Do You facebook? Should I?

By Jessica Cook, Director of Internet Marketing, ADCO

Part Two in a Series of Five Articles on the Impact and Use of Social Media

 It's happened. My parents (ages 61 and 53) are on Facebook. They're writing on my wall, posting photographs of their last vacation, and calling to ask me why my status says that I'm drinking a nice Pinot Grigio on a work night. It's clear that the state of social networks has shifted—and for me, it's happening decidedly close to home.

My parents aren't alone. They've joined an ever-growing group of over 175 million active Facebook users who spend more than 3 billion minutes on Facebook each day.

So what is Facebook really?

Facebook is an online social network. Its primary function is to provide a platform for users (or community members) to connect and communicate.

Who is on Facebook? Isn't it just for college students?

Facebook began in 2004 as a community for college students, but in 2006, it opened membership up to anyone with an email address, age 13 or older. These days people of all ages join the network. In fact, according to a ComScore estimate, more than 50% of Facebook users are 35 or older.

Facebook isn't just a place for individuals. Large corporations, small businesses, not-for-profit groups, and other organizations are also online, using the network to connect with their customers, clients, and supporters.

With over 175 million active users and tremendous numbers of people above age 30 joining every day, it's likely that someone you know and would like to communicate with is on Facebook.

How do people use Facebook?

There are many ways to use Facebook, and individuals and businesses often use the social network differently.

For individuals, Facebook is daily life sharing happening online. It's connecting, communicating, and keeping up with your friends—made easy.

To share their lives with others, individuals on Facebook create profiles that tell what their interests are, where they went to school, where they work, and how to contact them. To further build their profiles, they upload photos and videos, post "notes" that function like blogs, and update their statuses to tell people what they're doing. Users can also join groups to connect with people who have shared interests, and they can become a "fan" of a company or organization that has created a page.

With so much to do on Facebook, staying up-to-date on what your friends are doing can be time-consuming. But Facebook has worked to make keeping up with one another simple. Users sign in, and they're told through a news feed who uploaded photos, who edited their profiles or pages, who posted a note, who joined a group, who became friends with whom, etc.

Because of its robust search functionality, Facebook has become the place for individuals to find people they know, and many users spend much of their time on Facebook searching for friends and looking at profiles of interest. Facebook even makes "Friend Suggestions" (based on where you live, where you went to school, and who you're friends with) to help facilitate the growth of your community.

How do businesses and organizations use Facebook?

In 2007, Facebook began allowing the creation of "pages" (as opposed to the profiles that individual users create) for non-person entities like businesses and organizations—and since then, many businesses have begun using Facebook as a way to connect with their target audiences. 

The pages feature of Facebook allows businesses and organizations to promote themselves. They can gather fans (like friends), post events to a calendar, provide links to their Website, upload photos and videos, create forums for discussion, and more. Additionally, organizations can support their page through Facebook's banner advertising program, which allows for highly targeted ads.

Facebook marketing is being used successfully by many organizations right here in the Midlands. One such organization is the Midlands Authority for Conventions, Sports & Tourism. The "Columbia, SC" page—created to market Columbia's new "Famously Hot" brand—has garnered over 6,000 fans. The page includes links, notes, videos, photos, and discussion boards all focused on generating support and excitement for the brand.

Facebook gives businesses and organizations the opportunity and the tools to connect directly with their customers. Through the discussion board feature, businesses can listen to what their customers are saying about them and respond. Through uploads and links on fan pages, organizations can reach audiences where they are—online—and communicate messages to them. Through the event calendar and RSVP feature, companies can invite participation in their events and cultivate off-line relationships.

Although creating a page and building a community of friends and fans is clearly a marketing promotion, I prefer to think of social networking, on Facebook and beyond, not as marketing, public relations, or advertising—but as brand building. This is the true value of Facebook for businesses and organizations. If you try to sell on Facebook, you'll fail. If you try to connect and communicate, you'll have a real chance at success.

Should I join Facebook? Should my business?

Facebook isn't useful for every person or every business—but the only way to know for sure if it works for you is to try it.

Start by creating your own personal profile. Build up a group of friends by searching for family members, friends from high school or college, and business colleagues. Join groups that interest you (and feel free to ignore invitations to join groups that are of no interest). Create a group for your business and invite employees to join and discuss how they use Facebook. Explore and experiment with different features and applications. Your mission is to learn as much as you can so that you can decide if Facebook can help you accomplish your business goals.

When you think you're ready to try marketing on Facebook, follow these steps to get started:

  • Create a strategy first. Successful social networking isn't easy. You need a plan. Don't start until you have one.
  • When developing your strategy, consider what you want to accomplish on Facebook and set some goals.
  • When developing a plan, identify and train a team of people to handle initial implementation and the ongoing work of social networking.
  • Consider what networks beyond Facebook you should join. Be sure to check out upcoming articles on LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more about whether they too should be a part of your strategy.
  • Seek out advice for how to market yourself on Facebook so that you don't break etiquette. Don't miss the fifth and final article in this series, which will give simple tips and things to remember for successful social networking.
  • Commit to the network. Engage regularly—as often as you can—and authentically.

To read last week's article—"An Introduction to Social Networking"—click here.