With the release of the recent popular movie The Social Network, Facebook has launched even further into the public’s imagination – and time spent online! Surpassing Google for the first time, Facebook was 2010’s most popular search term and most visited web site.
Facebook is the leading social networking site based on monthly unique visitors, having overtaken main competitor MySpace in April 2008. Facebook attracts over 130 million unique visitors each month, with membership still increasing. The web site is the most popular option for uploading photos with over 50 billion uploaded cumulatively.
Facebook’s success comes from its possibilities for personal socializing as well as online marketing and branding for businesses. Members use Facebook to add and view photos, post updates or links, and reconnect with friends. Businesses can create a professional page for Facebook members to “Like” and receive updates.
Facebook Fan Pages create an instant audience destination for your brand, name and solution. Organizations, businesses, celebrities and bands use pages to broadcast information in an official, public manner to people who choose to connect with them.
Facebook fans and friends create a wide-ranging network on which you can build brand awareness. When a fan “Likes” your page on Facebook, every friend of that Facebook user will be exposed to your page! We at Rivers Agency seek to benefit from humans’ inherent trust that their friends will make interesting choices when it comes to fan pages.
Pages are simple to set up and maintain, and function as an extended opportunity to interact with current and future customers. By sharing relevant articles, posing questions and addressing concerns, companies can capture new audiences through friend recommendations, News Feed stories, events and beyond.
With target demographics spending a large percentage of work and free time online, savvy businesses must build a strong online presence through social media, as well as earned and paid electronic advertising. A great strategy to build brand awareness is to create a business Facebook page. Rivers Agency suggests building a Facebook landing page on your actual site. Visitors to the site can “Like” your Facebook page then and there. Our clients have seen an increase in followers by about 300% with this simple technique!
With online social media one thing is clear: interesting, engaging content spreads like wildfire. The challenge lies in creating a story that consumers are proud to be associated with. Rivers Agency loves social media because it provides us with access to your end client.
Facebook Ads
Facebook has more than 500,000,000 users worldwide in most countries and age ranges. Each user profile contains information enabling advertisers to reach target audiences to unprecedented degrees using information such as interests, age, workplace, marital status and location.
When a business advertises with Facebook, users browsing Facebook see ads targeted demographically. Filters include age, location, interests, relationship status, activities and the like. In addition, Facebook provides standard, demographic and profile metrics, showing how many people view or click on your ad per day, as well as interests, ages, locations and gender. Facebook ads are a great way to reach your targeted audience by targeting keywords in user profiles. Facebook advertising is also much less expensive than consumer print advertising.
Facebook ads will drive more people to your business Facebook page as well as your actual web site. Your business will be able to connect to clients through the networking power of Facebook.
Facebook Ad Case Study: Bonobos
Bonobos is an online men’s designer clothing startup that has thrived on the recommendations of friends. Launched exclusively through Facebook and only available online, the company has grown from nothing to $4M in sales in three years.
During Bonobos’ first year, it advertised solely on Facebook, targeting affluent men in the financial sector. Bonobos sold 40,000 pants in its first two years, with $1.6M in sales last year and $4M in sales this year. Today Bonobos has a 20-person staff and relies primarily on word-of-mouth marketing to grow its customer base. It also uses online display ads, search engine marketing and print ads. As with most startups, Bonobos utilized Facebook and Twitter. CEO Andy Dunn is active on Twitter, promotes social media as a valuable tool and responds to tweets about the company. Similarly, Bonobos’ Facebook profile is active with updates on the company. Given Bonobos’ focus on customer service, personal interaction via Facebook and Twitter makes intuitive sense.
As Facebook continues to expand, organizations and businesses will need to turn to these aspects of social media to reach consumers. Contact Rivers Agency for your online branding and advertising needs.
For more information and for sources cited in this blog post, please visit:
Search Engine Land – Most Popular Search Term
Bonobos Case Study information from Claire Cain Miller and Matt Daniels