Introduction

Over the years, we’ve met with many people that understood the importance of having a diverse marketing strategy.  Yet many of them faced challenges when trying to communicate the significance of a well balanced marketing plan to their team. To speak to this, we will be continuing our series called the “Importance of….” The goal of the series is to break down the finer points of diverse marketing plans in the hopes of providing that “ah-ha moment,” allowing for a better overall understanding of the big picture of Internet marketing. Throughout our series, I’ll cover the leading basic strategies and how they could work for you. It’s important to note, as I’ve said before, not every business is the same and some strategies are not going to be the right fit for your business. If you need assistance sorting it all out, you can come in and meet with one of our experts to find out what works best for you and your business. Several of these methods work well hand-in-hand to create the well-balanced Internet marketing strategy that will get your business ahead. Remember, as tempting as it can be, never put all your eggs in one basket!  With the dynamic, changing nature of marketing on the Internet, focusing all your resources in one area can be a losing endeavor. In our February 4th blog post we tackled the first subject in our series titled The Importance of Organic Search Engine Optimization. Now we’ll move onto:

The Importance of Facebook Advertising

From Facebook page likes, post engagement, lead generation, video views, app installs, ads on Instagram, to ads that get people to your website, advertising with Facebook is a smart and effective way to go. Why you ask?

• Organic Reach is Dead
• Reach the Masses
• Audience Invested Time
• Amazing Ad Targeting
• Visibility & Branding
• Diversified Strategy

Facebook Organic Reach is Dead

In 2016, FB page owners saw the number of people actually seeing their posts cut by approximately 50%. We’re talking about losing half your audience! While Facebook maintains that this decline is due to feed refinement and increase in the volume of content, that amount continues to decline. While they say it is not intentional, Facebook continues to gradually strangle the organic reach of posts to essentially force companies to “pay-to-play”. So, even though someone “Liked” your page, and you created a super-duper awesome post, doesn’t mean Facebook is going to put in front of your existing audience. Running Facebook ads guarantees exposure not only to your existing audience, but to an extended audience as well.

Reach the Masses

Over 1.8 billion people log onto Facebook every month. Unequivocally the largest social media network to-date, and still growing day by day, Facebook doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. New features and acquisitions, mixed with Facebook’s unique and interesting ways to stay in touch,  keeps their audience coming back for more. Even diehard anti-Facebooker’s like my mum, have taken a second look and come to the dark side. Yes, the lure of her kids and grand-baby pics was just too much for her!

Audience Invested Time

People spend a ridiculous amount of time on Facebook. People are checking on friends, family and news. Some are checking before, during and after work. The average time is 20 minutes per visit, but when you are looking at several potential visits a day, that can add up! Knowing people are investing their time here makes FB advertising a necessary consideration for your business.

Amazing Ad Targeting

It’s possible to zero in on the perfect target audience, choose from over a dozen different ad objective formats, and lose yourself in hundreds of possible ad targeting parameters. Here’s an example… Imagine you are a wedding planner offering your services in Hawaii. With Life Events targeting, you can select people that have just gotten engaged. Couple that with location targeting specific to Hawaii and/or interest targeting people that like Hawaii and you have a powerful audience to market your business to.

Visibility & Branding

Facebook offers the ability to keep your business fresh in the minds of the people interested in your services now and into the future. Seize the opportunity! Our suggestions? Engage with your audience. Give good customer service. Post consistently and provide some fun now and then. Deliver content that interests your fans. Be an authoritative figure without being a know it all. Be authentic to your brand.

Diversified Strategy

Remember earlier in this post when I asked you not to put all your marketing eggs in one basket? You don’t have to stick with just one advertising strategy. As a matter of fact, we highly recommend you try out various options to find the best fit for you. For most of our clients here at Meyer Computer, Inc. we run 3 different types on average, per client. More info: Facebook Marketing