10 Reasons To Use Facebook for Business

Posted on January 6th, 2009.

The following post is by Mari Smith.

Social networking sites, especially Facebook, have significant implications for business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs around the world. To keep your business current, you should at least be familiar with the latest social media marketing techniques and viral technologies, including Facebook and its array of powerful features.

Facebook recently crossed the 100 MILLION member mark. That’s no small number for sure. Yet, millions more will join this incredible platform in the coming months and years. And the vast majority will be seeking to use Facebook primarily for business purposes.

For many people new to Facebook, on first pass, the site can seem frivolous, time consuming, confusing and difficult to measure real *tangible* results. (I mean, who wants to have a sheep thrown at them, a vampire bite, cupcake or to be “sold” to other friends?! It’s a personal choice, but the ignore all button will quickly become your BFF!)

FastCompany.com dubbed me the “Pied Piper of Facebook.” So, to get you started, here’s my list of ten reasons you need to be active on Facebook!

[And, if you're already successfully participating on Facebook, feel free to forward this post to your friends and clients who are not yet convinced WHY they should be using Facebook for business reasons.] Meet your peers.Facebook is not just for college kids anymore. Members are typically older and more mature than on other sites, and there are more affluent and more educated white collar users.

1. Find business contacts.With more than 100 million active users, and predicted to be 500 million by 2011, not only are your friends on Facebook, so are your prospects, your customers, your JV partners… and, of course, your competitors. You need to be on too. Related post: What’s Your Friending Policy?

2. Instant gate opener. Facebook members are open to connecting. You can easily begin a dialog with highly successful—even famous—people who were previously otherwise unreachable.

3. Build relationships.By engaging in conversations with your prospects and customers, you can better adapt your marketing and business services to meet their needs. Related post: How To Shake Hands On Facebook.

4. Raise visibility.By consistently and congruently showing up, posting relevant information, and being a thought leader, you can increase visibility and credibility as the expert in your area. Related post: How To Increase Interaction With Your Facebook and Twitter Network.

5. Develop your personal brand.The lines between business and personal have become blurred. You can reveal as much or as little about yourself as you wish, allowing you to personalize your brand.

6. Target your niche.Users volunteer vast amounts of information about themselves that you can readily access. These kinds of demographics, psychographics, and technographics would previously have cost fortunes to access. Author, John Battelle, calls Facebook a “database of intentions.”

7. Get rapid top Google placement.Create a Page for your business and share information with your fans. Pages (for business) and Profiles (for personal) are indexed for optimal search engine positioning. Facebook has a page rank of #5 according to Alexa. Related post: On Facebook, Profiles are personal. PAGES are for Business.

8. Place targeted ads.With Facebook Social Ads, you can test out extremely targeted advertising for minimal cost.

9. No cost marketing.Aside from paid ads, Facebook is totally free to use and with regular activity you’ll end up with more traffic, more subscribers, and more paying clients. Related post: Ten Steps To Leverage Your Blog Posts With Facebook Notes.

10. I trust you’ll be turned into a Facebook convert before long! Just be sure to create and implement a specific, integrated social marketing strategy… or you might suffer from Social Networking Overwhelm. If you need support with your strategy, I’d be happy to help. mari@marismith.com