Friday FaceOff: Don't Overlook The Facebook Gold Standard

0 Comment(s) | Posted Dec 18, 2009 by Pat Morrell

Patrick Morrell

Earlier this morning, Pete Wylie explored the benefits of blogging to a small business marketing strategy.  Many of those benefits - such as direct real-time customer engagement and idea-sharing – are common to Facebook’s value proposition as well. But Facebook also offers a unique set of tools and free product offerings that can be very useful to large and small business owners alike.  Want to take your social media marketing efforts to the next level? Take a look at Facebook.

First, Facebook allows a brand to develop a business-oriented fan page while simultaneously allowing that brand's employees to develop their own personal pages.  This effectively means that a small business can engage with its “Fans,” either through their official company voice, or through the nuanced voices and personalities of their various employees.  Fan pages are a great forum to share company developments and announce deals and savings, but more importantly it is an opportunity to engage those loyal customers who care enough about your brand to join your fan page.

They sought you out, so the hard marketing work is already over – Fan pages take off the pressure of reaching people, allowing brands to focus purely on finding what their customers want (and giving it to them) and reacting to what their customers don’t like.

Beyond the dual-platform/profile offering, Facebook represents the gold-standard in functionality.  Small business owners can post to their “walls” and others’, tag pictures of themselves (and their fans) or products, upload video for sharing, create and distribute “gifts” (online present avatars) and conduct charitable fundraisers and start awareness groups.  And like any site that enjoys the immense popularity of Facebook – it has more than 350 million users – small business owners can advertise directly on Facebook if they so choose), utilizing demographic micro-targeting to pinpoint their desired customers.

And most recently, Google announced that it would begin incorporating Facebook and Twitter updates into its search algorithm to create a real-time search function.  This means, when someone searches for “hamburgers,” they don’t just see a barrage of McDonald’s ads, but also (based on their geographic location) they may see a Twitter conversation around Jim’s Local Hamburger Joint.

The two most compelling value-adds to come from Facebook, in my opinion, are the “Facebook Connect” function and their polished mobile offering.  With Facebook Connect, you can link your social media profiles into one long interconnected web presence.  And with the ability to control your entire Facebook presence from the comfort of your smartphone without sacrificing networking functionality, Facebook stands as a winning proposition for small business owners.

Of course, with any online platform there are limitations.  If you are a very sales-centric small business owner, there is no ecommerce aspect to Facebook, which some may find inhibiting.  And of course, by creating a Facebook page – be it personal or professional – you open yourself up to the honest opinions of others, and risk broadcasting negative feedback about yourself right there on your very own page.  The bigger the network, the more people there are who see you being badmouthed.  However, that conversation would be taking place online whether you are there or not.  On Facebook, you can respond in honest real-time to apologize for transgressions, correct misinformation, and re-polish your brand’s image.

Filed under: Blog-related, Friday Face-Off