LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
Facebook was created by psychology student, Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University in 2004. The initial purpose of Facebook was connecting the students on the campus. Surprisingly, the original platform was growing so fast that in a matter of months was extended not only to other Boston Universities but among the students from all over the United States.
Finally, in September 2006, the network was available to all the people who have an e-mail address to sign up. Ever since, the Facebook was, remains, and will be a free networking service for personal use.
Yahoo and Google have expressed the desire to purchase this platform, as the rumors whisper, offering $2 billion. Mr.Zuckerberg has so far refused to sell.
So, what is the trick? Why are the big game changers interested in buying this social platform?
BUSINESS PAGES
It is well known that Facebook makes a profit from advertising revenue. According to the official information, there are more than 1 billion active users of this network. That makes it the largest social platform today.
Another interesting fact is that there are 60 million active business pages on FB, from which 4 million regularly advertise.
What seems to be a problem? The fact that Facebook has become a little overcrowded has brought the issue of organic reach. Just a couple of years ago, was relatively easy for businesses to spread the word and send their message to the world. Boosting the selected posts and occasionally creating the ads was all it takes for a business to be seen and heard.
Now, the things have changed a lot. In 2016, the organic reach has dropped to only 2%, with a tendency to disappear totally.
What does it mean for the businesses? It means that the businesses have to pay to be seen.
HITTING THE WALL
Even the pages with a lot of followers, when posting will be seen by only 10,71% of their fans. Too said, isn't it? So much effort in creating a valuable content which gets no visibility. In the meantime, Facebook has created a plenty of new advertising options:
* website traffic as a part of different custom conversions;
* events creation;
* product catalogs;
* creating a job application;
* boosting posts and videos (for engagement)
* Likes for page etc
It seems that the marketers got lost in "all this new stuff." Besides, utilizing the new Facebook features, apart from the budget, requires the knowledge as well. As assumed, most of the business pages are run by business owner or employee that lack the necessary knowledge or skills.
By trying and not seeing the results, people easily get discouraged and leave their pages in a hybernating stage.
REASON TO STAY
There is a good reason why big companies, like Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Nestle and numerous other, maintain their presence on social media networks. Their revenue is so high that most of the people think:"Why do they bother being on social platforms? They are world famous and need no publicity!"
True! Publicity is not a reason for the large corporations to be present on social networks. It has to do more with close connections with customers. Through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram they feel the pulse of the consumer. They use the platforms more to listen than to be heard. That will strategically help them to make decisions about new products and services. Besides, having a tremendous "army" of fans will make it very easy and affordable to spread the word about new product, service or event.
Smaller companies, apart from the above mentioned, successfully sell their products on Facebook as well.
SOLUTION
The Facebook, like everything else on the internet, is in the stage of constant change. That means you need to have all of your time available to follow up all these changes across the social media to present your business the best and benefit from it.
Unfortunately, nobody can run his business, doing everyday tasks and appropriately handle the social media accounts as well.
Therefore, it would be an excellent idea to consider hiring a social media agency to run your Facebook and other platforms.
Making a research about the marketing company, before deciding whom to trust your social media accounts, will help.
Social media agency will at first analyze your account and point out at possible changes to be made. Furthermore, they will analyze your competition as well. Finally, depending on what you would like to achieve, they will come up with the list of possible suggestions and solutions.
On the other hand, if you believe that you can handle yourself your social media platforms, try to find a relevant information on internet. There are many good social media marketing sites out there to learn from. If DIY (do it yourself) is an option we would suggest to checkout www.socialmediaexaminer.com. They keep the marketers informed on every single change in any of the social platforms. Other than that, Social Media Examiner has an excellent podcast for those of you that prefer to learn by listening.
CONCLUSION
The Facebook will grow and progress in the future offering to the businesses additional chances to benefit. Don't let the lack of knowledge to intimidate you. The future is on the internet and social media networks. Connect with your present and potential customers and build the relationship of trust. Do not expect success overnight. Be genuine, offer value through your posts, persistent and it will pay off eventually.