Facebook is huge – but don’t let it be a huge waste of time

Remember though that in order to get any visibility for your posts you’ll first be required to hand over (quite) a few dollars. And that social media is simply the icing on the cake – not the cake itself. So be prudent, says Mr Franklin, and use FB principally to compliment the outward bound marketing you already do.

Facebook’s groups is the best place to start. “Because in my experience,” he says, “the best activity and networking happens here.” It’s where he spends most of his time on Facebook. “Groups are a golden opportunity to listen, contribute, and connect with prospects and peers,” he adds. Remember that they are on Facebook already, so it’s just a matter of knowing which groups they hang out in and then connecting with them in the appropriate ones.

Next, use your Facebook business page to showcase photos of what it’s like to work with you. Even though you won’t get much visibility on people’s news feeds, Mr Franklin says, the real value is in attracting people to join your team. “Anyone who is considering working for you is going to stalk your page, so make sure you are putting your best foot forward.”

Then, install a Facebook tool called News Feed Eradicator on your main work computer so that you can stay focused and avoid the news feed vortex.
“This alone,” he says, “frees up many valuable hours per week.”

Later, when you are more sophisticated with your online marketing – to the extent that you know the actual dollar value of each lead in your sales funnels – amplify your efforts by utilising Facebook re-targeting. “You know those websites you visit,” says Mr Franklin, “and then their ads follow you around on Facebook? Well, that is a website that is doing re-targeting.” You will essentially be paying for the opportunity to re-market to people who have previously visited your website.

Add Facebook’s audience pixel to your website so you can eventually enable re-targeting. “It is literally one line of code that your web developer needs to add once. Even if this makes no sense or you don’t intend to start re-targeting people just yet, add the pixel anyway, because you will be collecting valuable information that you can use later.”

One final word on Facebook. Don’t expect it to be a substitute for your personal touch. In Mr Franklin’s words: “Don’t hide behind Facebook.” Never, never let it replace your highest-value activities, like face-to-face meetings or client phone calls. Use it simply to complement and amplify your front-end efforts, not as “an excuse to abdicate responsibility for winning clients.”

Hosted by The Adviser Academy, Digital Marketing Fundamentals – Mortgage and Finance is a brand new six-week course created exclusively for mortgage brokers that will deliver digital marketing skills, techniques and strategies to grow your business.
The course agenda is modelled around planning, and delivering, comprehensive lead generation and growth web strategies; covering Google and SEO, social media, email marketing and editorial calendars - and a whole lot more. One section of the workshop will focus specifically on scaling your Facebook marketing effort as part of a greater social media initiative to promote yourself as a mortgage specialist and transform into becoming a legitimate attraction business.

Seats on the course are strictly limited to just 30 places. There are now less than 10 still available, and they will go fast. Click HERE to secure your place now.