Facebook?!

Facebook and social media were once thought of as a “fad”. But social media is here to stay and Facebook is the leader with 500,000,000 users.

Some interesting facts:

• 1 in 13 people are on Facebook. That’s 1 in 13 GLOBALLY!
• That much coveted demographic of 18 – 34 yr olds, 48% of that demo check Facebook. When they wake up! That means Facebook has truly integrated itself into ppls daily routines.
• Once thought to be the exclusive playground of youths and college students 30% of Facebook’s demographic is now made up of ppl 35 yrs and older
• Are Facebook users just creeping on their ex’s and checking out pictures of themselves? The average user now spends approx. 7hrs on Facebook a mth. That means users are actively participating in conversations with people or brands and searching for information which they use to find on Google or Yahoo!
• You know the company Vitamin Water? The flavoured water filled with vitamins owned by that little company called Coca-Cola. Even with all the financial resources available to them they have ditched the traditional website and now vitaminwater.com goes directly to their Facebook fanpage.

So what does this all mean? You might be saying “I already have a Facebook fanpage” or “I have one and it hasn’t really benefited me or my company”. Facebook is important online real estate and the necessary resources should be invested in it.

Here are a few pointers:

• Stand out! Facebook is designed to load fast, share information quickly and be very user friendly, downfall it looks kinda boring. But Facebook gives you the option to design your own landing pages. So when a user clicks on your page instead of seeing the same old Facebook they see an attractive landing page or microsite.
• Facebook users are contemporary internet users, they don’t spend copious amounts of time on any given “page”. So give your users incentive, having an attractive page is one thing but also offer quick and easy contests, run frequent promotions or valuable information so users will visit your page often.
• Advertising and marketing use to be about “telling” now it’s about “listening”. Engage and interact with your users, if they have a question or concern answer it. If they post a negative comment don’t ignore it, address it, see what you can do to make them happy. Today the user/consumer is empowered so it’s time to step up your customer service.

So you’ve read this far and everything sounds good and dandy but your wondering “Are there any more benefits?”:

Here’s a few:

• In the world of business everyone loves stats. Facebook provides you with your fan pages stats such as active users, new users, demographics, visits, likes etc.
• Even though Facebook is important we understand it’s not the be all and end all of your online marketing strategy. You can use your Facebook fanpage to also promote your Twitter, website or blog.
• Increase your exposure with a click of a button. If a user chooses something on your page to “share” or “like” it appears on their networks newsfeed, all in real-time. Just remember to give incentive to “share” or “like” ie. contests, promotions.

Here’s a recent Facebook fan page we created for Ceridian Canada