Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and all the other social networking vehicles are all the rage right now, but do they actually work? Will it bring me business?
Most business owners are watching social media happen, they are reading about it, going to networking functions to hear about it, and even starting up their Facebooks for their business. But are they really investing the time it takes to have a clear understanding of how social media works, AND have a strategy? And as they witness all the “big dogs” like Coca-Cola, Old Spice, Nike, and Proctor and Gamble to name a few…dominate the social media world….they are having to take notice.
One of the largest challenges for any business is as you migrate over from “vintage advertising” (i.e. print, direct mail, etc) over to social media marketing is to understand the great differences. Regular advertising “pushes” the message to the consumer while social media marketing is more of a “pull”. You are involving your audience in a conversation. Knowing and understanding this is the subtle difference between success and failure in social media marketing.
Everyone that has a business license seems to be jumping on the Facebook bandwagon. They are in hopes of getting a free marketing outlet for their business so they can cancel their paid advertising and still bring tons of new business to their door. Sorry to bust your bubble, but that is not going to happen as easily as you think. First of all, let’s get one thing straight right now – Facebook or any other type of social media marketing is not free. You may not have to pull out your credit card to set up that account but let me tell you it is going to cost you money, if you do it right that is.
Yes, social media is a powerful form of marketing and something everyone should be using but before you dive in head first understand the commitment of time that it is going to cost you. There is a thorn to every rose and time is certainly it with social media. It is indeed a full time job, if you want to see results.
Before getting into Facebook you need to have a very firm understanding of the following things:
- Come up with a solid strategy - without a strategy you will not recognize the results. What do you want to accomplish with your social media marketing and how are you going to measure it to know when you are there?
- Understand HOW Facebook works – If you don’t understand how it works you will make huge mistakes and waste your time. Here are 3 very common mistakes I see 1) Setting up a business page on a regular friend or group page 2) Not understanding how to communicate to your audience by just spamming them with sales messages. 3) Setting up the page and then abandoning it after learning the time commitment involved. Someone visits your page and they see you haven’t posted in 3 months which is harmful to your business name.
Social media is a wonderful tool to market your business and there are so many ways to utilize it and it WILL bring you new business! I have experienced it first hand. But you have to be willing to do the work that it takes to see the results. Do your homework – READ about it. There are so many resources out there to teach you how to use Facebook – just Google it and read, read and then read some more. You will get results so much quicker if you go into it knowing about the process and setting your expectations appropriately.
I referred to this as your default picture in the heading so I would get your attention and you would know what I was talking about. Actually I don’t call it that at all. What I call this is a banner ad, because that is what it is and the way it should be thought of.
Did you know that the space that Facebook allows for this space is 200 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall? Do you know how much of this space companies actually use? Less than 1 quarter of that. Most people will just take their business logo and throw it into that space. And that is a big NO NO.
Think of it like this. What if a magazine offered you a free full page ad, would you send them an ad that populated less than 1/4 of that space? Of course you wouldn’t! So why do that on Facebook? When people go to your business page that is a space to that you can use to tell them what you are offering and how to get in contact with you if they want to purchase it.
So if you are one of those people that just threw your logo in a small box – get busy today, design an advertising message for your Facebook business page banner space!
This is one of my biggest pet peeves! I have seen large companies that spend big money making a great Facebook page not have a personalized username, it drives me crazy!
First of all what is it? If you have a business more than likely you have website. So when you started up that website, you reserved a .com or a .net domain or something to that effect. So let’s use mine for example www.socialheavy.net so what if I made my domain www.socialheavy789er8/r3437539849.net? Try putting that on your business card! Would you purchase your domain that way? Of course you wouldn’t! Then why do that on Facebook? It is literally the same thing. Get this, in most cases your business Facebook is actually getting more traffic than your traditional website. Why? Because you are communicating with people and bringing them there, that’s why. So you need to have your place in order.
Your username is a very important tool – it is your individual address on Facebook. It is how people find you easily, they can put your company name into a search engine like Google or Facebook and come up with your page very quickly. It’s also a way to put a simplified url on your business card or just to tell people, “Hey look for me on Facebook, www.facebook.com/socialheavy.”
So if you haven’t done it – do it right now! While logged into Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/username. By the way if you have a new fan page Facebook will not allow you to set your username until you have atleast 25 fans – but you should accomplish that very quickly.
SocialHeavy blogs on ways to effectively use Facebook for your business please share our blog with your friends or anyone you think will benefit from this information.
What does this mean to your small business? EVERYTHING!
The average Facebook user is 38 years old and they have an average of 130 friends. So if they are 38 years old that means that they are a grown up, somewhat responsible, have a job, and can afford to buy your product or service (usually). If they have an average of 130 friends what value does that bring to you? INFLUENCE! If they like you, like your product/service they will tell their friends. The world is changing quickly – the way we do business changes, but one thing will always remain and that is “word of mouth” and testimonial marketing are very effective ways to get business. This is the engine that powers viral marketing. Just for kicks lets define viral marketing – a phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message. Can you think of any other medium to get your message out about your business so quickly? So if you have a Facebook business page and you have 200 fans you literally have potential to have access to 26,000 people! Amazing huh?! Now do you understand the craze of social media? It is powerful and if you are not using it to market your business you are really missing out. How many people visit your traditional website each day? Do you have the potential to have access to 26,000 people? Think about it!
