With Facebook hosting a whopping 1 billion users worldwide, it has now become one of the essential marketing platforms for businesses to advertise their services to the wider population. For local businesses, it provides a domain where you can supply potential customers with information regarding your services, what you have on offer, and where they can find you.
This means that in the technological fast-paced age we live in, it is important for small companies to recognize the potential of having a Facebook business page and how it can boost the awareness of your brand in the public domain.
Facebook have developed their businesses pages to give companies a lot more leeway than was previously available, allowing them to tailor their profiles to fit what suits the business. This creates an extra platform, alongside a website, to display to potential customers, relevant information they may need to know about your business.
But it’s easy to say that having a Facebook business page is good for your company, but why? What exactly does Facebook give businesses that other social media sites don’t?
Tabs
One of the most important aspects of Facebook businesses pages is what the system gives small companies the freedom and propensity to customize their page to show information that is relevant to the precise industry that can be used to attract visitors.
For example, Stephanie Lichtenstein, founder and president of Micro Media Marketing, explains how a local Mexican restaurant in Miami, named Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, used this business Facebook page to advertise their restaurant. They tailored their tabs to suit them by displaying a menu, events and offers happening at the restaurant and pictures of the food. They were eventually bought out by Appleby’s and are now looking to expand on a global level. The lesson here is that by providing the world with relevant information, it not only caught the attention of consumers, but also of business affiliates.
Stephanie also advises, that businesses should think carefully about which tabs are most suitable for them. A gym may have a tab with a schedule of classes showing, whereas a company advertising video conferencing for therapists may want to show their terms of licensing. Thinking about your target audience is key here, as this will be the main indicator of which information you feel you need to share to educate and excite potential customers, and which is irrelevant.
Analytics
Facebook’s analytics system for businesses allows you to see who is visiting your business page, what activity is surrounding it, current feedback and trending themes. This means that as a small business, you can keep in touch with the online community’s thoughts and interests in order to move you day to day selling plans in line with fashions in buying.
It works in four main ways, according to industry experts, Booz and Company: reach, engage, advocate and return on investment.
Small businesses can understand their reach – who their business is contacting, the main demographics of their fans and how many there are. Analytics also allow small businesses to engage by grasping an idea of what activity and ‘buzz’ is surrounding your business and what the current trends are that affect your services. Thirdly, as a small business owner, you can advocate you audience to behave in certain way by encouraging likes, recommendations and shares to spread your information. Lastly, analytics allows small businesses to view return of investment by analyzing which customers buy products and which behaviors they exhibited beforehand. This allows prediction of future sales.
Links
Facebook business pages also allow you to coagulate all your social media sites. By providing tabs to show your Twitter or Tumblr sites, you can promote what you’re doing elsewhere. It builds a larger linked community and provides a place for consumers to double check reviews and to understand how different online groups feel about your brand.
Additionally, it means that if you have had a positive recommendation through Twitter, for example, you can link that to your Facebook business page in order to entice Facebook users and consumers who use both tools. By linking the two together, it not only brings communities together, but allows user of Facebook to follow you on other social media sites as well as Facebook, to build a well rounded network of support and recognition for your brand.
After working as a writer and Internet marketer for several years, Mark Harris knows the ins and outs of privacy. He helps clients in all types of businesses ensure that they have the best possible tools to do business online with their clients, such as http://securevideoconference.com/ in a secure, safe way that keeps everything private. For those that take his advice on video conferencing, they wonder how they ever got along without it.
About Josh Nadeau
Loved the title of the post – really lost me in the content.
This is bad enough: “Facebook have developed their businesses pages” should read “Facebook *has* developed their *business* pages”
Then you add: “… also allow you to coagulate all your social media sites” Really? Because my dictionary says coagulate means ” to change or be changed from a liquid into a thickened mass:” Pretty sure that’s not what I want my social media to do.
And this entire paragraph “One of the most important aspects of Facebook businesses pages is what the system gives small companies the freedom and propensity to customize their page to show information that is relevant to the precise industry that can be used to attract visitors.” reads like a very poor mechanical translation.
So, while your page title is intriguing, your content is virtually useless.