When it comes to promoting a local business, professional office or other small firm, Facebook is looming larger than ever. The latest salvo was the test launch of Facebook Deals in five cities (Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco) – a challenge to daily deal juggernauts Groupon and LivingSocial. More cities will soon be added.
Is there a Facebook page in your future.” If your business doesn’t have a Facebook page yet, here are some reasons to get off your fanny and fix that problem:
• Connecting with customers is more critical than ever. This is core to social media. Connecting is king – people connecting with each other and to businesses they like. Customers you connect with on Facebook are some of the Internet’s most engaged users. And that translates into lots of good things for your business, including higher satisfaction. It’s also an effective way to communicate news and information about your business.
• To promote your brand. As a place to build your brand, Facebook has few peers. But it doesn’t happen by itself; you have to be active and post useful, interesting, relevant content that excites people and makes them fans.
• It’s a deal you can’t refuse. Most business owners like a bargain, and this is a screamer. Setting up a Facebook page is free. The biggest investment you’ll have to make is time to learn how it works, build your business page and keep it fresh and active. More and more, small businesses are hiring local firms and social media consultants to help, so for them it’s no longer free. But the investment may be well-worth it down the road.
• To be a bridge between your online and offline efforts. Your offline advertising and marketing, including direct mail, in-store, outdoor, newspaper, magazine and other can direct customers to your Facebook page. Once there, they can share experiences, learn about an event, or much more. You can easily post Facebook status updates or other content in minutes.
• It will help customers find you. Well-built and “optimized” Facebook pages can perform well in search results, leading customers to your page. What’s more, with millions of Facebook users now use Facebook’s own internal search tool when they are looking for something, so you have a good chance of showing up that way as well.
• Your website may be obsolete. Some small businesses no longer consider it necessary to have a standalone website and have made Facebook their entire online presence. And that can make sense, depending on the type of business you have and where your customers come from. •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at
editor@bizbest.com.
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