Ready, set, post

You probably already know all of this and truly want to make something happen, but are having a hard time getting your network marketing plans put into action. Here are five first steps to get you rolling toward more students and customers, at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing. These suggestions will focus on Facebook as your primary marketing tool, but there are many other social media platforms that you can grow into once you get your feet wet.

Step 1: Start a business page on Facebook. You probably already have a personal page, so it's a short hop to creating a business presence. There are dozens of blogs, YouTube videos, and websites that can help. You probably could create a professional-looking page yourself, but if your plate is already full, or you think that your horizontal striped shirt looks great with those fashionable plaid pants, spend a few bucks and hire a good Facebook designer to do it for you.

This page, like your website, is not a place to cheap out, but it shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks. Need a source of good talent? Go to freelancer.com or upwork.com, post a description of your needs and wait for designers to contact you. A word of caution: Many designers found through freelance sites are overseas and may or may not have a native's grasp of the English language. Be sure the content they create doesn't sound like the assembly instructions for your daughter's new bike. Better yet, have them format the page graphically and produce the posts and other content yourself. Make sure your telephone number and address are clearly shown, and that a “Learn More” button connects directly to your website.

Step 2: Add content by uploading a short video and four text or photo posts to your new page. Why video? Because it pulls in an audience better than static images. Take your iPad out to the ramp and video a student as he or she gets out of the airplane after a first solo, all smiles, thumbs up. Combine that footage with five to six still photos of your facilities, fleet, and classrooms, and put it all together with a free or low-cost video editor. Your Apple device probably came with a free editor called iMovie, but there are dozens of others. I like Wondershare Filmora for its simplicity and intuitive interface, but virtually any editor will do since all you want to use it for is making drop-dead simple videos.

Since your page is new, upload another four non-video posts that talk about student milestones or fun trips that customers took (show tons of pictures). Keep the text of the entry short, 10 to 20 words, and use action photos of waving arms, giant smiles, or jumps in the air (pictures that show two guys standing in front an airplane with fake grins don't excite anybody).

Step 3: Promote your Facebook page. Now that you have a page, you need to share it with others and get people to contact you to go flying. Email your current contact list and ask them to follow your page. Include an invitation to follow on all future emails and advertising. That'll get you at least a handful of followers. Now comes the fun part.

Create an ad in Facebook for a discounted ($99?) introductory flight or for a special invitation to attend “Learn To Fly Day” at your school. It's critical that your ad features an offer that your visitor can respond to; just posting your logo won't cut it. Your Facebook page will feature a link that enables you to choose your target audience, set a daily budget, and create one or more ads or even entire campaigns. Best of all, it's really easy to do.

Don't have time? Contact the person you hired to do your page design and he or she can whip out your ads in short order for just a few dollars. When your ads are set and everything's ready to go, pull the trigger. Your first foray into social network marketing has begun.

Step 4: A-B test your ads. Say what? A-B test is marketing jargon for “run two different ads and see which one works best.” Set your schedule to feature two different offers—one for a demo flight and one for a school tour or BBQ meet-and-greet. Your goal is to get people into your school. Some folks will book that demo right away; others may need to see you up close and personal first. See which offer brings in the most people and, ultimately, the most dollars.

To get the most out of this testing you'll need to track responses. Again, nothing fancy, just a pencil and paper or spreadsheet tally of incoming responses will get you started—although Facebook's ad back-end will do a lot of this tracking for you. Once you know which offers are working best, rotate them through a regular ad schedule. Don't say “I'll try it for a week and see what happens”—consistency is key. Give your campaign at least two months of serious effort, preferably longer. Most respondents will need to see your offer several times before they click or call; that's just how people roll.

Step 5: Post fresh content to your page. Keep pushing. Successful social network marketing always involves regular updating and new content. Plan to post new stuff at least three times a week, and make those posts compelling to aspiring pilots. Show student milestone photos, or photos and text of fly-outs and $100 hamburger trips. Remember that some of your new students will want to fly for business, so pepper your posts with stories and images of people flying to see their clients and customers. Resist the urge to talk about your school in these posts; focus on your students and what they're doing. Sell the dream. You'll talk business—the hows and costs—when customers call or visit. For now, feature the fun and utility of flying in your posts.

Social media marketing is vast and varied. Other platforms, such as Twitter, Google, and Instagram (just to name a few) are available and could be explored as you gain more familiarity with the subject. All of them work a little differently from the others and, frankly, Facebook is the hands-down leader and probably the best place to start. As you get comfortable with the platform you'll no doubt get more sophisticated and be able to take better advantage of the amazing power of Facebook's advertising potential. For a now, a couple of good ads and a few hundred bucks will get you going in the right direction.

William Woodbury is a flight instructor and freelance writer in Southern California.