Facebook is one of the hugest platforms with over 2.6 billion users by August 2020 globally. I remember when I joined social media my first platform I landed was Facebook. No one directed me on its streets. Facebook is easy to go about when you join. To start off your socializing is all about sending and accepting friend requests then posting what is in your mind.
By 2019 December, there are at least 7 million Kenyan Facebook Users. Some are there to have fun, get information while some want to see what marketers have displayed in order to either purchase or add the products and services in their wish list.
Even though most people are on Facebook by default, a number of them may have not really explored all its benefits. For a better understanding of Facebook marketing, here is a compilation of some facts and their benefits.
1. Ability to Share pictures and Videos from your Business
Facebook has really developed. The various ways to share business content in form of images, videos both by uploading and going live and slideshow presentation has become the most powerful ways to communicate with existing and potential customers. Sharing of pictures and videos also helps them to attract visitors on the Facebook page in converting to targeted customers.
2. Use of limited text in the image influences delivery
When preparing Facebook ads, few text or no text is proposed since the more the text you have in an image, the lower your delivery will be. Interactions are high when words used are few, precise and communicate the message with the right words. Facebook classifies the image text ratio as okay, low, medium and high, which are explanatory units of measure.
3. Readily existing and potential customers
Mainstream media channels lack the ability to give the customers an audience to respond to the ads. Just imagine you wanted to give some feedback or talk to your marketers through radio, television and newspapers, it is almost impossible!
On contrary, Facebook allows the marketers to engage with the existing target audience. In this way, it is easier for a marketer to get immediate feedback. Hence, Facebook has a good measurable ROI on marketing.
The direct interaction with existing customers can create a good number of potential customers who will be loyal to purchase of products and services. Additionally, potential customers can be a good channel for extended marketing since once they are satisfied with the services given by the product and services they can recommend them to other customers who may be interested.
4. Low cost of marketing
Of all social media platforms, Facebook offers an ideal space for small to medium businesses with limited budgets to boost their ads. The characteristic of affordability can accommodate any entrepreneur creating a balanced platform that do not discriminate or lock others out. The availability of promotion charges as low as 1 Dollar which translates to 100 Kenyan shillings makes it a fairer and just platform compared to LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
5. Redirection of traffic to your website
We have witnessed a number of websites more so media houses use Facebook to steer traffic to their websites. Facebook has been marked to be the best source of organic traffic to websites. One can include a link of a story on a website on a Facebook page. Nowadays there are many people who prefer online purchasing as it is easy and convenient and is a hassle free task. Websites like Jumia that sell online always use links on Facebook to direct the customers to the online shops where they can shop.
For the traffic to increase, the marketer has to be creative on the choice of words used in the ads or shared links so as to entice the existing customers to click for more.
6. Higher and wider target customers reach
Facebook is a social network. Even though, it does not restrict people who join
regardless of the age bracket. This offers a good platform to showcase a marketer’s products and services from those of below 18 years. In Kenya for instance, to sell boys and girls items one can get a good target customer reach since the highest audience is between 18-35 years who are active 24-7 on Facebook.
7. Offers customer support
Did you know that customers can post their questions to the page wall which is commonly known as “visitor posts.” The questions posted and the feedback given allows other customers to read common questions and answers without having to approach the business individual face to face. A good example is Safaricom and KCB which has immediate feedback to all questions.
8. Multiple platforms for Marketing
Facebook has various marketing platforms that marketers can use to promote their brand, that is, Personal Account, Pages, Groups and Ads.
To create a page of Facebook, it is basically free. You can choose a page of your
desired profile. It can be a community page, business, organization or for public figure. Did you know that there are no restrictions on the number of fans that can like a company’s page? Now you know.
Pages can help marketers reach their customers through paid ads based on their desired demographic though sometimes sponsored ads can be expensive depending on the business goal.
Groups can be well related to as WhatsApp groups though Facebook groups can
accommodate as many people as they can join. In these groups, people can discuss hence offering readily available feedback. The most important note about Facebook is the fact that one can share a post on the page through messages, your timeline and friend’s timelines, other pages and to groups offering the largest reach without even boosting.
9. Enhances brand awareness
Facebook marketing can promote brand awareness, customer engagement, and sales with the right content and marketing strategy in place. A business profile can be expanded by encouraging friends and customers to like and invite more friends to the page. In addition to that, a page can also offer space to rate the page and give a feedback about the product s and services offered.
The 2-way communication between your business and customers on Facebook pages, group and chats can boost strong brand development.
10. Availability of Audience insights
Facebook page offers insights to measure the statistics of your audience on the
different posts shared about your business. This can help a business know
whether the business is growing or not in terms of reach, conversions and engagements. These audience insights provide additional ways to target users
based on their online behaviors, purchase habits, housing situation, income and
much more.
Any business will want to know how many people interact with their content with or without boosting.
11. Exposure on the audience network can be limited
Facebook understands that some audience depending on age and sex may not provide quality traffic hence its allowance to exclude specific website categories from displaying ads such as dating and gambling. This boosts performance by limiting the amount of clicks from placements that will never turn out to be a
conversion which makes it a genius platform for marketing when it comes to solely targeting an audience network; that can promote conversions.
For example, in the age of 24-35 is known well to have a high tendency of gambling hence a business can choose to hide the rest of the people from accessing the services.
In summary
Facebook beats all other platforms in marketing. Most people relate well on this
particular platform. The uploading, checking in, activity and tagging button
allows customer to relate with what you share and boosts the reach to promote your business.
Content can grow viral as each friend would have several hundred friends with
whom pictures can be shared. Facebook marketing is fun. It is about being
social with your existing and potential customers.
