Traveling in Facebookistan: A Guide for Businesses

With 9 billion users, Facebook is far and away the most used social network in the world. If Facebook were a country, it would contain the third largest population, behind China and India. And like China and India, Facebook possesses its own unique customs and norms, and you should understand them to be able to fully leverage the site’s potential as a marketing tool. When I see businesses fail on Facebook, it’s often because they don’t bother to find out the local customs.

You’re a guest in Facebookistan. Behave yourself!

What makes Facebook distinct from other social networks? It’s that users have strong ties with one another. They are connected with their best friends, their family members, their in-laws and their long-lost friends from grade school. They share intimate areas of their lives. Such things as:

• Birthday celebrations
• High school graduation footage
• Baby photos
• Wedding announcements

The upshot for businesses? They need to be conscientious and careful in their technique. You can’t apply the old forms of one-way, direct-response marketing on Facebook, since people aren’t there to listen to sales pitches. They’re not necessarily in a buying mindset. They’re in a socializing mindset. You have to respect that.

Keep it real (for real)

If you try to port the old model of marketing into Facebook, you’ll be disappointed. The natives can get irritated and shun you. “With Facebook, marketers of any size can do effective, word-of-mouth marketing at scale for the very first time,” says Annie Ta, a Facebook spokeswoman. “But Facebook is about authenticity, so if your small business is not being authentic or engaging with customers in a manner that feels genuine, the community will see right through it.”

Don’t be fooled: It’s meant to be hard

Don’t be fooled by social media “gurus” who make wild promises about effortless Facebook success. Social media is all about creating relationships and influence—and this needs time to work. Many organizations think that if they set up a page on Facebook, that’s all they have to do. Marketing on Facebook is definitely an extremely effective way to reach local customers (we wouldn’t be talking about it if it weren’t). But here’s the rub: it’s also difficult (and rewarding) if you’re doing it correctly. The payback is well worth the investment in time and attention. According to a study from Social Media Examiner, nearly two-thirds of small businesses involved in social media point out that Facebook has improved their overall marketing effectiveness, and 80 percent report forming new partnerships after just two years of involvement.