February 3, 2010

Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the world. Friends, family, and colleagues connect at this social media site to share conversations and photos, play games, and engage with favorite brands through Fan pages and advertisements. On Christmas Day 2009, for the first time ever, Facebook surpassed all other websites to become the top visited site in the world! Business owners, take note!

Facebeook for the Business Owner

There are three primary benefits for a business to be on Facebook: viral marketing opportunities, customer engagement, and the ability to target prospective customers geographically.

Customer Engagement

Want to know what your customers really think of your product or service? Ask them on your Fan page. And really listen to them. Customers can provide invaluable feedback that will help a business develop better products and services and reign top in their market if properly executed. There is no fee to set up a Fan page, but it definitely helps to promote it through advertising.

Also, in today’s tight financial market, everyone is looking for a bargain, so offer discounts, coupons, or other incentives to save money while doing business with you on your Facebook Fan page. Your fans will love you for it and most likely, tell others.

Viral Marketing

Two things happen in social media and on Facebook that are tremendous benefits for business owners: when a person likes a product, service, or business, they tell others with Facebook making it very easy to do with just a click. And Facebook is sometimes referred to affectionately as “the nosey friend who keeps you apprised of every single thing your friends are doing”, including announcing to the entire friend network that one has joined your Fan page – which often brings along a couple of extra fans helping you to grow your prospective clientele.

Business vs. Personal

Since Fan pages are separate from your personal Facebook account, you may still maintain privacy in sharing the fun of high school or college stories and photos with old friends while projecting a professional image on your Fan page. This is a good thing!

Facebook continues to make exciting changes and upgrades to their social media network making it a fun playground personally and a potentially fertile ground for business growth professionally.