Should Your Business Use Facebook?

I’m sure you’ve heard about social networking. Maybe you’ve even checked out Twitter and Facebook, and watched a couple of YouTube videos. You can probably see the value that social networking has for personal use, and as a public warning service during natural disasters like Cyclone Yasi, but why would it benefit businesses to use social networks?

The main marketing objective for a business is to “get in front of potential customers”. Am I right? For centuries we have been utilising traditional media to market, but with technological advancements we now have an additional avenue for marketing called “digital media”.

Traditional vs Digital
Digital media marketing covers a number of different online platforms, only one being social networks. Social networks use inbound marketing, unlike traditional media that uses outbound marketing.

Outbound Marketing vs Inbound Marketing
Image traditional media like TV, Radio, Newspapers and Magazines that mostly ‘broadcast’ their messages in a 1-way aspect. It’s similar to a scatter gun approach to marketing, but that’s all most businesses have used for centuries. Now there is an additional way to get in front of your target market called “inbound marketing”. Inbound marketing using the principals of attraction, where you provide a place where your target market can come to you to find the information they are looking for and in turn give you the opportunity to build a relationship with these ‘warm’ leads. I say ‘warm’ leads because they are at least interested in your products and services unlike cold calling, another scatter gun approach to marketing.

Social network marketing is not a replacement for traditional marketing, there will always be some audience or situations where traditional ‘broadcast’ marketing will be more effective, but both outbound and inbound marketing strategies should be incorporated in your overall marketing plan.

Business Goals for Using Social Networks

Get found by your target audience and rank higher in search engines;
Connect and engage with current and potential customers with 2-way conversations;
Provide Customer Service and customer suggestions for product improvement;
Build your brand and grow your credibility as a leader in your industry;
Create a community around your business and nurture word-of-mouth referrals;
General warm leads for your business;
The first place to start with social network marketing would be with the largest and most popular social network, Facebook. Here are some reasons why:-

TRAFFIC – would you like to have a shop front on the second most visited website on the planet?

Facebook have over 800 million users worldwide;
Facebook have over 11 million users in Australia (that’s half the Australian population);
50% of Facebook Users logon every day (which equates to 25% of all Australians visit Facebook everyday);
Facebook is the second most popular website (after Google);
Content on Facebook Pages can increase your ranking in Google and other search engines.
EFFICIENT – there isn’t much you can get for free these days. Creating and managing a Facebook Business Page is free, it just requires an investment of time (or money if you want to outsource).

CUSTOMISABLE – use Facebook’s add-ons to customise your Facebook Page and to tweak it for better results.

MEASURABLE – do you know your ROI on your Yellow Pages ad? No? Would it help if you knew how many people viewed your entry? How many people followed through and contacted you from your entry? Facebook provides Page analytics.

OPPORTUNITY – <18% of Australian Businesses have a Facebook Business Page. So you should get in before your competition does!

Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter or check our website www.TownsvilleSocialMediaMarketing.com for more information and dates for future Social Media workshops here in Townsville.

-STOP PRESS-
At the Workshop on Friday 4th November, we will be taking you step by step through the process of planning, understanding and creating your Facebook business presence and how to maintain, moderate, manage and measure your new presence on Facebook. Click here for more info and to register… http://nqsmallbusiness.com/workshops/facebook-create-your-business-page-and-engage-new-customers-2/