The Business Case For Facebook, In One Sentence

What is the most-debated question in social media today? One candidate is, “Should my company have a Facebook page?”

The tension comes from several angles. It could be due to:

•The company is not culturally-ready to deal with comments from real people.

•The company has whacked-out expectations about how sales will increase once they have a Facebook page.

•Their social media guru, Timmy from Accounting, has set their marketing strategy.

•They are doing it because their kids told them it would be cool.

So how do you decide if a Facebook page should be a priority for your company? Here is the business value proposition for Facebook in one sentence:

“Come waste time with me.”

Think about it. The overwhelming reason people go to Facebook is to waste time playing Farmville, watching funny videos, or catching up on the details of friend’s lives. Your life does not depend on Facebook. It’s entirely incremental activity.

So, do you have a business that people want to waste their time with? If you are Disney, the answer is probably yes. If you are selling ball bearings to Ford Motor Company, well … probably not.

Here are examples of organizations that would be fun to waste time with:

• Companies that provide humorous, entertaining,interactive, news-worthy, interesting, and/or educational content.

• Beloved brands that have passionate “fans” outside of social media like Coca-Cola, BMW, universities, charities, sports teams, or the neighborhood pizza joint.

• Brands that allow you some exclusive access, deal, discount, contest, or benefit from being on Facebook.

• Companies that interact with you in a unique and personal way.

Now of course there are exceptions, but I think as a general rule, keeping this business case in mind will be a pretty good predictor of a company’s ability to connect with people on Facebook.

Marketing through Facebook is difficult. People go to there to AVOID your sales pitches and ads. They immerse themselves in Facebook to escape. So to the extent that you can help them do that, you will have success.

I’m not saying that even the ball bearing company couldn’t have some benefit from being on Facebook. It doesn’t really hurt anything as long as it doesn’t distract you from real value-adding work. But when your boss is pressuring you because nobody has “liked” her civil engineering firm, you can simply challenge her by saying, “we’re a great firm, but probably not a company people want to waste their time with.”

… Unless of course you can make it that way!

What do you think? Does this fit for you or have you had another experience?

Check out {grow} for more articles by Mark Schaefer

There are 12 Comments. Add Yours.

Leksaker
October 23, 2011 at 4:35 am

Very straightforward way of putting it, and I do agree.

But I also think that for many business, whether they are on the list above or not, Facebook can provide an exellent opportunity to develop and adapt communications. Experimenting with tone of voice, finding out what is most interesting to your target group, getting that invaluable feedback. And when complaints surface, there is also an opportunity to handle it in an excellent way, and showing that you have great customer service to more than just that one person complaining.
Marketing Agency Suffolk
October 26, 2011 at 9:13 am

I don’t think it’s as black and white as you make out.

Whilst I DO agree that people probably won’t choose to waste time hanging out with hardcore B2B businesses, there’s still a case for those same businesses to use Facebook… they just need to think (and execute) a little harder when it comes to choosing content to post. If it’s interesting to THEIR target audience, why not post? What’s to lose?
Carol
October 15, 2011 at 10:14 pm

I completely agree with Steve. It is extremely important to have a business FB page. Social Media (FB) is the way to go, especially for a small business.
blombud
October 24, 2011 at 10:01 am

The completely free opportunity to use social media plattforms for SEO purposes is something no buiness should ignore. The importance of social media for google ranking is just increasing.
MaryAnn
October 7, 2011 at 6:19 pm

That is THE most intelligent analysis of FB that I have encountered. There are slews of businesses that don’t have “community”, like the local auto repair shop. An email message once in a while does just fine with them. I think we have gone waaaaay overboard in trying to be all things to all people. I have recently set up the policy that we will do short postings, each one linking to our website, and each one tied into Twitter. So at least we are getting a double whammy for our time, albeit a small whammy anyhow.
Don Morgan
October 6, 2011 at 11:15 am

“Should my company have a Facebook page?” It can’t hurt. More exposure means more interaction.
Guest
October 9, 2011 at 12:28 pm

People who want instant sales results miss the benefits of branding that a Facebook Page offers them. Facebook is the ‘know, like. trust’ part of sales building, it is not necessarily the sales funnel.
JohnH
October 10, 2011 at 12:19 pm

Couldn’t agree more! When someone asks if they need a FB page, I typically explain who does or doesn’t using examples, but you summarized this brilliantly!
Jesus Olvera
October 7, 2011 at 1:51 pm

Excellent article. I have read many other articles and most of them have always touted that if you have a company or a business you should have a "facebook page" because it would help bring in business. But I totally agree with your assessment, most of the people that are on Facebook are there to entertain themselves..ie, waste time and not to deal with any type of business. Of course there are exceptions to this but I think these are minor.
Charles
October 10, 2011 at 4:31 am

The potential for damage or ‘hurt’ will depend on the content and comments made by the facebook page owner. A misplaced or misunderstood comment could damage your company’s reputation.
Fred Dickey
October 11, 2011 at 3:51 pm

I can agree with you to a degree. It depends on what the company plans to do with their Facebook page. I’ve seen tire shops advertise on their storefront billboard that you get a discount if you like them on Facebook. There is also the check-in specials that you can run now on Facebook (which works great for coffee shops, book stores, etc). So Facebook can be used to connect to your customers in a really unique way and drive more local business your way, but it is NOT a direct advertising medium like a yellow page ad. That’s what Google is for. Google and Facebook compliment each other….they do not compete with each other.
JohnH
October 12, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Let’s take your tire shop, for example. First of all, a "like" earned through a discount is not an indicator of a loyal customer. But what do you do now that you have them? They won’t be needing tires for a few more years. You could educate them on the need for proper tire inflation or let them know about new products, but will anyone really be interested in this enough to be a loyal fan?

The coffee shop, on the other hand, has regular customers, daily specials and entertainment every Thursday night. It’s a place where people hangout and meet. It’s a place to waste time (although "waste" may not be the best term). FB becomes part of how that group can meet and communicate.



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