OPINION: How can you turn Facebook into a marketing success?

In July Steve Denham visited my Londis store as part of the Academy in Action. He was blown away by the craft beer and cider range that we offer, but was surprised I wasn’t promoting it in a meaningful manner. He told me that I needed to shout about the range, which lead to me creating a set of posters to achieve just that.

The result has been that more of our customers are becoming aware of what is on offer in our store, and sales are growing.

Part of my store’s craft beer story is that one of our customers set up a Facebook page to let their friends know about the range of beer we have on offer. Facebook has also been the channel for another marketing success we have had with a Halloween promotion.

Usually when I go on my travels I return home via different cash & carry suppliers that can offer something new to sell in the store. In early October I visited a Hancocks depot to boost our seasonal confectionery range. One unique product I spotted was a Vampire Head that was the base of a lollipop display. It cost £5 and I thought that it would make a great promotional product to increase our Facebook page reach.

It was a ‘Like & Share’ promotion that gained a reach of 8,283 people and one lucky entrant won the head. Beyond the £5 cost of the Vampire Head full of lollipops we made no marketing investment in the promotion as we didn’t need to invest in boosting the Facebook post to get a great result from this campaign.

It has been a very revealing experience that we will take forward as we learn how to use Facebook and other digital channels to promote and grow our business. What I have discovered from the Vampire Head is that customers can see value in the most unexpected places!