Facebook May Not Be Right For You

Here's a truth about marketers. We're drawn to bright, shiny objects. Like a bunch of hoarding magpies, we gather around whatever's new in our world and chant, "Must have it. Must have it."

Social media marketing is the latest shiny object in marketing, and nothing is brighter and shinier than Facebook. Everyone believes they gotta have a Facebook page. 

Wait!  Don't get sucked into this frenzy without thinking first:

• What do you want your marketing to achieve?
  

• Who's your audience?
  
• Do they use Facebook?
• How do they use it?
• When do they use it?
  
  

The first 3 questions are critical to whether you really need a Facebook business page.  If you want to make special, Internet-only offers or set your company up as a thought leader, social media could play an important marketing role for you. If you need to reach a broad audience that skews female and younger, Facebook could work. Ask your customers and prospects if they use Facebook, what they use it for and when they use it. 

Social media success depends on getting the right messages posted at the right times in the right places. (Just like any marketing.) Make sure Facebook or any other platform is the right place before investing time and money.

---