Should your company have a Facebook Page?

In marketing circles, social media has become all the rage. These days you simply can't turn on the TV (or radio) without hearing advertisements that end with a Twitter or Facebook URL. Social media is literally everywhere and it isn't so much a matter of whether or not a business should be involved in social - often times the real question is where your energies should be focused? The long answer is that your participation in social media should be well-thought out and placed where your customers are. A social listening campaign can help you put together a strategy to engage the right people in the right places.

The short answer? While there are thousands of social networks, Facebook is the world's largest and most popular. It also has the most evolved platform for marketing and advertising. These days, it is crucial for your company to have a presence on Facebook.

260 million users can't be wrong

Facebook is an enormous social network, both in terms of active monthly visits and active users. As the world's 3rd most trafficked web site, having a presence on Facebook is one of the best ways to reach a lot of people. Some of the world's largest, most established brands have embraced Facebook as a platform for reaching their customers. It isn't hard to see why - according to Compete.com (see below graph) Facebook is rapidly approaching the monthly visitor totals of Google. Think about that for a moment -  a site which has become the starting point for the majority of Internet users is now looking over its shoulder at Facebook.

What Facebook has that Twitter doesn't

It is hard to underestimate the importance of a business model for any Internet company, much less social networks like Facebook and Twitter. While both are impressive in terms of their traffic and user base, only Facebook can boast an advertising platform and proven revenue generation model. The implication is that Facebook has thought far enough down the road on how it can sustain its growth. Like Google, Facebook will ultimately rely on advertising to support itself.

Facebook itself is also a platform. What does that mean, exactly? Well, as a business owner (or advertiser) you have a set of tools available to you to create engagement points, rich applications or advanced marketing campaigns ranging from interactive widgets, applications or even secure shopping. Are you looking to do demographical targeting to a select user base? With Facebook's advertising system it is easy to create an ad, target it based on age, sex, education level, city, state or country - even special interests or relationship status. Through the use of Facebook Connect, web site owners can effectively turn any users Facebook account sign in into a direct portal into their own web site to further customize their own user experience.

Analytics help measure results and return on investment

If you decide to sink your time and resources into establishing a presence on a social network (either Facebook or Twitter) you are going to want to make sure you're measuring your return on investment.

For that, you will need some kind of analytics. While products like Salesforce.com offer tie-in's to Twitter, the service itself (Twitter) doesn't offer any real analytical data on your followers. Facebook pages come with built in analytics that will let you measure how well your page is doing, whether your "fans" like the links, video or imagery you share, how often they take part in conversations you start, as well as a breakdown of the age, sex and regions they live in. Twitter simply doesn't provide this kind of detail.

How to get started with Facebook

You'll find some great resources for getting your feet wet with Facebook on our blog, as well as some more extensive presentations that we've made available on Facebook business marketing on our site. In addition, the agency has developed innovative Facebook campaigns for brands like Nike, Wet n Wild, the Arizona Office of Tourism and the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Visit the case study section of our web site to learn how Off Madison Ave can help you build and maintain your presence on Facebook.

About the Author: William Smith

William brings 10 years of interactive marketing experience to Off Madison Ave and serves as the agency’s Search Marketing Manager. In addition to his responsibilities managing pay-per-click and search optimization for clients, William is the agency’s resident twitterholic, and works with the social media department to develop innovative ways of using the medium for marketing.

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