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Facebook has quickly become the social media platform. We use it to connect with high school locker mates, colleagues, trivia buddies, and our kids best friends parents. You might use it to join groups related to some of your favorite topics like bullet journaling or rock climbing.
And for the right business, it can be a gold mine to connect with current and future customers, build community, and spark growth.
For the wrong business, it can be a huge waste of time.
So how do you know if it's right for you?
First, let's look at the demographics.
- There are over 1.86 billion monthly active users on Facebook, as of Februrary 2017.
- 29.7% of users are between the ages of 25-34 (Source: eMarketer, 2012)
- The highest traffic occurs mid-week between 1-3 pm. (Source: Bit.ly blog)
- On Thursdays and Fridays, engagement is 18% higher (Source: Bit.y blog)
- Average time spent per Facebook visit is 20 minutes. (Source: Infodocket)
- 50% of 18-24 year-olds go on Facebook when they wake up. (Source: The Social Skinny)
- 42% of marketers report that Facebook is critical or important to their business. (Source: State of Inbound Marketing 2012)
- 75% of male internet users are on Facebook as well as 83% of female internet users. (Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016-methodology/)
- 22% of the world's total population uses Facebook (Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241552/share-of-global-population-using-facebook-by-region/)
- Over 50 million businesses use Facebook Business Pages.
- 2 million business use to Facebook for advertising.
So, its pretty safe to say that your customers are probably ON Facebook. But does that make it the right place for your business? Let's consider what people are using Facebook for…
- To foster a sense of belonging
- Organizing events
- Keeping track of birthdays
- Connecting with friends & family
Chances are, your customers are part of the billions of people who use Facebook. Unfortunately for us, that doesn't mean that it's the right place to connect with them. Let's say you run into your doctor at the golf pro shop (or craft store – whatever floats your boat). Would you want them to come up and ask how that rash is doing? Probably not! That's what it's like when you try to connect with your clients in a place they're not ready to find you.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself before embarking on a Facebook business journey:
- Are my customers likely to want to connect with each other? (If your product or service is for a sensitive issue, the answer to this may be no.)
- Do I help people reach their goals for using Facebook (i.e., foster sense of community or belonging, organizing events, connecting with friends and family?)
- Do I have time to keep a page updated and respond to comments? Remember, it's better to have no presence than a lackluster one.
In the case that you can answer yes to all three of these questions then Facebook may be a good choice for you. The next thing to decide is if you're going to have a personal page (that doubles as your Facebook page), a business page, or a group. I'll be helping you decide that in a future post.
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