Facebook. Yes, you absolutely need to pay attention to your facebook presence. Social media should be an important piece of your marketing mix, but it’s not a centrepiece. It will help drive traffic to your website, but it’s not where real commerce happens. It does not replace a good website.
- It doesn’t reach non-facebook users. There are lots and lots of people who choose not to use facebook. Statistics for 2017 show 31% of Canadian adult internet users, aged 20-65, don’t use facebook at all, and will not click a facebook result when they Google. That’s an awfully large chunk of business you’re leaving on the table.
- Facebook pages are all the same. They present the Facebook brand, not yours. Your control over design is extremely limited, and if you want added functionality, like e-commerce or a blog, facebook just won’t do that.
- Fb users are distracted, and generally not in buying mode. They’re not searching – they’re on facebook for other reasons – liking and commenting on posts, and talking to friends, and looking at kittens. They’re just not commercially engaged.
- Most people skip over facebook results when they search Google to find a product or service. They’re looking for real search results – actual websites of actual businesses.
- It just looks less professional. To many, it looks amateur, and even a bit sketchy, for a business’s primary site to be a facebook page. Remember all our little chats about business credibility?
Facebook is a convenient way to communicate with your existing customers, and it should be part of your overall marketing strategy. It’s also a good way for new businesses to start promoting themselves while their website is being designed and built, but facebook should never be your primary web presence.
To acquire more new customers, a proper, professional website is absolutely necessary. Let’s get you some new revenue!