A lot of people ask why Facebook is so important as a new way to build top of mind awareness for their business.
I can think of three main reasons right off the top of my head (although I’m sure there are many, many more).
1. The number of people using Facebook consistently is absolutely staggering.
Consider these facts:
If Facebook were a country with users as citizens, it would be the third largest in the world behind only China and India!
There are over 206 million US Facebook users which accounts for over 71% of the entire online population. That means 7 out of 10 of YOUR potential customers have a Facebook account and more than 50% log in daily.
Each person you connect with as friends on Facebook will have 130 other friends on average. College graduates on Facebook currently average over 1,000 friends each.
What other communications channel has the ability to multiply your contact base and reach by 100 to 1000 times with no extra expense?
2. Facebook allows an unprecedented opportunity to get your contacts promoting your products and services and introducing you to their trusted family, friends and co-workers.
It’s just this “viral promotion” capability that drove online daily deal company Groupon to become the fastest-ever growing company in terms of valuation.
In only 24 months from the day they opened their doors, Google made a cash offer for the company of $6 Billion, which Groupon subsequently turned down.
Viral communication between trusted sources is massively valuable to Groupon and it is to you in your business as well!
3. Setting up a Facebook profile and business page is FREE!
There are a lot of ways to market yourself and invest your time and money in growing your business. Some of them are well worth a big investment. Many times it’s just hard to tell.
Any time you can find an opportunity to reach the broadest group of your primary target customers through a media channel like Facebook, and it’s FREE to do, you’re kind of a fool not to at least make sure you have a credible, professional appearance there so people can make referrals to you more easily and in a way that is acceptable to the referral.
After all, a recent study showed that 57% of people talk to people more online than they do in real life. This is largely due to the massive explosion of social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others.
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