Facebook marketing is still big business, and it's easy to understand why. Just to quote a few recent statistics:
-
62% of adults - worldwide - are now on social media.
-
Social media is the single most popular online activity.
-
At current growth rates, social-based commerce will be worth $30 Billion in 2015.
-
Facebook specifically now has over 900 Million active users worldwide.
-
Facebook receives more than 137 Million unique visitors a month just from the USA.
- Facebook user engagement is off the charts (see chart below).
Facebook probably represents the single largest concentration of consumers on a single media outlet in all of advertising history. Never mind the minor troubles Facebook has been seeing lately, such as the lower-than-expected stock prices. They still have huge reach, and aren't likely to go away any time soon.
If you want to engage in Facebook marketing, there are really two interlinked ways to do it:
Direct Facebook Marketing
Facebook has a fairly advanced and complex ad delivery system that seeks to match ads which are targeted to individual users' preferences. Advertising is, in fact, Facebook's main revenue source. If you happen to have an ad spend of $1,500 per month or more Facebook will assign an advertising strategist to your account for free. You call Facebook directly at 1-800-608-1600 for information directly from the source.
Facebook advertising is done through their official site on a self serve basis or through third parties such as Qwaya. This powerful tool allows you to create ads, select extremely specific demographic groups to target, and even schedule at what times a day the ads should show. It also includes advanced analytic functions such as allowing you to run multiple versions of the same ad and then directly compare their performance. For smaller companies this is a good choice.
Calculating the ROI on your ad investment then is a matter of totaling how many people visited your web site from your FB ads OR, calculating your cost-per-connection. That is, how much it costs you to get the person to become a "fan" of you on Facebook, opening them up to more advertising. It's simply the cost of your ad spend divided by the number of connections it brings you.
Social Facebook Marketing
The other main way to advertise on Facebook is by directly using its social features. You start off by convincing people, such as visitors to your website, to become "fans" of yours. Then you endeavor to post content to Facebook that they want to share with their friends.
It's been shown repeatedly in studies that a majority of Facebook users are fully willing to recommend products and services that they are "fans" of, so this creates an easy way to get your fans to do some of your marketing for you. It's word-of-mouth, for the new age.
Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your Facebook posts:
-
Be relatively informal and plain-spoken. Don't try too hard to use slang unless you know you can do it well, but avoid appearing stuffy or writing in "corporatese."
-
Some level of self-promotion - especially special offers or discounts - is acceptable, but not every post should be directly trying to make sales.
-
Seek to engage your audience by posting content that inspires them to reply, such as open-ended questions or discussions of possible changes to your product.
-
Facebook can be a nice way to conduct very quick bits of focus-grouping, to see if an idea is worth exploring further. Just be willing to respect the voice of the crowd if they hate an idea you love.
-
Pictures and videos tend to generate the most shares among Facebook friends, so remember to have a mix of text and pictorial messages.
-
Remember, above all, that your fans are there voluntarily, simply because they like you. They aren't a captive audience and will leave if treated like one.
Facebook marketing is an exciting new field with a lot of potential growth. Used well, it can be an invaluable aid for boosting your brand, product recognition, and ultimately, your sales.
Call DeepSky Marketing to find out how you can create profitable marketing strategies for your company. DeepSky Marketing is a company that provides businesses with profitable marketing systems and verifiable return on investment (ROI). To schedule a brief no-cost consultation call 707 823-3888.
