What is Facebook Marketing?

There are people, I understand, who are confused about the whole concept of Facebook marketing and advertising. Why would you waste money investing in advertising on Facebook instead of using traditional methods? Especially for people who didn't grow up with Facebook, it can seem like a fad, something their small business can simply ignore. In fact, I'd agree with that somewhat; not all small businesses can or should invest in Facebook marketing. But we'll get to that in a moment. First of all, Let's go over exactly what Facebook marketing is.

Here's the thing: you don't use advertisements on Facebook; you advertise on Facebook. There's a difference. You can post an ad on Facebook, but as General Motors found out (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577406394017764460.html) despite how many users there are, it might not be as effective as you'd hope. I'm speculating here, but perhaps that's because most people don't go to Facebook in a "consumer" type of mindset, so they aren't as likely to notice the relatively unobtrusive advertising all that much. I'm sure Facebook is trying to figure out how to make those types of ads more effective, but for now, the value of Facebook for businesses, in terms of marketing, lies in the cultivation of brand loyalty. It's not about ads, it's about your business's Facebook page. Put a prominent link to Facebook from your website and include it in your print ads and brochures and such. If people see your company's Facebook page, see that it is informative and interesting to them, then they'll Like it, and perhaps their friends will Like it too, and you'll be on your way.

Some caveats: if your business doesn't have a brand, doesn't have name recognition, and isn't likely to foster repeat customers, then perhaps creating a Facebook page isn't going to help much. Also, Facebook and social media marketing requires time and investment; if your company doesn't have an intern, an office assistant, or a salesperson who already likes Facebook and is willing to put some hours every day into this, or if the boss isn't willing to have an employee whose duties include posting on Facebook, then it isn't going to work either.

But for those businesses that do, Facebook can be an immensely valuable tool, by encouraging users to include these brands, products, and companies as a part of their social web and social identity. This is the key. For places like restaurants and organic supermarkets, they can offer discounts and advertise deals to encourage loyal repeat customers to Like their pages and increase the mindshare in those people. Bands and celebrities can encourage fandom, by interacting with fans and by giving them a place to converge and converse and identify themselves as fans, thus again increasing mindshare. Various movies have tried to spread awareness by promising to release trailers once they've reached a certain number of likes. Companies like Microsoft and Samsung post about new products, ask trivia questions, run contests, and post links to articles on the website. Nike posts ads and product photos along with inspirational slogans. Klean Kanteen promotes an eco-friendly company image by aggressively posting articles spreading information not about their own products, but about general conservation tips and environmental causes. The important thing is to post fairly frequently, and to post content that your target audience will find relevant to them.

Marketing on Facebook can be very effective, but you have to work to make your page engaging to your target audience, and certain types of companies lend themselves better to this type of marketing than others. Also, in general, people are going to need to already have some awareness of your business. Facebook marketing is more about engaging your existing customer base more than expanding it; Google, for now, is still the go-to for many people for find out about local businesses and services they don't know already about. But going forward, with more and more users using ad-blocking software, and with internet users developing banner blindness (where they've become so accustomed to web advertising that they're starting to tune it out), this type of marketing is only going to become more prevalent, as social media keeps increasing its role in consumer decision making, and social becomes the new paradigm in search engines. Google and Facebook believe so, at least, with Google pushing their own social network Google+ and integrating their search engine with it, and Facebook expands their own platform with social network-based search (Graph Search).  Everything I wrote about Facebook also applies to Google+.  Yes, Google+ has business pages.  And who knows what new social media sites crop up and entrench themselves into people's lives and habits in the future. The web might not just be about SEO and Google Ads. What things like Facebook business pages and email newsletters offer to businesses is a new way to engage with the customers that are willing to opt in. The customer relationship doesn't have to end when the business transaction does.