In elementary school, there were reading comprehension questions at the end of every story. Why or Why Not? I recently realized I assume everyone knows why they should be on Facebook. Today I ask the basic question—Why Should I be on Facebook?
3 Reasons Why
1. Your audience is there. Facebook is growing everyday. The largest growing segment is middle aged women. If you need additional stats on how big it is getting, just know that in January, Facebook was the third largest country in the world; it’s almost May, there is a huge customer base waiting to be tapped.
2. You get to interact. We’ve all been in that environment where the creepy sales guy just won’t leave. UGH. It makes me uncomfortable and it is the way the way to ensure I WON’T buy. You are creating the relationship when your audience is happy, in a non-sales pitchy environment. You take the sales pressure off. If you are “friends” with an organization before you buy, you might be more likely to purchase from that organization when you need that product or service.
3. Showcase your brand personality. Going hand in hand with # 2, you have more control over what and how things are said about your brand. In healthcare, it is a way to get stories and gather information without violating HIPPA rules and a chance to talk to patients when they aren’t patients; they are a healthy audience.
3 Reasons Why Not
1. No goal. Do you want to attract more people to your website? Do you want to reach a particular audience? Do you honestly want to engage in conversations with your customers and patients? If you just want to sell your services with status updates, then you aren’t creating or tapping into a community, you are just adding digital noise.
2. No time. While Facebook is free, your time is not. Who is going to post what, where and when? Do you have a schedule? I recommend thinking about posts in advance, compiling a list of them and then posting them on a regular schedule, if possible. Using Hootsuite is a great way to schedule Facebook posts.
3. You are scared. What if somebody writes something negative? How do you deal with that? Can you take care of the situation? It is not the same in every scenario, but if a mistake is yours and the customer has a legitimate issue, answering the issue directly and positively might be the best PR move you could make. If you are focused on the negatives, you may not post and then you have created frustration – a digital storefront with blacked-out windows.
As a person who does a lot of writing and learns something new about social media everyday, it is ok to be confused. Sometimes the best answer to the Facebook question is Not Yet. How did you know you were ready to be on Facebook? Tell us, we want to know how you made that decision.
Contact us if you are ready to start the social media conversation for your organization. Or maybe you are already there, but want to tweak things a bit, utilize Facebook Studio. When you are ready to go there, jump in feet first, after all a brand should have fun, too.
follow us socially