What's Facebook Got to Do with Growing Your Business?

Recently, I ran across a blog that touted 32 ways to use Facebook for business. As of late, I had joined the estimated 250 million people using Facebook socially to connect with old friends; however, I hadn’t really explored the idea of using Facebook to grow my business. I wasn’t sure about using a social network for business; so, the question remained, what does facebook have to do with growing your business? After I ran across a study from emarketer that said Facebook recently became the most popular US social networking site, I thought— why not? With over 120 million people logging on at least once a day, I thought it was worth finding out more. Here are four things that may help you if you’re considering using facebook to help you grow your business.

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET
Because millions of people are using facebook, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your sales are going to suddenly sky rocket. The average age of a facebook user is about 18-25; however, the demographic of those 35 and older is growing at an astounding rate; with a whopping 70% of facebook users residing outside of the US.—ask yourself, who does your product or service target, who currently uses it, and if you’re thinking of entering a new market, who do you want to use it?

It’s a good idea to profile your customer and compare them to facebook’s statistics before diving in. This information will become useful if you decide to use facebook ads to promote your business. More on this later…

LEVERAGE YOUR NETWORK
If you’ve already on facebook and you’ve got friends, customers or colleagues on facebook, be sure to segment them into groups, such as current customers, friends, business contacts, etc. When you get to the point where you’re ready to create your presence on facebook, it will assist you in having someone to initially target to invite to your network.

MAKE A DECISION—FAN PAGE OR GROUP?

Facebook offers two primary ways for you to promote your business. Which is better—well, it’s a matter of opinion, they both have their own pros and cons. It’s good to find out what each one offers and make your decision from there. For more information, view the following pages on facebook:

• Create a facebook page
• Create a facebook group

Most comparisons report that facebook pages offer a better option for long-term contact with your members vs. a group, which works well for shorter term events, discussions, etc.
Groups enable you to send a message to your entire member base so that it displays in their inbox; however, a fan page, gives you the opportunity to find out key demographics about your members, which can be helpful if you’re planning upcoming marketing opportunities or campaigns. Determine your objective for creating a presence on facebook and compare your options to make the decision best suited for you.

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS
Facebook also offers advertising to help you promote your business website or fan page, this can be helpful when trying to target a fresh group of potential clientele. Advertising on facebook allows you to scale your target audience into a demographic that is conducive to your marketing strategy and set your own budget so you know exactly how much you’re spending during the course of your ad campaign. It may be a good idea to test your ad for one or two days before you schedule a f long-term campaign to see what type of response you get using your messaging. If you’re not achieving the kind of results you want, you can change your ad and see if your results change. View the page, Facebook Advertising, for more information about what is offered.

For more small business plugs, be sure to join BiznessDoor.com’s facebook fan page, and create a discussion on biznessdoor.com to let us know how you’re doing.