June 27, 2016 in Strategy by

I’ll admit that I’m late to the game here. I’ve never been an early adopter because I’m cynical. Now, I’m finally giving in. Your company should have its own Facebook page.

Why was I hesitant to suggest Facebook Pages for a business?

I think Facebook was all about baby pictures (or cat pictures, for those without kids). Sure, you might be able to use this platform to market to consumers, but I never thought it was serious enough for B2B marketing.

What convinced me to recommend Facebook Pages for a business?

When I started my own business (which is, inherently, a B2B business), I wanted to brag to my friends. The easiest way to do this was to update my Facebook page with my new job. Due to this “right,” I created a Facebook page for my new company. I guarded my presumption of disappointment (and lack of confidence in any value from this platform) by announcing that I wouldn’t be updating it much.

Then, as part of my weekly dashboard, I noticed something unexpected: I was getting traffic from Facebook. I wasn’t posting anything on Facebook, but still getting traffic! What perplexed me was the consistent amount of traffic I was getting from Facebook each week, far more than could be from my friends who were curious about where I was working. Traffic from Facebook resulted from Google searches because my profile was showing up in the SERPs. If I’m getting traffic from a Facebook page that I’m not even maintaining, I thought, what could I get if I invested in it?

Where I was wrong about Facebook Pages for Businesses

Facebook is becoming the dominant and default social media platform. Almost everyone has a Facebook account. With this dominance, people can’t help but mix business and pleasure. While most people start on Facebook to connect with friends, they inevitably expand into business. It begins like my story by adding your company to your Facebook page. After all, our work is an integral part of our lives. After that, we often connect with co-workers (also friends), not all of whom are still working with us, so we follow their companies, too. Next thing we know, we are mixing our personal lives with our business lives, and there is an opportunity for B2B marketing on Facebook.

How do you reach new B2B customers on Facebook?

Start by establishing a goal.

What do you want to get out of Facebook? Every good online marketing campaign needs a clear goal. Without a goal, how will you know it’s successful? While this might seem obvious, I feel like I need to say this because so many businesses skip this step. To be honest, while writing this post, I almost forgot to mention it myself.

Here are some possible goals:

Once you know what you want to accomplish, determine how to quantify these goals. What are you going to measure to make sure you’re successful? How do you know a tactic is working to achieve your goal unless you can measure it?

Second, use your employees.

Your employees have an interest in the success of your company. If your business is growing, they have job security and promotion opportunities. Involve your employees by encouraging them to follow and participate on Facebook. How can you do this?

Just as you don’t want empty followers (followers for the sake of having followers), you shouldn’t make your employees follow your company on Facebook. I’m not a big believer in guilt being a productive motivator. Besides, privacy concerns exist when you access employees’ personal lives through Facebook. Just leave the employees who don’t want to follow you alone.

Facebook is not the right solution for everyone.

While I’m arguing that Facebook should be part of your B2B marketing efforts, that doesn’t mean it will work for everyone.

How do you know if it will work for you? Establish a goal and measure it. If the data shows that you’re not achieving your goal, establish a different goal or put your time (and money) into more successful efforts.

This is what’s incredible about online marketing. Analytics helps you see what works and what doesn’t. That way, you don’t spend your money on fruitless efforts.

Another way of saying this: if you learn that Facebook marketing is working for you, invest more money in it!

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