A few years ago, if you had a product that you were trying to sell, you would put up a website and build up content so that people could search for the product and find it. That meant doing a lot of SEO & SEM in the hopes of being found online through search. Today companies can go where their users already are – Facebook. Users have changed.
They search directly on Facebook, they ask friends for recommendations, and they look at what their friends like to find out what they might like. Giving your app a Facebook page gets you into the loop, because your page does several things that a website can’t do.
Once upon a time, companies were fighting to get their companies online using the traditional website, hoping that people would put in a keyword and find their products/service via a Google Search. This process has been sped up with the introduction of social networking, with Facebook and Twitter being in prime positions to help market your business effectively.
Facebook can be looked at as a way of promotion via mouth to ear marketing; friends will recommend Facebook pages promoting companies, products and services that they recommend. The ease of sharing this information enables you to build up a trustworthy and loyal audience.
What are the benefits of having a FaceBook Page?
- When people ‘Like’ your page, their friends may see it, this increases the chances of them clicking on ‘Like’ too. Remember that most people only see updates from their top 150 friends, so this isn’t a sure thing
- Unlike e-mail, a wall post is automatically listed on the customer’s screen when they open Facebook. It’s all but impossible to hit ‘delete’ without reading at least some of it.
- While a blog requires full articles, Facebook posts just require one idea, so you can connect with customers much more easily and much more frequently.
- Many people won’t read a long article, but will be willing to scan over a short snippet on a Facebook wall.
- It’s easier to get a customer to click through to your blog/website when you post a short description on Facebook rather than expecting them to subscribe to your blog/website.
- Convincing a customer to hit ‘Like’ is a lot easier than getting your website bookmarked as many people understand what Like means but don’t really understand how to bookmark websites.
- Facebook allows you engage your followers in discussions, both about the product and about related subjects.
- Everything you share with your users on Facebook can be easily shared with their friends.
- People are now beginning to search Facebook instead of Google for products and services. It’s important to make sure your product can be found.
- Once users have Liked your page, it’s easier to get them to your website.
- You can have users add content by asking for photos, quotes, stories, and more.
- Since you’re in constant contact with users, you know what they want, giving you more opportunity to create viral content.
Building a Facebook page takes just a few minutes, and gives you a whole new way to communicate with your audience. Just remember that creating it is only the beginning. We’ll be talking more about how to build up and engage a fan base soon.