Should Your Business Be on Facebook?

With nearly 3 billion monthly users worldwide, Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world. This means it’s very likely your customers are using it. So, should your business be on Facebook? Probably. But there are a few things to consider first, which we break down here.

Just as a hammer can be used to build or to break, Facebook is also a tool. Used effectively, it can help attract new customers, deepen engagement with existing customers, build brand awareness, generate leads, drive traffic to your website, build credibility, recruit talent and more. Identifying your goals upfront will allow you to develop a strategy to meet them.

Unlike other social platforms, Facebook has great appeal across a range of age groups and is pretty evenly split by gender, with men making up about 56% of all users. You can drill down into Facebook’s demographics in this Hootsuite report.

To successfully market your business, you must meet your audience where they are and provide content that will make them want to engage with you. That means it’s important to really understand your audience. If you have a relatively small, niche B2B company, a LinkedIn page (stay tuned for an upcoming blog on this platform) might make more sense for you than a Facebook page. However, most B2C companies find having a presence on Facebook is essential.

Social media is incredibly affordable; in fact, there is no cost at all to create a Facebook Business Page. However, there is a cost in terms of resources. Regardless of your goals, you need to regularly create and post engaging content—including copy, photos, videos and more—to portray your brand in the most positive and professional light possible. That means devoting internal resources to this task or working with an agency.

You don’t want to create a Facebook page that will only frustrate your customers, so beyond content creation and deployment, you also need to monitor your page and respond to queries and questions in a timely matter and have a plan in place to handle any potential feedback you receive (positive and negative).

Depending on your goals, you may also want to consider paid Facebook advertising. There is a cost involved, but it’s much less expensive than other forms of promotion and is highly targetable and trackable.

Content is king on Facebook, and it’s important to remember that this is a social network, not a shopping site. While engaging with and delighting your audience can lead to sales, your posts should not be all about selling.

You want to share content that is helpful, interesting or entertaining. Appropriate content can be anything from information about an upcoming event to how-to videos showcasing your products, photos highlighting your team members or a behind-the-scenes look at how your products are made. The possibilities are endless!

Our team includes social media specialists who can develop a Facebook strategy to help you achieve your goals and track your progress, content professionals who can generate engaging posts for organic or paid content, and digital advertising experts who can create customized advertising campaigns. Whether you are just starting out with a new Facebook page or looking to enhance the one you already have, get in touch today.