As a technology marketer, no doubt you have thought about whether or not your technology brand should have a Facebook page. Maybe you’re a Facebook fiend in your non-work life, and have quite a good understanding of how it all works; or maybe you don’t use Facebook at all and don’t have the faintest idea what it’s all about. Either way, it will probably be on your radar to some degree, a niggling question mark that you really must get around to addressing. Or have you already got a Facebook page but you’re not totally convinced what the page is actually for?! Don’t worry, you aren’t alone!
Here are 5 simple reasons why you should get a Facebook page for your technology brand.
1. One Facebook Like equals 20 visitors to your website per year
This stat was recently wheeled out by Hitwise. And whilst it won’t be true of all Facebook pages, their data is reliable enough to provide a general indicator of how a Facebook page might perform in terms of sending traffic. Although it is worth pointing out that this data is based on major retailers’ traffic as a result of their Facebook pages. Nevertheless, this is a useful indicator if you or a colleague is unconvinced about social media marketing, or if you need to secure some budget to go towards social media. It could be interpreted as something more along the lines of: “If you have a successful Facebook page, you could send 20 visitors per year for each Like...”
We all know that visitors need to convert to truly matter, however even a quick click on then off again arguably has worth in that they are at least exposed to your website and may well return later. But ideally you want each of those visitors to convert in some way; if not buy (or the equivalent), then you want them to at least engage and take a further step along the process to becoming a lead, for example sign up to a newsletter, follow you on Twitter, fill in a web enquiry etc. So make sure these types of conversion are linked to regularly from your Facebook page.
2. People spend 3 x more time on Facebook than on Google
In the past online marketing has all been about getting people to come to your website. Driving targeted traffic that converts so they become customers. People found your site through Google and other search engines, but nowadays people are spending more time on Facebook than on Google. Instead of visiting Google as their first port of call when they go online, many go to Facebook first. People now find websites through friends’ recommendations, and not just through searching on Google. And rather than logging in and logging out intermittently, many people are logged into Facebook via their mobile phone permanently, or have their Facebook account open all day in a tabbed window, whilst they simultaneously work or study. So, they are online, via Facebook, for much of their lives.
Social media engagement is all about non-intrusively engaging with potential and existing customers where they are already spending time, in this relatively new social space. Brands and individuals co-exist on Facebook in a mutually beneficial capacity. But you must get the balance right to be successful, firstly encouraging people to Like your page (see future blogs on how to do this), then connecting with them by posting useful content to drive traffic and sales.
3. Facebook marketing can offer a high level return on investment
It is a mistake to think social media, and Facebook specifically, is a free channel that won’t cost you a penny. Yes, it is free to have a Facebook page; however it takes a lot of time to, firstly, create a page that looks good; secondly, time to create the content to post on there; lastly, time to devote to engage with individuals and build Likes. However, dedication of time or staff aside, social media marketing does offer a great level of ROI if done effectively. If you build lots of Likes and post shareable content then your marketing collateral can go far. It is also a great channel for reusing old collateral such as videos, white papers or blogs. It is not necessary to advertise on Facebook, however this can be an effective way of driving traffic to your page, or direct to your site.
4. Publish multimedia updates, quickly and easily via your Facebook page
Updating the company website, particularly if you are employed by a large technology company, is often not something that can be done in 5 minutes. You may quickly want to post something time-sensitive to your audience, but you are not able to get it live within minutes because there is often a process with several people involved that you have to go through to get ‘sign off’. If you have news, or a video, or a competition for example that you wish to quickly tell your audience about, then a Facebook channel is very useful. Not only will it allow you to post quickly and easily, but it allows multimedia content, and there is a built in comments field and viral capacity too.
If you wanted to do something more clever and interactive on Facebook, then this is possible too. Facebook isn’t the most flexible interface in the world; however they are improving the ability to do more clever coding and so on so you can incorporate Flash entry pages and so on. We will be blogging about this soon so watch this space...
5. Facebook marketing is more relevant for technology companies than other sectors
Marketing experts have always talked about brand loyalty. Well, nowadays, thanks to social media, people are ever more engaged with the brands they are loyal to. People feel passionate about their favourite brands; they feel that the brands they choose to engage with speak volumes about who they are as people, so they are happy to publicly declare their approval and affinity with them. And technology customers tend to be particularly passionate and interested in engaging. Many will be more than happy to connect with you on Facebook so you are able to maximise the marketing potential that the channel has.
Even if you are a small company who specialises in branded products, you are in the business of computers, so it’s a no-brainer to be active in the field where your perhaps more technically savvy customers are most likely to be. A technology brand is more likely to succeed in social media marketing than, say a building materials brand simply because their customer feels more passionate about their product, and also because a technology customer enjoys interacting online and expects for their favourite technology brands to be there too. So don’t let them down!
Summary
The bottom line is that Facebook is a massive communications platform for a huge amount of the population. And as a technology company it is likely that a large portion of your customers are spending time there. Why not take the opportunity to engage with them where they are already hanging out? Its effectiveness is proven for sending traffic, interacting with customers and building loyalty, and it is great for quick, timely updates for your customers. But this blog comes with a caveat: if you are going to create a page, then invest proper time and energy and budget into it and do it well, as there is nothing worse than a floundering page that is rarely updated. Good luck!