Social networking tools provide a constant opportunity for people to connect and communicate with each other, from a profession perspective this provides an increase in the chance for a business to engage with their target audience, that more traditional forms of marketing could not offer. (Brown, S. 2012)

Facebook claim that using their social media platform can provide countless benefits for any size business including;

• Transforming communication from one-way to two-way
• Promote themselves to try and change their consumer’s behaviour
• Allows content sharing with potential viral marketing effects

(Facebook. 2015) 

One of the best things about creating a Facebook page, in comparison to more traditional forms of marketing, is that it is completely free! (Hansson et al. 2013) It is also interesting to note that the top brands who effectively used social media to engage with their target audience, found a positive correlation with financial performance (Li. 2009)

Harris and Dennis (2011) identified that the main stages different organisations will go through when using Facebook are ..

1. ‘Let’s Be Social’ Focus on advertising and creating an online presence for the brand
2. ‘Enlightened Engagement’ Recognising consumers expect regular online interaction
3. ‘Store Of The Community’ Consumers can voice opinion to drive product selection
4. ‘Frictionless Commerce’ buying process is changed to fully ‘customer centric’

Harris and Dennis (2011) did note that most organisations were stuck in the first phase of this process, however this article is four years old and in such a fast paced digital marketing environment this may not be strictly true any longer.

However there are also some downsides to using Facebook. One key consideration is negative effect of some comments that may be left once a consumer has liked the company page; Consumers may write complaints about their own bad experience with the company for all other members of the page to see, which can damage reputation. It has been suggested that rather than deleting these negative comments, the best solution is to effectively deal with the issue online so that other consumers see the organisation takes complaints seriously. (Hansson et al. 2013)

To try and utilise Facebook to it’s full potential and avoid some of the negative effects, there are some basic guidelines that should be adhered to which should increase the effectiveness of using social media in general;

• Be selective with which platform is being used to reach the target audience
• Be sociable and engage with consumers as oppose to just making announcements
• Quickly adapt to changes and trends on social media as it is a rapid paced environment (Coleman, A. 2012)

Some Examples of Companies Using Facebook In Successful Different Ways (Inc. 2015)

 Clarisonic

 

‘Clarisonic’ offering virtual tours demonstrating how to use their product, alongside competitions whereby consumers send in a video of themselves using their product with the possibility of winning a new one.

Burt’s Bees

Consumer’s can buy the products directly through the Facebook page and watch the company’s own video series.

Candles off Main

Consumers can take advantage of the weekly give-aways and coupons offered by being a member of the Facebook page. This is in addition to offering information in the form of videos and pictures about the products.

References 

Brown, S. (2012). Social Networks. In: Social Information – Gaining Competitive and Business Advantage Using Social Media Tools . USA: Chandos Publishing. p19 -107.

Coleman, A. (2012). How social media can benefit small businesses.Available: http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2012/aug/14/small-business-benefit-social-media. Last accessed 18th Feb 2015.

Facebook. (2011). Why Facebook Marketing is important in promoting businesses nowadays?. Available: https://www.facebook.com/notes/webuzz/why-facebook-marketing-is-important-in-promoting-businesses-nowadays/228337750515634. Last accessed 18th Feb 2015.

Hansson, L. Wrangmo, A & Solberg, K. (2013). Optimal ways for companies to use Facebook as a marketing channel. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society. 11 (2), p 112- 126.

Harris, L & Dennis, C. (2011). Engaging Customers On Facebook.Journal of Consumer Behaviour . 10 (6), p 338-346.

Inc.. (2015). 20 Best Company Facebook Pages. Available: http://www.inc.com/ss/20-best-company-facebook-pages?slide=4. Last accessed 8th March 2015.

Li, C (2009) – Baines, P. Fill,C and Page, K. . (2011). Digital Marketing. In:Marketing. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 625- 662.