“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Arthur C. Clarke
When it comes to social networks there is one brand you can't avoid naming: that's Facebook.
Many posts, comments, books and course have been made about it, however among all discussions and thoughts, one point needs to be better explained, being this the professional side of the most known social network.
Facebook can be used in many ways. You can use it to connect with friends, to find news, to chat or you can use to run your own business.
When in October 2011 I decided to focus on Facebook as the main media to develop my company and my professional work many social media managers (including big voices from overseas) discouraged me do to so.
'So called Gurus' told me that Facebook was going to be 'a old 2.0 media in a year or so' - Google+ was going to get a big share on the market with Instagram, Twitter and many others.
They were partially wrong.
Yes, just partially.
In the internet era there are many different media to consider (it is always a good idea to differentiate) - however you need to focus on one main point to avoid the 'I am a Guru as many others' effect. My point was (and is) Facebook.
There are several reason why I have chosen Facebook as core media for my clients and I such as the number of people connected to it and the strategies you can create around it. Notwithstanding there is a main point which says it all:
Facebook is more socialnomics (Economics of social media) oriented than other social media
When you talk to clients what they will ask you is just which results they will achieve - in what time and how much money they will make. Despite what goes around - social media are a good promotion/business tool which need to provide companies the opportunity of reaching economic results. In other words, without being 'aggressive-marketing-oriented', social media need to provide companies and professional an opportunity to monetize.
No money - no game.
Many social, such as Twitter or Google+ are much more 'social' than Facebook since they still give you the opportunity of interacting, posting and talking to people while achieving results for free such as creating big communities and have a lot of followers. On the other side you find Facebook. It is true that Facebook is less social for companies than different media (there is basically no difference for people) since if you need to promote a post and go viral, make an offer available or promote a deal you need to pay for it.
On a first thought this could be seen as bad for companies. Money mean investments - investments mean risks.
So why would you use a social media paying for it if there are FREE ones out there?
The answers rely on 3 simple notes:
1. You pay to get a service (and you want it to be good since you pay for it)
Would you keep paying for something you find useless? Not at all.
So it is interest of Facebook to provide you a good service in order to make you pay for it. In a company situation this means you can put the expenses on your budget and plan them in advance.
If you can plan your strategy success is just months away.
Whenever you have money-based parameters it gets easier to track objectives and goals (you basically want to spend less and get more). Moreover paid services are always a safety-net - if you need to re-adjust you strategy/campaign - paid advertising will keep you going adding LIKES and implementing the PTAT (people talking about this) - avoiding you to waste your time.
2. Clients deserve to know the truth: you sell something and you are not an NGO!
On the client side I believe Facebook is morally correct. Since a company pays for its advertising, people find the company on the 'Sponsored stories' side of the Timeline. In my experience is always better to state you are going to sell something to your potential customers (since they will come to you only if they are really interested in what you propose them avoiding wasting your and their time and money) than telling them' come and see this FREE ad...it's FREE...oh yes...now buy my book!"
People don't like to be fooled around. So avoid selling them something every time you see them online but play your role professionally.
3. Facebook is a 'one-stop-social'
If you work in the social media industry you know there is no universal rule in social media. However one thing is for sure, the web goes fat, really fast. And people and companies living it are fast and don't like to waste time (since we don't have time to waste anymore).
Having said that it is crucial to provide a 'broad 2.0 experience' to users in our web-spaces.
Facebook is now one of the few social media and probably the most effective one to give customization. Thanks to a series to provider you can cover your web strategy transforming your page into an e-shop, blog, customer service experience or even a real and complete web site.
There are many options out there for Facebook professional users - so you can chat, discuss and interact with customers on your timeline while providing broader experiences on your 'back-pages.
Facebook Customized pages - The company blogger -
The company blogger Blog and About me section
Facebook Customized pages - The company blogger -
Casa del Corredo E-shop
Thanks to customization companies can decide there own strategy and find the correct means to achieve them directly investing on one single space. Even more important is the fact of the 1 billion Facebook users resource. It is true that you need to pay Facebook in order to get in touch with your potential customers - that they may not like what you say, do or offer - however you can still create your own strategy according to your goals. This fact means that on the Facebook arena to be 100% social is not enough. You need to be social, business and goal oriented in order to succeed.
When it comes to social media for professionals and business Facebook needs to be taken into consideration. Despite its money-orientation Facebook is now (and still) a great promotion and selling tool thanks to its business-oriented strategy. The fact of providing a service you need to pay in order to get important results (not just being 'social') its being clear on who's selling what and its customization opportunities make of Facebook a company oriented tool where money are really deeply involved.
Despite all The King of social media could solely look like as a 'no money - no game' platform where only money count but when it comes to companies and results there is one big name you can't avoid thinking about: Facebook.
Happy NOT-END of the World,
Thomas
Aka The Company blogger
Socialnomics: social Xmas (be social and you'll sell more)
Next posts:
December 27th 2012
"3 good to aims to manage a social company in 2013"
January 3rd 2013
"Socialnomics: Business Carpe diem 2.0 - how to act online and re-act online"
January 10th 2013
"Socialnomics: Facebook fan page for professionals"
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