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Should you consider Facebook for your business?

There are many reasons why you should consider Facebook as a tool in your marketing strategy including the ability to update your audience in a two way (sometimes instantaneous) dialogue, not to mention the opportunities for social recommendations possible between friends in a community of 500 million + active Facebook users. Unlike a web page with a higher level of static content, discussion can happen instantly on your Facebook Page, and updating it with a new post can take mere minutes. It all sounds good, but surely it can’t be that simple or everyone would be doing it; there has to be a catch. There aren’t catches, but there are points to be aware of, the main point is to identify your expectations from Facebook and how much time you are prepared to invest in it.The questions in this 5 minute video and listed below may help you to make the first decision – should you consider Facebook as part of your marketing strategy? Image of play icon with red border showing which video you are viewingShould you consider Facebook for your business?
Image of play button which starts the video clipFacebook basics: what does it look like?
Image of play button which starts the video clipKeeping home & work separate
Image of play button which starts the video clip Pages: preparation
Image of play button which starts the video clipPages: creating a page
Image of play button which starts the video clipPages: using a page
Image of play button which starts the video clipPages: Insights – Coming soon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Summary

 

1. Is your customer audience on Facebook?
  It would be easy to answer this with a yes and point to the 500 million + Facebook users, but do you really know that your customer audience is using this and wants to use this to connect with you? Is your current audience or target audience demographic likely to use Facebook? Have you checked to see if there already is an unofficial page or group for your business? This does happen; Coca-cola being probably one of the better known brands who realised an unofficial page had been created by two enthusiastic customers.
   
2. What do you want the Page to achieve for your business?
  Look at your own immediate, mid and longer term goals. Will a Page assist in working towards these goals, improving customer service for example by providing a faster, more visible channel for customers to ask questions or raise issues? Do you want to start working with early adopters for new products or services and see a Page as allowing you to connect with these individuals? Draw up a short list of goals, say no more than three and this provides a starting place and a direction to aim the Facebook activity in.
   
3. Who will be responsible for the Page?
  The newest office recruit because they sounded enthusiastic, your IT person because it is “technology”, customer service or marketing? Maybe set up a small team and take advantage of the different skillsets available within the business, from being able to hold an online conversation to being interested in the latest developments on Facebook? While we recommend having more than one admin on a group or page, it is important to know who holds overall responsibility for what is posted and what online personality should be followed e.g. serious or informal.
   
4. How much time do they/you have to invest each week in Facebook activity
  A Facebook Page or Group is not the start and end of the process – it is just the beginning. Although creating a page can be achieved in minutes, it takes time to engage with your online audience and for them to engage and start to interact with you. Just posting offers gives the audience less to talk about than if an open question or a poll is asked, or even some valued information about a break in service or a request for feedback about the service is performing. This is social media, so both positive and negative feedback will be given, how the feedback is handled can make a significant difference to how an audience view your business. As mentioned in the earlier sentence, this is social media so you or your business page should be engaging out with other individuals, groups and pages.While it doesn’t take hours to get a single post ready, regular time should be spend on planning the calendar of posts, monitoring the feedback and engaging with individuals, groups and pages.
 
Next Steps If you’ve decided Facebook is not for you, you should now know some of the reasons behind your decision; it may be that you don’t have the time just now to invest in Facebook, or you think you should spend more time in working out what the goals should be.If you do want to learn more, additional short guides are being uploaded and will be accessible from the main Resources page which will provide a quick and easy way to improve your knowledge and provide a handy reference sheet for when you get started.