Businesspeople constantly tell me that they don’t have time to “do” social media. I get that, believe me. But with “inbound” or attraction marketing costing 60 percent less than “outbound” or interruption marketing – otherwise known as “traditional” marketing, can you afford not to engage in social media and other online marketing tactics?
If you only have time for one social media application, it should be Facebook. That’s because, according to a Neilson Company survey, Facebook users spend an average of seven hours per month on the site, with time spent growing by 10 percent monthly. This usage far exceeds the next most popular site, Yahoo!, used two hours and 10 minutes, and Google at two hours. This is were the fish are, so you should be fishing here.
If you haven’t yet dipped your toe into the Facebook pond for fear that it is overrun with teenagers – never fear. You are just as likely to find your Boomer high school classmates or current business contacts there as your grandchildren. According to eMarketer Online senior Analyst Lisa E. Philips, 47 percent of online Boomers maintain a profile on at least one social network, and of the social networks included in the study, 73 percent maintained a Facebook profile.
If you are starting or growing a business and don’t have a Facebook presence, start with a personal profile and begin interacting with friends and associates. Then begin building a business or “fan” page for branding and promoting your business. You can either use the free Facebook-provided tabs or hire a professional firm or consultant to work with you to customize your page and create eye-popping graphics, layouts and messaging to achieve specific goals.
Once you’ve created your fan page, you can take advantage of Facebook’s killer paid advertising option that allows you to laser target the specific demographics for your product or service, just like a fancy fish finder. Rather than casting your line into unknown waters and wasting your “bait,” you’ll be spending your advertising dollars on your perfect customers. Facebook advertising is inexpensive and very effective in helping you to quickly gain “fans,” create awareness, drive traffic to your web site, engage your audience and entice the fish to bite.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/balakov/ / CC BY-NC 2.0
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Great ideas! I started doing as you suggested and it’s beginning to work.
Thanks,
Great, Dave! Glad it was helpful!