How Much Time Should You Invest in Facebook for Marketing?

Many analysts have recently suggested that organic Facebook marketing is a waste of time. One of the reasons for this is declining reach. In a 2014 study performed by social@Ogilvy, organic reach dropped by 49% in just a few months. Facebook also changed its algorithm, which now pushes posts from family and friends to the top of one’s news feed.

These changes certainly make marketing on Facebook more difficult, but you can still use the platform to your advantage. It’s an extremely popular website: of its 210 million U.S. users, 74% use it at least once a day. To determine if it’s a good marketing tool, look at your target demographics and your marketing goals.

Demographics

While Facebook has many active users, you may be able to reach your target demographic more effectively on another platform. Here are some examples:

Generation Z

This refers to the youngest generation of consumers, those born from the mid-90s to early 2010s. Of all customers, Generation Z is the most likely to engage with your brand on social media. However, research has shown that this group interacts more frequently with content posted on other platforms.

According to a Business Insider survey, this generation engages with Instagram the most. 65% of Generation Z checks Instagram once a day, while only 34% of younger users make daily Facebook logins. YouTube ranked in at a close second to Instagram, followed by Snapchat. If you’re trying to cater to this audience, you may want to invest your time in one of these platforms instead of Facebook.

Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials

If you’re trying to market to older users, Facebook is probably the best platform to use. Baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, favor Facebook above all forms of social media. Nearly 32 million of Facebook’s users are from this generation.

Generation X users, born between 1965 and 1980, also tend to gravitate towards Facebook. Over 45 million Gen Xers use the platform, and 68% of them make purchasing decisions based on online reviews. If more users leave reviews on your company’s Facebook page, you could gain a lot of sales from this demographic.

Facebook is also the most popular platform among millennials, consumers born between 1981 and 1994. More than 58 million millennials are Facebook users, and that number continues to climb every year. 70% of these users check their feeds daily.

Business-oriented Audiences

It’s also important to examine the nature of your company. If you market business services as opposed to physical goods, LinkedIn may be a better resource. LinkedIn’s primary userbase is older influencers, although it is starting to gain traction with millennials.

LinkedIn has drastically fewer users than Facebook, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good networking site. In one marketing report, LinkedIn was also shown to generate the most leads out of all social media websites.

Once you pinpoint your target demographic, try to limit your company to two or three social media platforms. Spreading yourself too thin means more wasted time and energy that could be better spent on developing effective marketing campaigns.

Marketing Goals

Some marketing objectives will require more time on Facebook as opposed to others. Consider your company’s goals to determine if using Facebook is right for you.

Maintaining Social Media Presence

Facebook is a good tool to keep your brand relevant on social media. Using Facebook’s post scheduling feature is a great way to draw in new visitors and keep current customers engaged. Scheduling quality posts ahead of time may only take an hour or two of time out of your week.

By writing your advertisement in advance, it can be posted exactly when users are most likely to click on ads. According to recent figures, you should schedule your posts between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Posts with pictures will get more interactions than those with just text.

Driving Referral Traffic

Facebook ads can also ramp up your site’s referral traffic. In each of your company’s Facebook posts, include links to pages on your company’s website. More referral traffic also means more SEO benefits, so your company is more likely to pop up in internet searches. However, because of Facebook’s low reach, it may be hard for your posts to gain popularity.

Growing Your Following

The low reach of Facebook posts also requires you to put in more work when trying to get more followers. To increase your company’s chances of being noticed, encourage users to tag your business in existing posts and conversations. Networking with other brands also increases your company’s chances of getting more followers. However, this strategy may require you to spend many hours interacting with other brands and users.

Cultivating an Existing Community

A thriving Facebook community is a good way to encourage engagement and build a positive reputation for your brand. However, since this requires more real-time interaction with group members, it’s more time-consuming for you. Each post should be reviewed to make sure it’s not spam or anything else that violates Facebook’s terms of service. If you want to pursue this strategy, consider assigning long-time group members with moderation duties.

Is Facebook Marketing a Good Investment of Your Time?

Using Facebook can be an effective way to reach both potential and current customers, but only when used correctly. You’ll need to engage in effective marketing practices to get the most ideal results. For more tips on how to market your business with Facebook, feel free to contact us today.