Today’s marketers and business owners can easily get caught up in all the chaos and find themselves overwhelmed. There is so much hustle and bustle going on in regards to advertising content. Some marketers are dabbling in every content medium they can grasp. To keep up with the Joneses, you may feel compelled to use search marketing, SEO, videos, blogs, email marketing, cold calling, etc. The options are seemingly endless.
The problem with that approach is that you simply can’t do it all effectively. It is important to choose the right channel for your business and nurture it. The reality is, if you spread a fraction of your efforts across multiple marketing approaches, the odds will be against a successful return.
There is one powerful force that is dominating 21st century culture all over the world: social media. It is everywhere and most people today are consumed by it. You probably check your Facebook account, Twitter feed and/or Instagram several times, every day. Well, here’s a significant fact, your customers are doing the same thing.
Obviously, this isn’t late breaking news. But it also doesn’t mean you should be spending all your time and resources hastily frolicking on every social media network known to man. However, there is one major platform that every marketer must consider and that is Facebook. The stats remain mind-blowing making this popular site very important for modern businesses.
Here are the top five reasons to use Facebook to boost your marketing efforts:
Over 1.79bn Global Active Users
Facebook has a vastly growing community of more than 1.79 billion active members worldwide as of late 2016, making it much too huge to ignore. A whopping 1.18 billion users log on daily, spending about an hour of their time. This base is larger than the current population of China.
With five new profiles being created every second and over 22 billion advertisement clicks per year, Facebook offers a grand opportunity for businesses to connect with their target audiences. You can rest assured, your customers are out there, it is just a matter of finding them or vice versa.
By 2018, it is predicted that the number of active Facebook users in the U.S. alone will reach well over 200 million. That is a significant increase from 191.3 million recorded in 2016. One-third of Facebook users are in the United States.
Cheap Ads and a Low-Cost Marketing Strategy
Traditional marketing activities cost a fortune. Many of these same strategies can be used on Facebook without emptying your pockets. Therefore, this channel works well for small, medium and new businesses with limited budgets. Large companies also benefit from trying out marketing concepts on Facebook before launching, and committing to more dynamic campaigns.
Another great perk is that Facebook ads are practically free. That may be a bit exaggerated, but in comparison to the cost of advertising through other channels, it sure seems that way. The reason brands purchase ads on Facebook is to gain more traction. Oftentimes organic activity doesn’t yield the results you need. Intervention is needed to get your posts boosted in the newsfeed and seen by your followers.
Just $1 per day on ads can ensure your content is shown to 4,000 relevant users that would not have seen it otherwise. That is a mere $30 in monthly advertising costs. That is less than a daily cup of coffee.
It is Easy to Target Your Ideal Audience
Besides having a wide selection of affordable ad types, (ex. video ads) Facebook offers great targeting capabilities. You can easily target Donald Trump or your next-door neighbor. Typically used criteria includes interests, behaviors, age groups, demographics, locations or languages. Users can delve deeply into these options and layer them together for a more fine-tuned approach. The goal is to eliminate responses from out-of-market clickers.
One of the biggest advantages of Facebook advertising is the ability to focus solely on specific groups of people who are highly engaged. The average online reach for a scarcely targeted campaign is about 38 percent, Facebook is 89 percent.
Facebook ad targeting options help to:
Discover the right target customers across all devices, including mobile, desktop, and tablets
Deliver relevant and compelling messages to specific users
Reap all you can from your ad spending by reaching only the people who want to
find you
As a marketer, you can refine your audience based on personal content that users have shared in their profiles. By accessing such demographics as gender, age, education, occupation, and relationship status you can narrow things down dramatically. You can also define your target audience by their listed hobbies, Page likes and profile interests.
Interests are pulled from user’s timelines, ads they have clicked, keywords linked to their liked Pages or apps/websites they frequently use/visit and other sources.
User behaviors are any activities people engage in either on or outside of Facebook that is communicated to a device, such as travel preference or purchase intents. Behaviors take place through Facebook activity or through data provided by third-party providers.
You can target your existing customers and new prospects with Custom Audiences. This feature allows you to upload contact information for the users you want to reach. Custom audiences from your company website let you remarket to followers on Facebook who have visited your business site.
If you want to locate a customer pool that is similar to your existing base or find new prospects of the same type, you would build a Lookalike Audience from your customer lists, fans who like your page or site visitors.
Audience reach is the number of people on Facebook who can potentially view your ads. There is a tool in the Audiences area that meters user activity.
For optimal performance, Facebook recommends defining an audience with a reach of over 10,000 users. A broad reach means great visibility, but a narrow approach geared toward specific customers ensures better returns.
Share What is Great About Your Business
Facebook is a great venue for showing off your business. This is the place to publicize who you are, where you are located, post contact information, and offer product and service descriptions. Many brands also use the platform to introduce their staff, talk about the history of the business and anything else that may be of interest to their followers.
People are attracted to high-quality images and engaging videos. This can be a powerful way to get your message across to your current and future customers. It allows them to see your products or services in action without having to visit a physical location.
Another useful feature is the ability to tag people in photos on Facebook. This can also be useful in promoting your brand. For instance, if a restaurant owner posts a photo on his page of a festive group celebrating a friend’s 50th birthday. He can then invite each party-goer to tag their own image. Each time the photo gets tagged, the participant will be alerted of an update and their followers will also see it. This sparks an interest in the photo and your business. However, keep in mind that privacy issue. Not all Facebook users want to be tagged to their pictures, and they may set up their security setting accordingly. It is always good practice to ask for permission before tagging on someone else’s behalf.
Promote Word-of-Mouth Advertising and Raise Brand Awareness… Fast
It is estimated that over 4.5 billion likes are generated daily throughout Facebook while Like and Share buttons are being viewed across more than 10 million websites daily.
You can boost your brand’s Facebook presence by encouraging future and existing followers to utilize the Like button on your company page. When users like your page, they will begin to receive your profile updates on their wall where their followers will see them. This is a very valuable feature that helps build brand awareness and helps you to associate followers with your business. Users can also share positive feedback about your products or services on their walls.
It is also a good idea to include a link to your company website on your Facebook. Many businesses are pleased with all the added traffic their Facebook page steers to their main site. Once there, visitors are exposed to a more compelling marketing experience that usually includes the option to purchase products or services.
Consumers who link to your website through Facebook are more likely to be receptive than the random visitor. They already know what you are about and were motivated to move forward to learn more.
Final Word
Using Facebook to market your ideas is a wise idea for modern day businesses. The potential for expanding your customer base and increasing sales and revenue is off the charts. It offers an opportunity to find out what consumers think about your business, your products, and your marketing approach. You should be sure to pay attention to what information is being presented to you. Don’t only dish it out, listen to your audience. Use Facebook for customer service Q&As and get back to followers promptly. This approach is not only more efficient than answering phone calls, it allows all users to read frequently asked questions and answers, and provides you with important business data. Users provide the most valuable insight that can only make your business better.