-session curriculum. Upon graduation, clients get one-on-one coaching to help start or grow their business.

In addition, Business Development and Lending Liaison Andrea Krell has been setting up monthly one-time workshops. “We need to give business owners as many tools as possible to grow their ventures and increase sales,” stated Krell when asked of the need.

To showcase how Facebook can be a tool for marketing a business, Krell enlisted the assistance of the Menlo Park-based company’s Community Engagement Coordinator Meghna Mahadevan, who offered to come to San Francisco to share tips with 30 MEDA clients. The event was held at Mateo’s Taqueria, itself a MEDA Business Development client located on the Mission Street corridor. That enterprise even received a $100K, five-year Adelante Fund loan to start a new business in Mid-Market. (MEDA’s community loan fund offers access to capital for small businesses not able to garner such a loan at traditional banks.)

At Monday’s informative session, clients were champing at the bit to get tips from the affable Mahadevan. She showcased a personal versus a business Facebook page, explaining that they shouldn’t be all that different. Mahadevan explained the need for a human touch when it comes to marketing your small business — similar to the connection someone exhibits when they interact with friends and family on a personal Facebook page.

When it comes to running ads, Mahadevan explained the four items to keep in mind:

  1. Objective: This can range from pushing purchases on an ecommerce site to driving sales at a brick-and-mortar location.
  2. Audience: For example, you can use GPS targeting to find people nearby who would be interested in stopping in at your business.
  3. Ad formats: Facebook now offers many ways to create an ad, plus there are myriad apps that can quickly create eye-catching advertisements (think Boomerang or Hyperlapse for video).
  4. Measure success: Always ascertain whether you are correctly spending your ad budget.

“I thank Meghna Mahadevan for providing a unique opportunity for our clients today, and for answering their questions. It’s vital for our clients to have hands-on training, so that they best understand how to implement and customize social media ad campaigns,” explained MEDA Business Development Program Manager Edwin Rodriguez after the successful event. “My team looks forward to following up with our clients to ensure they optimize their business pages on Facebook.”

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if you are a small-business owner, set up a free one-on-one consultation with Andrea Krell: akrell@medasf.org.

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