Facebook has released a new feature. This is nothing as time-consuming as the Timeline that was released in 2012. The Facebook Graph Search offers many benefits for local marketers, as long as their page is ready for it. You could soon find that you gain more customers or clients with half the work.
Focus on Location of Businesses
Local marketers have the benefit of using their location in marketing. Many people want to know where somewhere is so that they can visit. They may be new to an area and need to find restaurants, hotels or airports close by or just want to find something specific for their needs. With the new Graph Search, there is an emphasis on the location of a business.
This will help you, as long as your page includes your location. When people search for “[type of business] in [location]”, the Graph Search will show all those that their friends like based on the address that is placed into the page; and you could be one of them.
Merging the Duplicated Pages
If you have not showed up in a search in the past, people will often create a page for a business so that they can ‘check-in’. The checking in process should benefit you but the fan created pages do not always have the most up to date or relevant information; and you cannot use them for your own marketing. With the new search, you can quickly find if your page has been duplicated anywhere and then get in touch with Facebook.
Rather than asking for the page to be removed, ask for it to be merged to your own. Your page will automatically show up on the ‘check-in’ reports, so their friends will see the places they have been. The search uses the location friends have been – not just the pages that they like.
An Easy Place for Customer Reviews
Word of mouth and recommendations remain to be one of the most popular forms of marketing. As a local marketer you need to take advantage of that and the new Facebook Graph Search makes that possible. The page will allow the people who like you to leave their comments. It is also worth encouraging them to check-in when visiting and liking the page.
These benefit you in the Graph Search considerably. The search function works similarly to Google’s search function. The pages that are more relevant and offer the most authority will be posted at the top. You need to create a page that offers relevance and has authority in your location to the people who find you. The more you do that, the higher you will be listed in the search results. A couple of ideas to encourage this are to offer giveaways or coupons for your business.
More Pages as the Brand Expands
As local marketers expand their brand and open stores in new locations, there is the trouble of the location search. The good thing about Facebook fan pages is that you can have as many as you like. When a new brand opens, create a new Facebook fan page and add the new location information. You will then appear in the searches for two locations, instead of confusing the search engine.
This is managed through marketing strategies and automated technology. It keeps the marketing consistent, makes sure the relevant information is posted on certain pages and avoids issues of one page disappearing from lack of use.
Facebook’s new Graph Search offers many benefits for local marketers with the location search. If you would like to know more about how to make Facebook marketing work for you, visit Infintech Designs, where you can receive a free consultation.
