With over 2 billion monthly users and 1.62 billion daily users, it's easy to understand why businesses choose to use Facebook to interact with customers and potential clients. Some of the benefits of using this social media site are similar to those of having a website, but others are unique to Facebook. What are the possible benefits of opening a Facebook page for your business?
- Cost-effective marketing: Setting up a Facebook page is free. Ads are inexpensive compared to print, radio or TV with $1.72 being the average cost per click for a Facebook Ad.
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- A platform to share information: Your Facebook page is a great place to share your business name, address, contact details, and a description of your products and/or services. Tell your customers about your history, your staff, and your journey. Give them information regarding your operating hours, policies, and brand culture. Share photos and videos of your business.
- Ease of communication with customers and potential customers: Make your page a channel for communication by posting and receiving messages, answering customer questions, announcing sales, and addressing purchasing issues.
- Development of brand awareness and brand loyalty: Facebook provides an interactive way for you to build familiarity with your brand. Cultivate customers by tailoring the tone and content of your posts to appeal to your users and encourage loyal followers to return repeatedly. When users click the “Like” button, send updates to their wall for their and their friend's perusal. Make your page active and responsive.
- A means to increase traffic to your website: Let your Facebook page serve as a funnel for prospective customers by placing a link to your website on your page. Facebook followers that land on your website will be receptive as they already have information regarding your business and made a choice to click the link. Connect your Facebook page to your blog posts on your website. Send your Facebook followers an occasional message with interesting/helpful information that leads them to your website.
- Efficient customer support: Encourage after-sales questions on your Facebook wall. It's more efficient than having staff answer phone calls. Let your answers to common queries remain on the page for others to discover.
- Targeted marketing: Facebook analyzes information from the profiles of your users (age, interests, behaviour, location, race, gender, language, job title, educational level). Utilize this information to help you understand your customers and create targeted advertising. Monitor the number of impressions, clicks and conversion you receive.
- A means to build relationships: Build connection with your target market in a one-on-one format. Encourage followers to engage with your posts by liking, commenting, tagging and/or messaging you. Collect follower's emails and contact them by offering contests, giveaways and/or newsletters. The more engaged you are with your users the stronger the connection. The stronger the connection, the more likely they will convert.
- Take advantage of word of mouth marketing: Make sure your ads/posts are targeted to the right people and they'll likely share them with a friend or two, who may share it with another friend or two. Use high quality content to encourage sharing such as updates, insights, facts, interesting thoughts, inspirational quotes, engaging photos/videos, podcasts, questions, infographics, quizzes and contests.
- Increase your Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engines rely on social signals (shares, likes, comments) to rank sites. Use your Facebook page to boost your social signals by filling it with rich content relevant to your business.
- Advertise in real time: Keep track of your ad campaign in real time. Set a daily advertising budget and adjust it when needed. Cut losses and make modifications to gain conversions. Radio, TV and print ads do not allow for this degree of control and immediacy.
Business Facebook pages are often underutilized. Optimize your page. Capitalize on the marketing opportunities. Reach new customers. Make it easy for potential customers to find your website. Share information about your brand. Leverage all the benefits of Facebook advertising. Your Facebook page can be a powerful means to expand your reach and increase awareness of your business. With 90 million small businesses already using Facebook and the average Facebook user clicking on 11 ads per month, what are you waiting for?
Need help with your digital marketing strategy? Call CAYK at (403) 456-0072 or request a marketing proposal. Allow us to be your very own marketing department! Connect with our tightly knit team of knowledgeable digital-first consultants, each eager to help your business grow. Contact CAYK today.
