At first look, the title might seem to be a silly question. Of course your business should be on Facebook. Shouldn’t it? In fact, you would be hard pressed to find any advice on starting a new business that didn’t contain some advice on creating a social media presence. That, of course, means Facebook. Doesn’t it?
The question is this. Is this good advice simply because it is so prolific? It may be time to question whether or not your company should be on Facebook, explore reasons why your presence may not be improving your bottom line, and to explore some alternatives.
Is Facebook Really Worth the Investment for You
You start a business. You create a Facebook page. You do everything the experts tell you to do. You build relationships with industry influencers. You earn followers the right way. You share and curate great content. You engage with your audience. When the platform changes, you change with it. You spend money on Facebook advertising and sponsored content.
This is all great, as long as you get something in return. If not, that’s a lot of time and resources invested in something that may not be driving sales. If Facebook isn’t offering you decent ROI, you have to consider that at least one of the following things is true:
- This simply isn’t the platform for you. You aren’t alone if this is the case. Many businesses are abandoning Facebook for other platforms. If Facebook once served you well, but no longer does, it could be that your business needs a social platform that Facebook once was and not the advertising platform it has become.
- There is something deeply flawed in your Facebook strategy. That’s tough to consider, but better a reality check now than continuing to invest good money after bad.
- Your customers just aren’t into you like that. It’s true! It is perfectly possible to operate a successful, profitable business with customers who have absolutely no interest in ‘building a relationship with you’, ‘consuming your content’, or ‘engaging with you’ on social media. Not only are the perfectly good with interacting with you through time tested channels, all of this social media stuff may seem forced and contrived to them.
Is Facebook Taking Away from Time and Resources You Should Invest in Your Website?
If you’re like many business owners, you have a Facebook site to drive traffic to your website and landing pages. Is that a good investment? Only 2% of Facebook posts have a successful organic reach. Those aren’t good numbers. For one thing, there’s no guarantee that people who see your posts have even a passing interest in your products or services. Think about it. How many suggested or otherwise branded posts show up in your newsfeed? How many do you scroll past without giving a second thought?
Would you be better off spending time on tasks that are more likely to draw in people who have a much shorter trip down the funnel and who have already shown some interest? Your email subscription list could be a great place to start.
You might also consider using your website as home base for engaging with your audience rather than Facebook. Blog posts and videos can be hosted directly on your website. You can create a place for engagement and provide customers with a platform for sharing user generated content through community forums hosted on your website.
Should Your Focus be on Other Social Platforms?
Starbucks is a large, international company. They have established a powerful social media presence. They generate a huge amount of engagement. In spite of all of these things being true, the brand is relatively inactive on Facebook. Now, they won’t likely ever delete their account, but their efforts are clearly focused on other platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.
If you aren’t getting the results you want from Facebook, if your list of followers hasn’t grown significantly in a long time, or you have other evidence that things are stagnating there, it may be time to consider other platforms. Even if you have done so in the past, consider doing a bit of market research. Even if your target customers were on Facebook in the recent path, they may have matriculated to Instagram or Snapchat. Reach out to them where they are.
Your Personal Page May be Plenty
If the Venn diagram of your customers, friends, and relatives is pretty much just a circle, having a business page may be overkill. There are so many people going into direct marketing businesses. When they do, the target audience is nearly always, friends, family members, neighbors, and community members. Asking people to engage with you on your ‘official business page’ may be a bit of an ego boost for you, but for them it could be little more than an irritation. It could simply be too soon for your business to have a dedicated Facebook page.
Facebook Could Work for You if You Had a Better Strategy
Some business owners really could benefit from their Facebook presence. They just need a better strategy in place. Maybe you’ve been resisting investing in Facebook advertising. Another common mistake is that people focus too much on ‘tricks’ to boost traffic and engagement rather than implementing solid strategies that work over time.
Conclusion
Your business should probably have a Facebook presence of some sort, even if it’s just a placeholder that directs people to your website or other social media platforms. However, Facebook is not a platform in which every business needs to invest a significant amount of time and money. Take some time to evaluate the role of Facebook in the growth and management of your company. You might be surprised at what you discover.
Margaret Reid is a self-driven specialist who is currently working in the company The Word Point and trying to improve herself in the blogging career. She is always seeking to discover new ways for personal and professional growth and is convinced that it’s always important to broaden horizons. That`s why Margaret develops and improves her skills throughout the writing process to help and inspire people.
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