I suspect that I may never fully understand Facebook. No big deal really. There are plenty of other ways to 
waste time in this world.
I just don’t get the flow of it. I see people doing a lot of ‘stuff’ on it but I don’t get the point most of the time. I wonder if I am anti-social or just thick in the head but then I come to the conclusion that it really doesn’t matter in the end.
So what does this mean for business? Good question. Just because I don’t get it (and I suspect I am not alone) that doesn’t mean that I don’t recommend it as a viable option. In fact, the pure numbers of people that are using Facebook are simply too big to ignore.
At over 200 million registered users it stands to reason that there are customers in there somewhere for just about anyone. Think about this as compared to the media darling Twitter. If we are being very generous (and why not?) there are currently about 15 million Twitter-ers out there. Not bad but still a long way from 200 million. The service will benefit from things like the Oprah effect, which some claim may have added over 1 million users in a weekend. Having that kind of a bump is unusual though and it would have to occur every week for about 3 years to even catch up to Facebook at this point.
So how does this impact business and their use of these social media options? Well, it depends. I hate to give that answer but it is simply true. There is no magic formula for who should use social media and what exact offerings should they concentrate on. There are so many variables that need to be considered for each individual company that until marketers actually understand this there will continue to be confusion and frustration regarding these tools for marketing success.
So what can you do? Use your head. You know your customers. If you have a conversational relationship with them just ask them what they use. Then ask them if it would be helpful if you were there. Not rocket science just common sense.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Facebook is a conundrum. There’s no doubting the numbers, but as you say, what does it actually do?
Let’s say LinkedIn has it beat for business connections. Let’s say Twitter has it beat for instant communication. Let’s say Ning has it beat for community.
But… Facebook has them all beat for numbers.
So how do you reach them?
Target your audience? Sure – but Facebook is hugely popular with Gen Y and that may be too narrow for certain business niches.
Advertise? Yes, but Facebook seems to be a bit haphazard with its ad placement to audience relevance.
Fan pages? Good idea – although some may see this as egotistical (“what, you want me to be your fan?”).
It’s definitely a valuable tool but getting it “just so” is one of the bigger challenges in marketing through social media.
My $ .02, Facebook as part of a social media marketing initiative is about generating meaningful content that inspires people to “share” it on the sites they are already apart of and using the social media channels to “listen” to what people are saying about your company.
It is about engagement with these tools and each business needs to decide how to best use the tools for their particular client-base and goals.
Who to watch: Francois Gossieaux
Why: Has done comprehensive user studies on ROI of social media marketing and how to use social media most effectively for business:
“the 2008 Tribalization of Business Study, we discovered that those companies that were most satisfied with their community efforts were those that measured the impact of their community programs on their business processes the same way they would measure the impact of any other program on those same business processes.
So if you measure the impact of a certain program by increased store sales, or by improved customer satisfaction – then measure the impact of social media programs on those business processes the same way”
http://www.beelinelabs.com/tribalization/
Xanthe Horstes last blog post..When Standard Color Schemes Happen to Good Charts
@Danny
Thanks for coming by and helping out. There is a lot to Facebook and it is important for everyone to grasp it. The big numbers though are only relevant if you are addressing the right section of that number. As much as I want it to be so not everyone using Facebook cares that I even draw air. Same goes for products and services. We need the isolate the ones who care then let them be the evangelists to bring more along. That’s my 2 cents! Thanks, Danny.
Frank Reeds last blog post..Having a Facebook Mind