Can local businesses utilize Facebook? Or is it just a waste of time?  For many smaller local business Facebook and other social media sites can be one way, and a very useful way, to spread information throughout the community.  One of the important ideas to think about when trying to market through Facebook is the targeted age group.  Facebook mainly caters to the younger, college crowd.   Out of all the users of Facebook, the 18-25 year olds serve as the highest percentage of users in the United States.  But, the amount of users over the age of 35 are growing at a very rapid pace, within the past 2 months the number of users over 35 has doubled, making Facebook an even more important part of advertising for local business.

The Facebook “fan” pages are pages that are set up to specifically cater towards business.  The pages act the same way a Facebook profile page works.  It is fairly easy to set up and maintain.  The best parts of the fan pages are that they are interactive.  The pages allow for the business to post up information and it allows for customers to talk with the business.  The Facebook page can take up as much or as little time as the owner of the page wants.  Within the fan page there are options to add different pictures and information about that business such as the address and a description.

Another key feature of Facebook advertising through fan pages is being user-friendly.  The fan pages are easily accessible through Facebook and can be very informational while at the same time be user-friendly.   It allows business’s to communicate with their customers very easily, and it’s free.

Communication is the best and most useful part of Facebook.  Utilizing the communication factor within the fan page can really help to get the word out about a specific product or company.  Facebook is organized in a way that you can market your company within a specific community.  It also can be helpful with customer service.  The pages allow your customers to communicate with you.

Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the United States.  The United States is responsible for about 30 percent of the 400 million active users.  Facebook can be a very useful tool for any local business; the Facebook “fan” pages are almost a social media form of The Yellow Pages.  It is simply a way for business to get their ideas out while at the same time being user-friendly.  Social media is an important part of every business nowadays, not just Facebook, but even websites like Twitter or Foursquare.

Small businesses need to utilize any opportunity they can to market their company to the world. This can come through many media outlets. A few major outlets are Facebook, Four- square business, and Twitter. These sites can help small businesses learn and venture out into new areas. A good product may not sell itself anymore, so businesses need to figure out how to branch out and find ways to get it done. Social outlets such as Facebook and Twitter mix fun and learning with business through advertising and marketing. Whether a person updates his status to where he or she is eating lunch or coming up with a new medical breakthrough, people are interested. They need somewhere to express views and learn from others.

Twitter has recently become a huge way to meet and follow people or businesses. People can tweet where they are going or new things they wish to share to people. Companies can show links of their company featured on other websites. This will show followers that they are legit and they may continue to follow if they are interested. Twitter can be a very good way to break news in their industry. Being the first one will raise awareness and gain a lot of interest for their business. Companies can also use Twitter as a way to offer discounts or special offers for customers who find them via social media.

Twitter is not only for people to show interest in your company, but it is also a great way to learn about your industry and things competitors are doing. A company can learn from others’ mistakes on what to do and what not to do. Twitter allows people to track conversations, so you can always be updated. This will allow companies to know when it is their turn to maybe go for a potential customer. You can find out who your competitors are talking to and do some competitive intelligence, as Twitter likes to call it. Instead of crappy flyers or calling someone who obviously doesn’t want to speak to you, you can slowly build relationships through your Twitter. Sometimes you don’t even have to do anything. Twitter allows people to follow your page and keep up with new updates.

Twitter allows small businesses to get out of their shell and be themselves. They can put what they want whenever they want to. Potential customers stay interested because Twitter allows businesses to branch out to anyone. Businesses can hold weekly Twitter chats to get advice or talk to others in the industry. Twitter allows people to stay on top of their game and never fall behind. Small businesses can learn from others and expand. Normal marketing still works, but online outlets can be very helpful.

Four-square is another way for small businesses to grow. Are you a start-up business trying to advertise your new specials? Are you a customer simply wanting to know what restaurants around in your area can get you the best deals? Do you just want credit for going to the same restaurant every day? If you answered yes to any of these questions then Foursquare might be for you. Foursquare not only provides loyalty programs for its customers, but it also helps provide promotion through social media. Combine that with the ability to track your customer base, and Foursquare has the potential the change the world of e-commerce.

Facebook is another great way to expand your business. Facebook has advertising that goes on different peoples pages based on their likes and dislikes. Can local businesses utilize Facebook? Or is it just a waste of time? For many smaller local business Facebook can be one way, and a very useful way, to spread information throughout the community. One of the important ideas to think about when trying to market through Facebook is the targeted age group. Facebook mainly caters to the younger, college crowd. Out of all the users of Facebook, the 18-25 year olds serve as the highest percentage of users in the United States. But, the amount of users over the age of 35 are growing at a very rapid pace, within the past . Facebook can change small businesses, just as with Twitter and Foursquare.

Facebook should be weary. Google buzz is about to change up the Social Media game. Google already has the best email client with gmail. Boasting the ability to email, chat, video chat, import your AIM buddy list, and now buzz. There will be no need to use facebook anymore. Obviously this is a bit extreme, as it will not knockout FB in one punch, but it does have a substantial email market share and this could hurt Facebook.

Google Buzz is just like facebook, you follow people, they follow you, you create a status update, upload videos and pics and then your followers can comment.  I personally find it more efficient to have everything in one place. The problem is getting everyone else to move over to gmail. I’ll do my best.

Thinking about advertising on Facebook.com? You may want to think again.

To preface this post, I love facebook, have plenty of friends, and access it on my computer at work and home, and regularly on my iPhone. Being involved with Search Engine Marketing for the past 3 years and kind of specializing in PPC. I must say I am less than impressed.

I just thought I should share what one weeks worth of data looks like from one of our clients whocanisue.com, their site focuses on educating the public on the validity of a legal claim, then after answering a few questions you are shown a list of local attorneys that can help you with your specific matter.

I’m feeling just a little bragadocious, about 8 weeks ago we took over all marketing for whocanisue.com. We just redesigned their website and launched it 3 weeks ago, run all of their traditional media campaigns (South FL) and all of their Search Engine Marketing. Whocanisue.com converts at an avg. of about 13% and closer to 18% in South Fl which is astonishing, so I’ll pat myself on the back for our team that has done a bang up job but now we’ll focus on why I have your attention, Facebook.com.

You want targeting? Sorry, not gonna happen, you can choose demographics but what really matters is the relevance to your ads and your service. Why can’t I target my ads to someone that just wrote in his/ her status that they got a DUI or just got in a car wreck?  Don’t know, you’ll have to ask facebook.com. Oh wait, they don’t ever respond to any questions unless you email them 4 times regarding the same matter.

Now that I’ve had time to vent, lets look at the data taken from  ONE WEEK of traffic, via Google Analytics:

Analytics Visits - Facebook.com (click to view full size)

In this time period facebook.com advertising accounted for over 10% of our traffic, yet Avg. Pages/Visit,  Time on Site, and Bounce rate were staggeringly AWFUL against our site average for each metric discussed. Before I continue, let’s check out conversions:

Analytics Conversions for Facebook.com (click to view full size)

Again, for the same time period. The traffic that Facebook.com barely converted and against our site avg. and top traffic sources there was no competetion.

Thoughts: Facebook should try displaying ads based on relevancy. I don’t know, maybe use the rich content you have available from your users.  Ultimately, someone advertising in the age of tracking and measurability will most definitely appropriate their ad spend to the medium or mediums that convert at the highest rate and for the lowest cost and unfortunately for facebook, we had to pull our ad spend.