Using Facebook for Business the upcoming trend
There has been a lot of buzz about Facebook business pages possibly replacing traditional Websites in the near future. Are you now wondering if all that money that you just invested in your Website is wasted? Are you thinking about re-designing your Website and now debating if you should invest that money in Facebook instead?
To put your mind at ease here are a few reasons why Facebook will not replace Websites any time soon or possibly ever.
Putting your business page up on Facebook is like leasing an apartment. You get a small space to make your own so you can live in, but you don’t own it, so any work you do on it is not yours to keep. Your house on the other hand has been decorated with your personal touch is fully furnished and gives a good representation of you. Where would you prefer to entertain your guests? Obviously your home. So why opt for sending your users to a generic site with some of your information pasted on there when they want to find out more about you and what you can offer them.
Not convinced yet? Well here are a couple of more facts about Facebook Business Pages that should nudge you:
- While your customer is browsing your page to learn about you, they are constantly getting bombarded by ads on the side of the screen. Distracting much?
- Social networking is a tool that helps you increase traffic to your website so you can capture information about your customers in your database. When all of this is happening on Facebook they are the ones that keep this information. (I’m sure they appreciate all the hard work your do for them)
- Using social networking for your business has hyped up, especially in the commercial use of it, but remember what happened to other hypes like AOL and Myspace? If Facebook loses hype or completely disappears do you know who your customers are? Can they find you outside of Facebook?
- Your page can disappear all on its own. How you ask? Facebook has terms of service that are constantly changing and if you violate them your page and all your information disappears too. Worried yet?
Facebook and Privacy
If you aren’t at all concerned about any of the points above do you know if your customers are? You don’t own your content or your data on your Facebook page and your customers know it. The privacy concerns about Facebook’s ability to capture data and use it to target demographics still hasn’t settled with users because of how invasive it is. So you think users will feel just as comfortable giving their information to Facebook as they did on your Website?
Bottom line is that if you make the switch you will receive criticism so be prepared for it. (That should do wonders for your marketing)
Can your Facebook Business Page perform?
If you’re still not convinced because most of that happens behind the scenes how about the front end of your business on Facebook?
- Apps are great but their navigation is not at the same level as your website.
- People are visual creatures and they only take 2.6 seconds to decide if they like what they see. Are you confident enough your generically templated Facebook page can do that for you?
- OK say they decide to stick around your page. Now your clock is ticking, because if users can’t find the information they need in 20 seconds they bounce out of your site.
- 98% of of people that visit your site and then leave never come back to it.
As the margin on your user base is closing in are you confident your Facebook can deliver to those numbers? Because if you’re not you are loosing potential customers.
Now I am not saying not to use Facebook but to use it for what it is meant to do. Facebook is a social networking tool that is great for promoting your brand. It can significantly increase the traffic on your website which leads to more leads. Facebook is not a platform that is designed and optimized to generate leads for you, that is your website’s job and they should be used together in order to maximize conversions.
What are your thoughts? Will Facebook replace traditional Websites?
