It is no secret that Facebook is a growing community and frankly, it is a huge part of our day to day lives (for those who use it). It is ranked as the number one social media platform in Australia with over 16,000,000 users. Therefore, approximately 65.8% of the total Australian population is an active Facebook user. This is a huge number.
So, it is a no brainer why businesses are seeking to capitalise on Facebook for Business. If you are one of those newcomers looking at setting up a Facebook presence for your business, here are some pros and cons you should consider.
The Pros
Accessibility to the market
As mentioned above, Facebook is used by 65.8% of the total Australian population and through their advertising and organic reach, a business can cost-effectively reach new customers or re-engage with existing ones. Having a business page makes it a lot easier for you to reach out to your local community and engage with your customer base.
Advertising
A business can target potential clients via the Facebook advertising platform. You can target your message to users in a specific location as well as target those by demographics such as sex, age and interests to name a few. You can even target based on more advanced demographics too such as relationship status, language, education and work.
Analytics
Having a Facebook page will give access to analytic reporting. These reports will give you insight into how your fans engage with you as well as key information such as the time and day your fans are most likely to be engaging online, how much they interact with your posts, age and location demographics and visits to your page which also includes a breakdown by referrer.
It is surprisingly affordable
Yes, you can use Facebook to market your business for free and grow organically by posting and engaging with your page likers. But, you can also boost your engagement through paid posts and adverts. Depending on your target market, a few hundred dollars a month spend could get you good exposure. This doesn’t include the manpower to create, set up, manage and monitor the ads of course.
Search Engine Optimization
Facebook pages have great SEO ranking and Google are now incorporating both the Facebook page and Facebook reviews into your local search results. So really, even if you end up doing nothing with your Facebook page, it’s still a great idea just to have that presence.
The Cons
Time and Resources
This is one of the biggest drawbacks of having a Facebook page. As a business owner, you need to be aware that setting up and growing a Facebook page does take time, resources and energy. Especially if you are new to the Facebook world. You will need to consider allocating a staff member who can monitor and respond to posts on a regular basis.
All posts are public posts
Unfortunately, unlike personal accounts, business pages are unable to manage who can access their posts. You can change the setting so that people cannot post on your page but you can’t stop someone looking at the content you post to the page.
Your Brand is out there
Once you are on Facebook and posting, your brand is out there in the open. This means you could receive negative interaction that you cannot control. And one of the drawbacks (as well as a positive) is that things can catch on like wildfire. It is important to ensure that your brand’s voice is represented correctly and you have the right reputation management process in place.
It takes time to grow
Remember, Facebook isn’t the answer to generating immediate sales. It does take time. It is simply a tool to grow awareness of your brand and connect with both current and potential customers. It is a long-term strategy and can be a bit of a slow burn.
Wall Updates don’t reach all your fans
Thanks to Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, only posts relevant to users will appear in their feed. How does it work? Basically it factors in things like how often a user interacts with your page, how much engagement your posts get overall, how long it has been live etc. That’s why posting the right content at the right time is crucial to boosting engagement.
We hope this clarifies any uncertainty you may have regarding whether or not to create a Facebook Business page. If you are ready to create a page for your business, read our quick guide “How to create a Facebook Business page” here.