A year or so ago I was following a Q & A hosted by Daymond John of Shark Tank. Someone asked, Where should I spend money if I have a small budget? His response: Facebook. At the time, I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Facebook (I still do, but for much different reasons).
Over the years, I couldn’t quite determine if Facebook was a good investment of time for the small business owner who not only has a small budget, but also has very little time.
The questions I wanted answered:
- How effective is Facebook for generating leads and sales?
- What is the best strategy for engagement on Facebook?
- Is Facebook the right platform for me and the clients I serve?
These are just some of the questions I was still struggling with even though all the GURU’s were raving. But guru’s aside I needed to know if it worked for the average small business owner looking for effective, viable ways to build awareness and generate leads.
For those of you that haven’t figured it out yet, social media is indeed a game changer and it’s not going away (well unless you’re MySpace, Katch, Blab, or Google Hangouts). The very thing that makes social media so attractive and advantageous is the same thing that makes it a bit scary — it’s ever changing and you never know what to expect.
As a medium adopter (someone who dangles very centrally between an early adopter and a late adopter), I’m usually able to ride the wave a bit, get some thoughts from those early birds, yet stay ahead of the trends (sort of!).
Facebook, as a leading social media platform, is staying relevant and finding new, innovative ways to stay connected to (and in tune) with it’s audience. How do you like those emotional icons (just about the time you realized you needed to do more than like some posts, Facebook was there helping you express yourself more accurately). Then just as everyone jumped on the Periscope wagon and it looked like Facebook was in the shadows, up pops Facebook Live Stream, which has become a real winner. People are sharing everything from walking their kids to school in the morning to virtual business training. And if you happen to be following Mark (you know, the founder — you can get a peek at some up and coming changes or perhaps catch him grilling in the backyard with his family and friends). It’s things like this that are keeping Facebook meaningful (Read: people are still on Facebook. Hint: Your audience).
If you are yet to fall in love with facebook, here’s 3 reasons for you to start building a relationship as a business owner:
- It’s Super Doper Affordable
Yes, it’s so exciting I had to say super doper (You remember when everything was super doper cool, right? Like in the 4th grade). Well Facebook advertising is super doper affordable, making it one of the top reasons why small business owners should use it. Before the internet, small business owners often shied away from advertising because it just wasn’t in the budget. They did everything they could (networking, flyers, word of mouth, everything but advertise). Then the internet came along and before long, Facebook. I hear small business owners say, Facebook advertising is expensive — WRONG!! It’s not. You can advertise for as little as $5 if you want (by way of a boosted post). The secret is understanding your budget, your objectives, and Facebook’s system.
- Targeted Marketing Has Never Looked Like This Before!
When I say targeted, I mean targeted. Think back to the last time you did an ad, in a newspaper or magazine perhaps. Do you remember looking at those advertising and media kits, trying to figure out if their demographics were a good fit? Then once you decided, you had to hope that the right people would see your ad and perhaps respond. Well, we’ve come a long way, baby! On Facebook, you can target your audience right down to their interests. Not only can you segment by location, age, and gender, but you can also segment by their behavior and interests —- how cool is that! For an advertiser it’s the bomb diggidy (there I go again). If you’re a Facebook user (aren’t we all), it’s a bit scary because yes, they’re collecting all that information you’re sharing and feeding it to those that will pay for it. But enough about that, because it’s the very reason yo want to tap into Facebook’s incredible base of millions to target your potential prospects.
- Track Results in Real Time
Oh yes!! Now this here ladies and gentleman, is the secret sauce. Why? Because you always know how well your ad is doing. You can see live results each and every day: Who clicked on an ad? Who engaged with my ad? What behavior or result did my ad get? You can see this as your ad is “active” and guess what? If it’s not doing as well as you’d like, you can pause and make some changes – hot dog!! Tweak baby, tweak.
So that’s it guys, these are just 3 reasons why you should absolutely be advertising on Facebook. So go ahead, fall in love, and remember to always listen to Daymond John.
Would you like to go a little more in depth with Facebook advertising, how to get started and creating your first campaign? Sign up for our Facebook Advertising Clinic.
Biz Practitioner
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