How To: Effectively Market Your Business on Facebook, pt. 1

Filed under: Social Media

This is part one in a series about how to effectively market your Raleigh business on Facebook. To start, I’ll be addressing what every company wants to know before making the leap: what’s in it for us?

First (and most importantly), it’s where your customers are. With more than 350 million active users, 50% of which log on in any given day, you can bet some (or all) of your clients have profiles. The average user spends more than 55 minutes a day on Facebook – in fact, Facebook use accounts for 5.5% of U.S. internet usage.

If your business doesn’t have a Facebook page, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to reach those customers. While social media sites are about forging relationships and making connections, studies have shown time after time that these sites also effect consumers’ buying decisions. 40% of Facebook users say that they connect with brands on the site. 28% of U.S. holiday buyers said that social media has influenced what they’ve purchased this holiday season.

Also, with Google and Bing now indexing Facebook posts in their search results, having a social media presence is more important than ever. If nothing else, a Facebook fan page is just another way for your company to get found on the web – and that’s never a bad thing.

While getting found is good, having a Facebook fan page can do a lot more for you. Through interacting with your fans, you can learn about what makes them tick: why they love your product, what made them buy it, what it means to them and what you can do better. If used correctly, Facebook can not only be a tool for growing your business, it can a be a tool for improving it as well.

Does this mean that every company should have a Facebook fan page? No, probably not. Building a community of fans takes commitment. Plenty of people are registered on the site – but you should determine whether enough of your target demographic are Facebook users to make it worth your marketing time and money.

If having a fan page isn’t in the cards, you can still market your business on Facebook! Facebook ads are another option to consider. If you’ve used the site, you’ve noticed the ads running on the right of the page.

If you are ready to set up a fan page, great! What next? Stay tuned as the series continues.

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