DIGITAL MARKETING
WHY YOUR BUSINESS MUST HAVE A FACEBOOK MARKETING STRATEGY by Shea Bennett, Head of Digital Marketing at Identity Group
H
aving worked in the digital marketing sector for more than a decade, if there’s one question that I have been asked
of UK social networkers only use Facebook,
Accordingly, Facebook has become far more
and no other social platform. To many of
than “just” a social network. Its ecosystem is
them, Facebook is social media. Which is
unlike anything we have seen in history, linking
repeatedly it would be this: “What is the best
why one should always ignore sensationalist
hundreds of millions of people continuously,
social media platform for my business?”
proclamations that Facebook is on the decline,
both on and off the platform.
My answer always used to start with, “It
or that it’s no longer relevant amongst key
depends”. Choosing the right social media
demographics. Facebook remains comfortably
platform for your company did depend on a
the most popular social network amongst
number of factors, such as the type of products
all the key age groups. Statistically, almost
or services you were selling, and the industry in
everyone you know has a Facebook account.
which you operated.
Bottom line? Your customers are on Facebook.
Historically, LinkedIn was seen as the
Your prospects are on Facebook. And (perhaps
premier social media site for recruitment and
most importantly) your competitors are on
direct sales. Twitter was the clear choice for
Facebook.
exhibition marketing and B2B, and platforms
particularly for retail brands that had a strong appeal with the key 18-34 demographic. But for B2B, niche companies or SMEs, Facebook was often a very difficult nut to crack. Times have changed. Facebook has rolled out a number of exciting new tools that have quickly established it as the number one social
the people, places and things we interact with online. It contains the largest number of defined relationships between the largest number of website users of any platform, simply because Facebook is (and remains) so incredibly popular. effective medium for reaching large, targeted
for very visual, content-heavy brands. for business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing,
This digital matrix, which Facebook refers to as its social graph, connects each of us with
As such, Facebook has become a very
such as Instagram and Pinterest were fantastic And Facebook? Facebook used to be brilliant
Facebook Advertising
“50 per cent of UK social networkers only use Facebook, and no other social platform. To many of them, Facebook is social media.”
groups of consumers to promote products and services. Facebook ads start at just £1 per day and scale to all budgets, and users can be targeted by an ever-growing wealth of criteria, including age, gender, location, interests and behaviours. Advertising campaigns can be based around objectives – for example, sending traffic to your website or collecting leads for your business – and you’ll only pay when that objective has
network for every business across every
been met. Moreover, results are almost always
industry, irrespective of target
exponential: if you’re getting 10 leads for £10,
customers. Indeed, the more niche your
you’ll get 100 leads for £100, and vice versa.
business, the more effective these tools can be. Read on to learn why.
The Facebook Ecosystem From its launch in February 2004, Facebook’s
In 2012 Facebook acquired Instagram, which now boasts 400 million users, and the company also owns WhatsApp, which has one billion users, plus its spinoff Messenger app, which is
Facebook Custom & Lookalike Audiences Powerful stuff. But if there’s one area where Facebook has fallen a little short, particularly
growth has been nothing short of incredible,
used by 800 million. Worldwide, Facebook Like
reaching 100 million global users in early 2008,
and Share buttons are embedded on tens of
If you work in B2C it’s usually fairly easy to
and one billion by 2012. Today, Facebook boasts
millions of websites.
identify your customer audience on Facebook,
1.59 billion users worldwide, and 50 million businesses have a Facebook Page.
Recently Facebook has ventured into virtual
for niche businesses, it’s in the targeting itself.
but for B2B brands, or those with very bespoke
reality with its highly anticipated Oculus Rift
services, it’s a far trickier proposition. In
headset, and the company is also investing
the past it has required a lot of educated
million users, with 96 per cent of all UK adults
heavily in live video, artificial intelligence and
guesswork, often with frustrating results.
active on the platform. Indeed, 50 per cent
global internet connectivity.
In the United Kingdom, Facebook has 31
82
In 2013 Facebook made its Custom Audience