B2B Success with Facebook Known worldwide as a platform for personal social networking to stay in touch with friends and family, Facebook is also a valuable tool in the B2B world for connecting with clients and discovering prospects. Though there is an obvious focus on personal use, Facebook does have features that are specific to business use, such as the option for creating Groups or Pages to showcase business, organizations and companies. The best thing about Facebook is its reach and size. According to various demographic studies by groups such as the Pew Research Center, nearly 80% of all American adults use Facebook on a regular basis. Almost all of them are checking in daily. Here is how you can use the power of Facebook to build your business. Stop Selling The most important point is that your Facebook page isn't the place to clinch a sale. You'll turn away visitors if you are constantly pitching product or service with every post and action. That is completely the wrong approach, and why most B2B pages don't succeed. Share Your Story So what does go on your business Facebook profile? Tell your story, share points about your vision and ethics, link to interesting articles in your field, promote the credentials of your founders and staff, and answer questions that your potential clients might have. You want to raise awareness, educate and interest your prospects, not sell to them. Landing the sale comes later, usually through greater engagement once they've continued on through to your website. Text posts and links are fine, but you'll have better influence on people if you pepper your page with videos and photos as often as you can. Lots of visual interest will get your posts noticed on people's busy newsfeeds. Make It Actionable Having people stop in and read your posts is great, but you need to have actionable options. Add a tab to your page where people can sign up for an email newsletter or download a copy of your free eBook. It keeps people engaged with your business and helps to grow your list of leads. Prepare to Pay Everyone loves the fact that Facebook is free, but a savvy business owner knows that investing in a proper ad campaign is the best way to reach a broader (but still targeted) audience. Take time to compile a profile of your ideal buyer, and use that to get your ads seen by the right people. Facebook allows for a lot of very specific choices when you deploy your ads. Make sure to use any existing email lists you already have too. These people have shown interest in your product or service, so an ad or two might get them moving to contact you. Watch the Analytics You won't know if your Facebook efforts are paying off unless you track your traffic. A tool like Google Analytics is a popular one, and you can see whether or not your page is bringing visitors to your website. Are your new leads converting to sales? You won't have answers to these issues right away but a steady and consistent examination of your traffic is the key to assessing your Facebook success. Have questions? Like to discuss these idea further? We LOVE to talk - please feel welcome to give us a call (866) 764-2877