I read recently that 13 million Australian’s visit Facebook a week.
That is a pretty serious number and a good reason why marketers should take Facebook seriously. Right?
Well perhaps, but not in the way you think.
According to WebTrends, Facebook’s advertising click through rates (CTR) are 0.051%, which is well below Google’s CTR of 0.4% and the industry average of 0.1%.
Still, with a reach of 76% in Australia, Facebook cannot be ignored.
So what this means is that Facebook is not the place for your advertising dollars, but it should still factor in your plans to build an audience for your products and your brand.
If you want to have a conversation with your customers and prospects then invest in your Facebook page.
If you want to push a product, invest in your website and invest in Google Adwords.
I don’t think the marketeers have worked out how to exploit Facebook yet, which is a good thing IMO.
Considering Facebook the equivalent of school kids writing what they ate today on toilet block walls.
This is not the best medium to actually “sell” something or even get your name known. With that in mind why should Facebook be a part of any plans to build an audience?
I personally can’t see the value, the reason for this is; why would I like a page? Well, it has content that is relevant to me, would be the obvious answer but ask me how many pages I have actually liked? My answer is 4 currently, I originally liked a whole lot of stuff that interested me but I found that littering my news feed with their products is removing the real reason I use Facebook. I am more interested in what friends in MY social network are doing (even when it is about what they had for lunch today) not in what a product/service is doing to get me to spend my money.
I agree. People only become fans of a business or product because of vanity or greed. They either want to win something, get a discount, or be associated with a cool brand and let everyone know what a groover they are.