Hands down, no questions asked, your business should be on Facebook in 2012. For the business owner that isn’t yet convinced of this ‘fact,’ I’m going to share some of the most compelling reasons to consider.
Business owners often shy away from social media because they don’t know anything about it (or how to implement it) and get overwhelmed.
There are 4 categories that a business falls into:
- You know nothing about Facebook, social media or marketing at all.
- You heard it could be good, but not convinced enough to make the investment.
- You’re on Facebook but aren’t getting any results.
- You’re leveraging the benefits of the platform to gain more clients/customers.
Every business can get in the forth category with a little creativity, consistency and connectivity. Let’s start with why your business should be on Facebook in the first place. Please note, your business should at least be on all the most popular social platforms (that fit your business model): Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, and now Google+. Right now, I’m taking about Facebook – which is a great start.
1. ‘Everyone’ is on Facebook
There are 800 million active users world-wide. This staggering number has been growing rapidly. A little over a year ago, Facebook passed the 500 million active user milestone. That’s incredible growth! There are currently 250,000,000 (that’s million) active users in the US. So, what can we conclude? ‘Everyone’ is on Facebook. It’s huge and it’s growing.
It’s safe to say that your next client or customer is already on Facebook. Go introduce yourself!
Facebook was built around the concept of connecting people. Here is a snippit I grabbed from Mark Zuckerberg’s (founder of Facebook) bio:
“Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, families and coworkers.”
Let me add to the list: “…with their friends, families, coworkers and clients/customers.”
If there was a big event, you would probably be getting a booth, some brochures, and a nice table display to market your business. You would go where the people are. Facebook is very similar in concept. Note: there are some drastic differences in approach. The point is, you want to be where your next clients/customers are.
2. Establish your brand, credibility and trust
It’s important to understand that Facebook, or any other social platforms, are just tools to support what you do offline. Social platforms make it easier to connect, communicate and share with others. Due to the social/viral dynamics of social media, you get a chance to market your business more effectively than other avenues. You still need to strategize about what your brand should be, look like, and convey. Facebook will enable you to share it.
There are plenty of options [other than your business] for people to choose that offer the same services/ products. Even though that is true, if a person trusts you, they will do business with you before considering others – even if your prices are higher, you’re out of town, or they have to wait longer. Clients/customers don’t mind making sacrifices and investments if they believe you are genuine, helpful, reliable, trustworthy, and value your service. A great marketing/social media strategy will subliminally convey these things over time as your business becomes social.
3. Massive exposure for your business
Like I said, ‘everyone’ is on Facebook. Facebook is all about people sharing content with those they’re connected to. By default, when someone engages with your business on Facebook, their friends will see that activity. People who may have never heard about you otherwise, get a chance to be exposed to your business by a trusted source (their friends). People are more likely to do business with you if their friends have; hopefully, it was a good experience.
4. Drive traffic to your site
I’m a firm believer that even though a business is on Facebook, a website is still needed. I won’t get into all the reasons here. Just know that it adds greater credibility and trust.
With that said, Facebook can be a great source of traffic to your site. You may even want to have a specific landing page for people visiting from Facebook. You can track your website traffic from Facebook for free using google analytics.
5. Stay connected with your client/ customers
Facebook is a good way to help build and maintain relationships. This is a huge element for repeat and referral business, particularly, when you want to get the news out about that new special deal you just launched or an announcement about your business hours changing.
Also, Facebook provides an easy platform for others to give you feedback on your product or services. Hopefully, its good but either way you’ll know what to tweak or keep. The great thing is, when someone give a great review, everyone will see. The same goes for bad reviews but at least you have a chance to correct and respond openly. That too can go over really well with others if done right.
Hopefully you’re seeing the value a business being on Facebook. Please comment and provide feedback.
Where do you fall in the categories previously mentioned?
Do you currently have plans to increase your Facebook business presence?
Good luck with your business.