FB owns 1 in every 3 minutes on the internet, who's reaping the rewards of social media marketing?

Social media encourages engagement and breaks down the barriers which existed in previous marketing channels.

The introduction of social media has played a pivotal role in the transition from marketing being traditionally a one-way communication channel, which made use of TV, radio and print advertising, to a more dynamic and two-way conversation between businesses and their customers.

Traditional marketing channels such as those mentioned above still have their place, however they are used as more of a means in which to communicate a set message.

Social media enables a two-way conversation, helping businesses to understand their customer’s wants and needs, and take action to make it a reality.

“Think about what people are doing on Facebook today. They're keeping up with their friends and family, but they're also building an image and identity for themselves. They're connecting with the audience that they want to connect to. It's almost a disadvantage if you're not on it now.” – Mark Zuckerberg

So what is the difference between using Facebook personally and using it for your business?

Individuals

Individuals use Facebook to:

• Communicate with their friends, family members and acquaintances

• Consume content shared by their network of ‘friends’, including photos, videos and other 3rd party (otherwise known as shared) content

• Follow organisations and brands they would like to receive content from

• Use ‘Messenger’ for one-on-one or group messaging, telephone calls or video chat.

• Newsfeed preferences allow users to control what content they see in their newsfeed and which advertisers can target them.

Organisations Facebook combines huge global reach with detailed audience targeting, engagement features and real-time reporting. It enables advertisers to reach and interact with target audiences by capturing data on factors such as:

• Demographics – data that users volunteer about themselves, such as gender, age, education, etc.

• Audience behaviour – what the users engage with, for example, what videos they watch

• Interests – what Facebook Pages a user likes, or regularly visits

• App Usage – the other networks used, such as Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp

• Websites visited – the sites visited by the user (known by installing the ‘Facebook pixel’)

The 2017 Sensis Social Media Report provides some interesting insights into the Facebook audience in Australia:

• 92% of Australians on social media networks used Facebook (92% male and 93% female)

• 94% of Australians on social media networks aged 18-29 used Facebook, while 90% of people regardless of age, gender, race, use or have used Facebook in their lifetime

• The average time per Facebook visit was 23 minutes, which means that Australian users are spending an average of 10 hours per week on Facebook.

Facebook offers benefits that no traditional media format or other social media network can match, including:

• Massive global reach

• The ability to pinpoint your target audience

• Deep user engagement

• Detailed reporting.

The combination of these benefits is what makes Facebook such an incredible platform and why so many businesses are reallocating marketing resources into Facebook.

The key benefits of Facebook for Businesses according to Monarch Social Media Marketing Diploma studies are:

Unparalleled global reach

Facebook’s huge global user base makes it very likely that your target audience will be active on Facebook. By capturing demographic data such as location, age, gender and personal interests, and combining it with additional usage data (e.g. behavioural) and 3rd party data, you can zero in on your exact audience and minimise wasted ad spend.

Higher return on investment

Creating a Facebook Business Page is free and the advertising options on the platform are relatively inexpensive, compared to TV, print, radio or billboard and sponsorship. Also, the more targeted the audience parameters, the less advertising dollars will be wasted on people who are not interested in the product. Ultimately this means that your return on investment is comparatively higher when using the Facebook advertising.

Targeted audience lists

Facebook continuously improves its automated advertising platform by allowing advertisers to create targeted audience lists, which include core audiences, custom audiences and lookalike audiences.

Market research and insights

Prior to the existence of internet marketing, brands would conduct extensive market research in an attempt to understand their audience. Although these methods are still used today, Facebook enables you to learn about your ideal customer, their pain points, desires, fears, preferences and more. Customers are commonly using Facebook to interact with businesses, post complaints, order products and services, make enquiries or discuss their needs. This feedback is highly valuable for any brand or business to have.

Referral website traffic

Facebook has the largest share of referral traffic of any social media network. While you can drive web traffic in a number of ways (such as SEO), diversifying your sources of traffic is always beneficial, particularly if Google changes their algorithm. As link building expert Eric Ward, said; “At the end of the day, there are a trillion websites. There are a billion search phrases. Yet there are only ten to twenty search results being fought over. That’s a fool’s game. The sites that thrive and survive will be the sites that find ways to create link profiles that provide them with traffic other than from Google.”

Longest video lengths

Facebook allows videos up to 45 minutes long compared with other popular platforms which only allow up to 1 minute. If video is part of your marketing strategy, this capability will be invaluable to you.

Cold- and warm-lead advertising

One of the best features of Facebook marketing is its functionality to target both cold leads (potential customers that have shown no previous interest in your product before) and warm leads (prospect who’ve shown an interest in your brand, such as by liking your Facebook page, signing up to your newsletter, etc.). Cold leads are targeted using demographics which match your ideal customer, and warm leads are target using custom audiences.

Connection with target audience

Facebook enables you to form a closer relationship with your core audiences through open discussion, media sharing and relationship nurturing. Facebook posts and paid advertisements allow readers to react, comment and share your content. Thus, Facebook enables you to build trust through your marketing strategy.

The potential for storytelling

Facebook is a great network for distributing content created by your organisation. It is also an efficient medium for multimedia storytelling, making a business seem approachable and humanised. Instead of direct sales and promotions, you can use stories to showcase your product or service through a real-life experience. Once posted to your Facebook newsfeed, the content appears very similar to the content of their actual Facebook friends. Referred to as ‘native advertising’, this trend is expected to drive 74% of display ad revenue by 2021

In conclusion what we know about Facebook is that it is hugely beneficial to business for a much more cost effective advertising campaign.

What Facebook knows about us is... everything!