Pros and Cons of Using Facebook to Promote Your Business Online

Facebook users are still growing at a rapid pace, and more and more businesses are jumping onto this social networking site to build a brand or company page.Many Facebook users have also become familiar with setting up groups and event pages, which makes this a feasible channel for some online marketing.

But how effective is Facebook when you want to promote your brand or attract visitors to your website? If you’ve been thinking about creating a presence on Facebook as a marketing channel, consider these key benefits and drawbacks:

Benefits of Using Facebook for Online Marketing

Facebook is an easy-to-use platform for supporting your online identity, and there are several ways you can use it as part of your online marketing strategy.

First, you can add hundreds of ‘Friends’ around the globe based on key interests; Facebook’s ‘Search’ feature allows you to track down millions of people who have expressed interest in a certain activity, product or service in their profile.

You may also add friends through people you know; when you first set up your Facebook profile, you can add customers or clients as a ‘Friend’ if they want to stay in touch with you in a new way. Over time, other people may find your profile to be interesting, and can also join your network.

Ultimately, Facebook gives you a chance to promote your brand or business entity by creating ‘top of mind’ awareness amongst existing clients, their friends and family members. Any time someone interacts with you through the public profile, their activity will show up on all of their friends’ lists. This gives you increased exposure online with very little effort.

Drawbacks of Using Facebook for Online Marketing

While having a Facebook profile does give you a chance to interact with customers or prospects in a new way and establishes your online identity, there are some drawbacks for using Facebok as a marketing tool.

First, it’s difficult to track how many people are actually converting into a sale directly from Facebook interactions. It may not be easy to determine how much effort it took to create your presence on Facebook which eventually led to a sale, so there is no straight conversion metric available.

Second, your Facebook identity needs to be managed and monitored regularly to ensure it’s always updated and that you’re providing quality notes or comments to your groups and Friends on a regular basis. If you’re not planning on interacting regularly on Facebook, people are more than likely to simply forget about you – and your brand.

Third, you need to be the leader in creating groups or event pages. If your staff doesn’t’ have the skills to execute these types of online activities consistently, you can miss out on several networking opportunities and fail to create a solid online presence on this social networking platform.

Finally, poor public relations can spread like wildfire across Facebook. If a handful of customers or clients start complaining about you or post negative comments on other people’s profiles, you won’t have any control over the activities. If you’re planning on creating a public profile, make sure you have the marketing/PR team to manage these types of situations to maintain a positive reputation.