Every year, the brand Use more Use social media advertising to reach relevant audiences. 63 million Given that U.S. Facebook users will be making purchases through the platform in 2024, the opportunity is clear.
But what if you don’t want to spend money on Facebook ads? Is it possible to drive awareness and sales for free?
With some creativity and patience, the answer is a resounding yes. Here are 12 suggestions for advertising on Facebook with little to no budget.
How can I advertise for free on Facebook?
- Create a Facebook business page
- Create a Facebook Shop
- Use your free Meta ad credits
- Share free and useful content
- Sell on Facebook Marketplace
- Run a Facebook Live Stream
- Invite your friends and family to share your page
- Host a Facebook Giveaway
- Join a local community group
- Encourage previous customers to leave Facebook reviews
- Work with micro-influencers
- Engage with your followers through Facebook Messenger
1. Create a Facebook business page
Business Pages are similar to personal profiles, but instead of sending connection requests, people interact with them by liking or following your Page. All Page content is public, so anyone who visits your Business Page can see the content you share.
Optimize your Facebook business page by uploading the following:
- Cover photo
- Your profile picture (usually your company logo)
- Online Store Description
- contact address
- Call to action button
2. Create a Facebook Shop
a Facebook Shop Introduce social media users to your product catalog without them having to visit your website. Users can view product photos, descriptions, and prices without leaving the Facebook app.
Shopify Facebook Integration Automatically add and update your Facebook Shop products. Tag your Facebook Shop products in content posted to your Page to encourage your followers to buy.
3. Use your free Meta Ad Credits
Meta regularly provides services to small and medium-sized businesses. Free Facebook Ad CreditsWhile you can’t request advertising credits from Facebook, you can seek them out through Meta partnerships and in-product promotions.
Credits can be used to advertise Meta Ads ManagerOpen an advertising account Metapixeltry the following:
- Facebook ad campaign goals (catalog sales, video views, link clicks)
- Ad campaigns with different validity periods and daily budgets
- Ad formats (Video Ads, Single Image Ads, Carousel Ads)
- Incentives like free shipping or featured reviews
- Audience TargetingSimilar products Custom Audiences
Once you start seeing results, it’s smart to reinvest your profits into your best-performing Facebook campaigns. Get started with Facebook advertising With almost no upfront advertising costs.
4. Share free and useful content
Once your Facebook page is up and running, share free, helpful content with your followers. This could be anything from guides on how to use your products to photos of previous customers using them.
Timing is important when posting to Facebook. There’s little point sharing content with your target audience when they’re not using the Facebook app. Time it so that when they sign in, your content doesn’t get buried under fresh content.
Research shows the best time to post on Facebook is Friday MorningBut when making your plan, consider your audience’s daily lives: for example, if you’re targeting office workers, schedule your posts outside peak work and commute hours.
Facebook will start collecting data about your followers when you post regularly, and you can use Facebook Page insights to find out the times of day when your followers are most likely to log in.
5. Sell on Facebook Marketplace
Facebook provides commerce capabilities that allow brands to sell to local shoppers online. marketIt works similarly to Facebook Shops, but customers can browse products for sale near their location, purchase items, and have them shipped to their home directly from Facebook.
Optimizing your product listings will help them show up in Facebook Marketplace results.
That is, it looks like this:
- Write keyword-rich product descriptions
- Competitive pricing
- Use high-quality vertical images (most Facebook users View on Mobile)
- Re-share your Marketplace listing to your business page
You will need Check out on Facebook You can now accept payments via Marketplace. This is only available to US users.
6. Do a Facebook Live Stream
Meta Facebook halts live shopping featureyou can go live on the platform to introduce your latest products, provide interactive how-to guides, or add extra excitement to your brand launch.
Your followers will be notified Go Live on FacebookOther users viewing your business’ page will also see a live icon that allows them to watch the livestream.
Popular live stream formats include:
- Step-by-step tutorial
- Q&A session
- Collaborating with micro-influencers and complementary vendors
Learn from Melissa Gersin’s inventions. Tranquilomathosted a Facebook Live video teaching parents how to calm their baby, what to look out for during the first diaper change, tips for swaddling babies, and more.
Melissa says, “We send these out in mass emails to educate our customers. This keeps them interested in us and our platform, which naturally keeps our products in their minds, making them more likely to add them to their registry and convert.”
7. Share your page with friends and family
Chances are, your friends and family support your small business. Leverage your network and ask people to share your business page. Your branded content will appear in their audience’s news feeds, increasing brand awareness and introducing more people to your online store.
You can do the same by proactively sharing content on your personal profile, so that the content you share on your business’ Facebook page is visible to your entire network.
8. Host a Giveaway on Facebook
Giveaways aren’t technically free, but it is possible to give away some of your products for free (basically at cost price). Facebook Ad Budget).
Create a Facebook post with your entry details, and to enter you will need to like the page, share the post and tag a friend.
Betty Jade Gift CompanyFor example, we ran a £50 gift voucher giveaway where followers had to meet certain entry criteria.
For added impact, partner with complementary vendors and distribute giveaways to generate more attention.
9. Join your local community group
Communities often use Facebook groups to chat with locals, so use this as a place to advertise for free on Facebook.
Create short ads to promote your online store. Consider using your Facebook ad campaign to provide an incentive for people to take action, such as a discount on their first purchase or free local shipping.
Be sure to read the Facebook group rules before posting. Some groups only allow ads on certain days of the week, and some ads require admin approval. If you don’t follow these rules, you could be banned from the group.
Corey Duffy Corey Cooks has had some success using this tactic: “I get some free publicity on Facebook by joining a few groups related to my work and posting about my work in those groups. I also tag a few influencers and reach out to people in the comments section who have questions related to my topic.”
10. Encourage past customers to leave Facebook reviews
The majority of shoppers Find reviews Before making a purchase, engage with customers who browse your business’s Facebook page, which features positive reviews from past customers.
The easiest way to encourage people to write Facebook reviews is to create an automated post-purchase email campaign. Thank them for their purchase and ask for their feedback. Direct them to your business’ Facebook page and offer an incentive, like a discount on their next order, in exchange for an honest review.
11. Work with micro-influencers
Thanks to social media platforms like TikTok, anyone can Make Money Online.
Partner with micro-influencers to promote your business on Facebook in exchange for free products. Creators with less than 10,000 followers can: Making Money with FacebookTherefore, they are more likely to receive free products in exchange for producing sponsored content.
Admittedly, this isn’t a completely free tactic, but the only charge for this Facebook advertising technique is the cost of the product.
12. Engage with your followers through Facebook Messenger
Start conversations with people who interact with your page by following, liking, commenting on your social media posts, etc. These people are considered warm leads. Since they have already shown interest in your online store, a quick conversation can potentially drive them to your e-commerce website.
Start a conversation with your Facebook followers by asking questions like:
- If there’s anything I can help you with
- Do you have questions about the product?
- Interested in a first-time customer discount?
As the scale growsUse a Facebook-approved chatbot. Many Chatautomate as much as possible.
It’s possible to run a Facebook ad campaign on a budget
Regardless of your advertising budget, your business should have a presence on Facebook. If you don’t have money to spend on flashy ad campaigns, build your presence in other ways, such as creating original content, reaching out to your followers directly, and running giveaways and live streams.
Get creative, engage your audience, and start advertising on Facebook for free.
Free Advertising on Facebook FAQs
Are there free Facebook ads?
Facebook is Ads ManagerHowever, other elements of the platform, such as Groups, Marketplace, and Shops, offer free advertising.
How can I advertise on Facebook for free?
- Share content on your business’s Facebook page
- Advertise with local community groups
- Create a Facebook Marketplace listing
- Tagging products for your Facebook shop
- Host a Facebook Live Video
How can I promote my posts on Facebook for free?
Facebook sometimes offers small businesses free advertising vouchers to use when promoting their organic posts. Other free ways to promote your posts are by resharing them on your personal profile or in local community groups.
How do I get free Facebook ad credits?
There are two ways to get free Facebook ad credits: through in-product promotions or Meta partnerships. You can use these credits to run Facebook ads through Meta Business Manager.