1.866.840.3062

They have been buzzed about.  They have been criticized.  And to this point, marketing and advertising results have varied greatly.  But one thing is becoming obvious:  social networking sites like Facebook and are not going anywhere and learning to leverage them effectively now has the potential to pay off big time in the future.

From the beginning, skeptics have questioned the value of marketing on social media sites, saying the traffic was not targeted, the demographics too young, reporting and analytics limited.  However, that is all changing, and Facebook appears to be leading the way.  Below are some of the top reasons I believe every company should take advantage of this medium and include it (in some way, shape, or form) in their marketing plan for 2009.

Pure Volume
According to the most recent comScore stats, Facebook attracted 222 million unique visitors worldwide and 80 billion page views in December 2008.  In fact, 22 percent of the total Internet audience visited the site during the month.  (To put that in perspective, there were about 200 million unique TV viewers in February 2008.)  While MySpace currently receives more U.S. traffic than Facebook, it’s predicted that Facebook will overtake MySpace by January 2010.  Clearly, a successful marketing campaign involves more than just getting your message in front of a large audience.  You need to convey the right message.  But there is a reason that major advertisers spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads each year!

Not Just for Kids Anymore
One of the biggest misconceptions of social networking sites has traditionally been that they are only used by teens.  However, according to “Adults and Social Network Web Sites,” a study released by Pew Internet & American Life Project, the number of adults using sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn grew from 8 percent in 2005 to 35 percent in 2008.  Twenty-two percent of adult social networkers use Facebook.   These users are predominantly college educated males with a median age of 26, a demographic known to be big spenders online.

Targeted Ads
Because Facebook allows and in fact encourages users to include a great deal of personal information in their profiles, the opportunities for targeting are endless.  Target by location, sex, age, keywords, education, etc. and your ads will only be displayed to users who fit your chosen criteria.  Want to target a certain keyword?  No problem.  Select words or phrases that relate to your product or company and your ads will only be shown to users who mention those words in their profile.

Your Fans Spread the Word for You
Word of mouth is one of the most valuable forms of advertising in history.  Why?  Because we trust our friends’ opinions more than ads that we know have been constructed solely to get us to buy a certain product.  The beauty of Facebook’s model is that when users visit your page, stories of that interaction are posted in their News Feeds.  Every time one of their friends log in, they see the post in their own feed with a link that goes directly to your page.

Ok.  You may be sitting there saying, “It all sounds great in theory.  But does it actually work?”  Let me give a personal account of my own experience with Facebook and the day the light bulb went on in my head telling me that they are on to something.

I Became A “Fan”
As my friends will attest, I enjoy eating out quite a bit.  In fact, I’ve been known to frequent my favorite restaurant for their happy hour sushi special several times a week.  Upon logging into my Facebook account one day, I noticed a “story” posted in my News Feed announcing that one of my friends had “Become a Fan of Chino Latino” (I’m hoping that plug will get me some kind of free food coupon. )

I clicked on the link because I wanted to see what I would get if I was a fan too.  When I got to their page I saw a simple profile with the restaurant’s logo, basic contact information, etc.  But upon further inspection, I saw fan pictures, a discussion board engaging users by asking questions like, “Who is your favorite bartender?,” and best of all a list of updates telling me the latest specials and upcoming events.  I became a fan myself and within about 15 minutes saw that 10 of my friends had done so as well. (I know this because it showed up in my News Feed.)  When I logged in the next day I had an event invite from Chino telling me about their weekend specials.  Where do you think I went for dinner that weekend?

In the past few weeks I have become a fan of several restaurants (one of which specifically linked to Facebook from their Website), clicked on an ad to download 3 free songs from one of the “favorite bands” listed in my profile, and entered a contest to win a trip by becoming a fan of a travel agency my friend works for and posted about in his status.

I’m not saying having a Facebook ad or page is the answer to all of your marketing needs or is going to result in a tidal wave of instant business.  But the new age of online marketing means finding ways to engage your customers, make them advocates, and let them promote for you.  If you ignore the social networking community (especially the rapidly growing Facebook community), they may just ignore you too.