Facebook For Business
It's time to admit that I have been sitting on the fence regarding the benefits of Facebook for business. Lets face it, when it comes to business it is hard to beat the business orientation of Linkedin. In comparison Facebook is much closer to what we regard as being social. In many cases Facebook is providing a vital link between friends, family and work colleagues often used as an alternative to the age old communication device the telephone, unless of course it is a mobile device being used to interact with the Facebook community.
But ignoring or not fully participating on Facebook is no longer an option for businesses. Consider for how many years a first page presence on Google was the Holy Grail and why. The why is simple, Google was the most visited web site on the Internet. Obtaining first page visibility was the goal, simply because it created visibility and most importantly web site visitors which translated into business.
Well that's changing and changing fast. According to Hitwise, Facebook has surpassed Google as the most visited web site on the Internet for the week ending March 13th. This benchmark is not a one of, there have been days in the past 3 or 4 months where Facebook has defeated Google in the race for popularity however, when you view the graph it is clear from the progressive and consistent nature of the statistics, that in the future Facebook could possibly consistently own the number one spot.
Time Spent on Facebook
The number of visits Facebook is receiving is not the only significant statistic which needs consideration. The average time spent on the site also creates additional confirmation that Facebook may becoming the most important web site for businesses. According Nielsen there is a significant difference in the monthly time spent on Google 1:47:44 (Hour/Minutes/Seconds) compared to Facebook's 6:27:43 (Hour/Minutes/Seconds).
Connecting with your market
Within the online environment, connecting with your market and audience is one of the primary elements of online business success. Considering Facebook's own data stating there are "more than 400 million active users", and the above data it is quite clear that in most cases your business's targeted audience is to be found on Facebook, it would be difficult to argue otherwise. The conclusion is people are using Facebook regularly and are spending considerable time on the web site, giving your business ample opportunity to connect with your market.
Leveraging Facebook for Business
A quick review of some of the methods Facebook can be leveraged by your business include:
Social Search: Google's Social Search is a rather complex due to the requirement to set up your profile with Google, but ultimately well worth the time. This works best if you encourage your contacts to establish their Google profile and once the connections are made, when you or your contacts view the Search Results the social results will be included within the primary results with added exposure to your network. More can be read on this topic by reading the Blog Post Leveraging Google Real Time and Social Search. Google has provided a Social Search Video.
Fan Pages: Developing a Fan Page for your company on Facebook is another option available to assist business to leverage the highly popular Social Network. One of the benefits which stands out regarding Fan Pages, is the ability of Search Engines to index the pages which can assist to improve your company's online visibility.
Facebook Search: Facebook's Search functions are another element which can be leveraged to connect with your audience. The Search function has been recently updated to include search suggestions similar to those found on the major Search Engines and therefore, understanding and utilizing your keyword research has become even more important not only in the SEO environment, but also the Social Networking environment.
The Last Word
Without doubt Facebook is increasing in popularity daily and if your potential clients and customers are utilizing Facebook your business must have a presence on Facebook as well. However, it must always be remembered that to use Facebook for business requires a softly softly approach not hard out in your face advertising campaigns, which are sure to turn the network against your company.
The methods mentioned to leverage the power of Facebook are just the tip of the iceberg, with some ingenuity and familiarizing yourself with the Facebook environment additional opportunities will present themselves.
