thoughts on using facebook for marketing?

[em111]

Hi there,
I have a small business and I am worried about the time that needs to be put in to setting up social media methods of marketing. I am considering the use of facebook. does anyone have any useful tips for setting this up and whether it will be useful? any advice is needed.
Thankyou

 

[filtee]

Yes it's useful and free. Get your page looking good, build your likes, get family and friends to share your posts. I do it.

 

[pen2670]

We've found it very useful, but definitely a case of the more you put in the more you get out of it. Not necessarily time consuming, but just remembering to put a quick update on anytime something crops up or picture of new stock.

Facebook advertising has also worked well for us. Just £1 per day to our target geographical areas has dramatically increased our likes.

I guess a lot depends on what type of business you have though. We are bricks and mortar so its a good tool to tell people about products and services that might tempt people in to the shop.

Our best form of marketing by far has been getting listed on ourr suppliers websites as a stockist.

Hth

 

[Mike W]

Facebook's not as good as you think any more. In their drive for revenue, their recent introduction of sponsored posts (for 'sponsored', read 'paid), has caused them to create a system that doesn't show all your free posts.

Whilst I don't know the precise percentage, I believe only in the region of 7% of your audience see your posts now. Still worthwhile? I don't think so...

So, unless you want to pay quite a bit, most of your posts end up in the ether.

 

[DotNetWebs]

...I believe only in the region of 7% of your audience see your posts now. Still worthwhile? I don't think so...

So, unless you want to pay quite a bit, most of your posts end up in the ether...

That will only be true IF nobody engages with your posts.

If you can generate posts that your users will interact with not only will you get higher views for those posts but you will also find your that those users who do interact with you will have a far higher chance of your posts future appearing in their newsfeeds.

IMO [for the right products] Facebook still has a huge advantage over other forms of marketing because it has the built in 'viral' effect.

e.g my own page's post views in the last year have ranged from less than 10% to well over 200%. In other words your posts will be often seen by people who aren't currently fans but may consequently become fans (or at least become aware of your 'brand')

Regards

Dotty

 

[spiritusuk]

It depends on the type of business.

Businesses that find it easy to create a "buzz" about a service or products they sell are more likely to get something out of Facebook marketing.

However, a hardware store, butchers, plumber etc will struggle to write compelling copy.

I'm still not convinced Facebook marketing works for the majority of businesses. Unless you're one of the big fish then having thousands of "likes" doesn't mean a jot unless your sales are positively affected.

 

[GradwellDotCom]

It's definitely worth advertising your Facebook - on your website, in your shop if you have one, in newsletters and on leaflets etc. The hardest part is getting people to 'like' your page, if you've got that covered all you need to do is keep posting interesting things to it.

Good luck!

 

[StepUp1]

I would use it to attract attention to your company and website, but not necessarily for selling. Think about twitter aswell ash you can sync them both so when you update one, the other also updates.

Also think about your audience: if your customers are individuals then you have to use social media to advertise/promote. If your customers are other businesses then consder LinkedIn if not already. This helps you find and connect with the 'right' people.

Good luck, I'd be nterested to find out how you do

 

[thelegalstop]

Social networks can be very useful as the others say, however it also depends on what your business is about. Usually the most successful businesses in the social networks are those, which can make their target market "excited" about their product or service. For example, if you are accountant, you will need lots of creativity to make people excited about accounting

 

[Alan]

The hardest part is getting people to 'like' your page.

Its not always that hard we got nearly 500 like on a user name and no other promotion at all (AppCentre) before Facebook took the name from us (Facebook T&Cs allow them to do that!)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/App-Centre/191893264188521?fref=ts

 

[DotNetWebs]

Its not always that hard we got nearly 500 like on a user name and no other promotion at all...

Nice one! That's a great example of the 'viral effect' in action.

Regards

Dotty

 

[rashisree]

Hi, You can promote your business through Facebook Pages. Create Eyecatching Custom Facebook Fanpage designs that makes you a good look and feel to your business.