Continuing our Social Media 101 series, we turn our attention to one of the most dominant and most popular social media platforms, Facebook. Recent struggles may have many users wondering what will happen next to this social media powerhouse. At this point, even with all the grumbling and #DeleteFacebook demands, Facebook remains a formidable means of engaging with customers, leads, and colleagues.
Today we turn our attention to Facebook.
Strengths:
- The number of users surpasses a billion people – 1.4 billion people are considered daily active users, with the monthly average of users exceeding 2 billion. Without a doubt, every business can potentially benefit from having a Facebook page. It currently stands as the most popular social media site, and it’s the perfect start to your social media marketing strategy.
- Original content made easy – Facebook Live is the platform’s newest approach to original content that takes advantage of video and image sharing. Your followers receive a notification any time you are live, and infographics appear nicely in the news feed.
- Built-in engagement – Likes, shares, comments, and Facebook messenger all offer unique opportunities to connect with followers and related content. The messenger app can also be used as a customer service platform to address consumer issues.
- Potential for growth – Businesses have the ability to open both private and public groups; so, there are opportunities to leverage the Facebook platform in surprising ways that do a great job keeping your customers’ interest.
- You can boost content – Although this is not a free service, you can pay Facebook to broaden your reach. This expands your target audience and can generate more business leads.
Weaknesses:
- You must stay active, but not too active – Facebook’s algorithm is tricky, especially with the recent changes that prioritize friends and family over businesses in the news feed. Regardless, you should still be posting relevant and engaging content daily. Be careful not to overwhelm your followers with too much marketing, because they’ll hit snooze on your posts.
- Success doesn’t come free – Although the ability to boost content is a strength, the fact that you do have to put money into this platform doubles as a weakness. Some of your posts will require a boost to remain competitive.
- Emerging generations prefer other platforms – Facebook users reach across every generation, but if you’re trying to market to a younger audience, you’re probably barking up the wrong tree. A Facebook page remains important, but it might not be able to stand alone.
Facebook is a great place for businesses to get their feet wet when developing a social media marketing strategy. The sheer number of users makes it a must-have platform, but this doesn’t yet answer the question as to whether it is the only platform your business should be taking advantage of. Next, we will be examining the strengths and weaknesses of LinkedIn.
Recommendation: Start now experimenting with Facebook Live (Facebook’s hosted video feature for pages). Our clients using Facebook Live are experiencing faster growth and stronger engagement across the board.