Facebook may seem like old news, but you canโ€™t argue with the size and engagement of users. Today, the challenge of marketing your studio on Facebook is how to stand out from the crowd and keep your presence fresh while actually landing in your clientsโ€™ news feeds.

What distinguishes Facebook from the other social media platforms is that it serves as a brand identify hub. It is crucial that your Facebook presence reflect who you are as a business and represent the pillars of your brand. Use Facebook as a way to establish yourself as an expert in the industry. Two of ClassPassโ€™s marketing specialists, Diana Kim and Cait Pluto share some tips and tricks below.

 

Facebook by the Numbers

Facebook is the largest social network with 890 million active daily users. 63% of Facebook users engage on a daily basis.

399 million Facebook users are exclusively mobile users. 19 million businesses have optimized their Fan Pages for mobile.

Facebook users over the age of 18 spend an average or 39 minutes per day on the site.

66% of Millennials use Facebook. 31% of senior citizens use the channel.

More than 1 million small and medium-size businesses advertise on Facebook.

32% of Facebook users site the reason theyโ€™ve unliked a brand is uninteresting content. 28% said they unliked due to too many posts.

40% of users report liking a brand on a social network because they were already interested in the brand and want to be kept informed. 39% like brands to receive a special offer, and 12% do so because a friend recommended it. Only 8% like a brand they werenโ€™t already familiar with offline to learn more.

Fans who interact with a brand on Facebook spend an average of 35% more time with that brand than customers who donโ€™t interact.

The ideal length of a Facebook post is 40 characters. Posts with 80 characters or fewer received 66% higher engagement than longer posts.

 

5 Tips and Tricks

1. Strike the right mix of content. 70% of your posts should be brand related and 30% should be more personal posts. Personal posts shouldnโ€™t be restricted to experiences you have that are related to the fitness lifestyle your brand promotes. For example, you could post about recipes you tried, new classes you attended or fitness activities you participated in, new gear you purchased, or quotes and images that inspire you. You can also mix in links to health news and information about your studioโ€™s specialty. One way to ensure youโ€™re creating a good mix of posts is to create three or four content buckets, or themes, that would be relevant to your audience. Examples of buckets include nutrition, motivation, fitness tips and studio news and events.

2. Focus on quality over quantity. Because of Facebook algorithms, you will decrease your reach if you post too frequently. The key is to focus on creating interesting posts, not hijacking your audienceโ€™s news feeds.

An effective way to spread your posts out is to take advantage of scheduling tools. Facebook allows you to create posts and set a date and time to publish. Using a schedule tool can also help you spread out your mix of content. If you schedule a post about studio news for Monday, you can schedule a motivational post for Tuesday and organize your content strategy. You can also use a third party app, such as Buffer or Hootsuite, to schedule posts to Facebook as well as your other social media channels to save time.

3. Keep your posts short. Posts should never run so long that they are cut off by a โ€œread moreโ€ prompt in usersโ€™ news feeds. Instead, posts should be one to two lines maximum. Include a strong call to action. If you are announcing a new class, include โ€œsign up nowโ€ with a link to your online schedule. If you are hosting an event, include a phrase like, โ€œbe sure to join us.โ€ If you are running a sale on products, write โ€œlearn more about these productsโ€ with a link back to your site. Be very clear with your audience about what their next steps should be.

4. Optimize your profile. Great images are key. In addition to a high quality profile pic, use a beautiful cover image as well. Your profile picture should be 180×180 pixels and will be automatically cropped into a square. Your cover image must be at least 399 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall.

Your Facebook profile should include links to your other social media channels to give the people who find you on Facebook more options for engaging with your studio. Keep your bio clear and concise at two sentences maximum. You can add more details about your studioโ€™s services and philosophies in the description.

5. Create relationships with your Facebook fans. Ask your clients to get involved with your page. Keep your wall open to allow fans to post to your page directly. You can get the ball rolling by asking fans to upload photos showing a dish they made that uses a seasonal, healthy food or a photos of them participating in outdoor fitness or getting their sweat on. Ask questions of your fans and respond to questions they post for you. While this may seem like common knowledge, 70% of questions fans post on business pages go unanswered.

 

How Often to Post
The best days to post on Facebook are Thursday and Friday. Statistically speaking, 1 p.m. is when posts are most likely to be shared and 3 p.m. is the rush hour for clicks. As for frequency, do not post more than twice per day.

 

The big no-no
Repetitive posts are a problem on Facebook. Be careful not to talk about yourself too much or just constantly post promotions for your studio. Let other people talk about you.

 

Is this working?

Facebook offers a Page Insights tool that allows you to track and measure key metrics, such as reach and engagement. Page Insights will also tell you how many people clicked on particular posts, as well as provide limited demographic information about the people who like your page.

When you are evaluating the effectiveness of your Facebook strategy, the quality of your posts is only a portion of the formula. No matter how spot-on your content may be, the truth is Facebook wall posts are viewed by less than 2%-3% of people that like your page. Facebook has a complicated algorithm comprised of many different factors, including:

  • ย ย ย ย ย ย Completeness of the page profile
  • ย ย ย ย ย ย The userโ€™s previous interaction with the page
  • ย ย ย ย ย ย Number of likes, shares and comments the post gets from a userโ€™s friends and from the world at large
  • ย ย ย ย ย ย Type of post (photo, video, link, status update) and how much the user has interacted with the type in the past
  • ย ย ย ย ย ย If the user likes similar pages and posts
  • ย ย ย ย ย ย How often your content is hidden by users

You may want to consider investing in paid ads in order to reach all your likes. Putting $5 to $10 behind a post can make a big difference in your reach.

 

FACEBOOK INSPIRATION

Bari Studioโ€™s Facebook presence features a healthy mix of engaging posts. The studio offers classes in the BariMethod, a combination of dance cardio, sports training, muscle sculpting and trampoline cardio. But content they share on Facebook goes well beyond class schedule updates and boot camp promotions. They carry the lifestyle branding theyโ€™ve established on their website through to their social media posts.

Bari Studio refers to its devoted core of clients as the #baritribe and posts Triber Tales, which include client fitness experiences and success stories accompanied by great pictures. Mixed in to the workout tip videos and trainer spotlights, Bari Studio also posts pictures from group outdoor workouts and bounceathon events for Stand Up to Cancer and Autism awareness.

The studio recently launched their annual baripeel challenge, a six-week fitness and nutrition program to help clients get into shape for summer. The studioโ€™s Facebook posts that support the baripeel program include links to recipes for a five-day detox, motivational images and text, and images of post workout stretches.