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Facebook for companies: is it still worth it?

This is a question that I ask myself every day, since when working with marketing and marketing channels for sales, I need to understand more deeply whether the largest social network on the planet, in this case Facebook, is still important or makes sense to companies. In this search for answers, I share some insights here [...]

March 24, 2022 · Gustavo Trentini · 11 min read

Facebook for companies: is it still worth it?

This is a question that I ask myself every day, since when working with marketing and marketing channels for sales, I need to understand more deeply whether the largest social network on the planet, in this case Facebook, is still important or makes sense to companies.

In this search for answers, I share here some insights and network experiences that can help you make the best decision in building a great digital marketing project.

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There's no more free lunch

For the first time, it's good to accept that nothing lasts forever. It was the time when organic posts reached many likes, brought thousands of followers and the memes were successful. In the middle of 2022, if the company or business does not invest in Ads (sponsored boosting), often does not even arrive in the user feed the posting.

Organic engagement fell at the same time that Facebook algorithms became smarter to favor paid deliveries. Soon, the investors have the most return.

Not to create controversy, even because it is still the largest social network to be considered always in a digital marketing campaign when doing your media planning, separate an ad fee. But without abandoning organic posts.

Facebook Importance for Business

It is likely that if you are on Facebook and continue posting, you will see some value on the platform for your business. And there's a lot of good:

Reach: You can reach more customers, prospects and “friends” of customers than any other marketing channel
Cost: The cost per printing is incredibly low for a direct marketing channel or advertising.
Segmentation: Facebook has gained a huge amount of knowledge about users, so the level of segmentation by demography and interests is incomparable

Companies just need to accept the fact that Facebook is no longer free and should invest a little money in it to work with payment to boost sponsored posts and ads. But you also need to keep an eye on the metrics to make sure that results are actually showing, whether it's increased site traffic, leads or sales.

The time you invest in Facebook daily management should also be relative to the return you get from the platform. If you are spending hours a week for some likes and comments, but no traffic or leads on the site, you need to decide whether Facebook is really worth it.

Facebook is good for traffic

One question that puts into question the current relevance of Facebook is the existence of other media and other ways to advertise on the internet. In addition to popular networks like Instagram (which also belongs to the same group, Meta), Twitter and LinkedIn, Google Ads is an impacting channel for ads. After all, who doesn't Google today to search for something or search for what they need?

Another tip is to apply SEO methods to ad content using keywords and descriptions goals that may be worth a lot, according to the service the company offers and the interests that are at stake.

Keep in mind that Facebook remains the second largest traffic generator for other websites, with 35.1%. And it's only behind Google itself, which carries 40.3% of all organic traffic on the Internet.

So if the company's goal is to produce more traffic to the site, then Facebook remains a good option. Don't forget to elaborate creative and informative posts that can bring your business closer to the user, and can generate greater value to the brand or product.

Good practice: 1 post boosted per week

Choose a post per week that really matters to your strategy or that brings some benefit or solution to the target audience. Other posts can only be considered as “filling”, shares of other pages or links to articles from your Blog, for example.

For many customers the strategy has worked well. For about R$150 per week (depending on how much I decide to invest in a boosted post), it is possible to get more views, likes and a good increase in site traffic.

Try and test values, but above all try to understand if the users who have reached their sponsored posting are really the audience that matters.

Analyze the results

Once you start posting consistently on your business page on Facebook, through the analysis of the metrics (insights), you will know what your audience likes, what works for them and in what direction you should follow to keep them engaged in search of prospects or customers.

In addition, Business Facebook contains built-in tools to identify important information from your audience. This data can be considered to focus on updating your future marketing campaigns and making them more comprehensive.

Facebook groups are trending to brands

If on the one hand, we have an organic Facebook reach in decline, on the other, there are 1.8 billion people who say they use Facebook Groups every month. These communities offer companies a great way to bypass the ruthless Facebook news feed algorithm and connect with the audience where they are likely to see and interact with brand posts.

Okay, we know that the Company Page still has its place, but there are exclusive benefits in including groups in your Facebook strategy:

Building long-lasting relationships

The groups are effective because people want to be there. Or do you still think someone will choose to join a group in a company that they really don't like?

Make sure that by winning members to your brand group, they will be your best friends and are ready to be your personal cheerleader team. Ease this relationship with the exclusive access to your company that a Facebook Group offers, besides special content or privileges.

See also:

Increase your organic reach

The organic reach of your Facebook Page may be turning only around 5% (market average) but your group's reach will be much greater.

The hottest tip is that Facebook prioritizes group posts on a user's news feed, so you have a great chance of showing up, especially compared to your company page posts.

Receive valuable market data

Out of an organized and usually expensive marketing study to do, where else can you have direct access to your target audience and see your questions or surveys answered by real customers?

Be able to test new strategies and ideas in this group, always offering relevant content, this will bring a lot of information. As a bonus, your super fans like to be up-to-date.

It's a win-win and it's free. Anyone from a new startup to large companies can benefit from this data to understand how to better sell their product or service.

Choosing Facebook Group Types

1. Public

Public groups can be discovered in Google's search results openly. It is important to highlight that the content of the group is also public, including what members post and comment on. Anyone on the internet can also see the full list of members of the group.

And these posts and comments from the group are indexed by the search engine. In this way users can participate in their group without the approval of an administrator.

I don't recommend starting a public group. As anyone can participate, including spammers or competition, you will need to pay close attention and delete any improper or spam content that may negatively affect your brand image. It's really only a matter of time before that happens, so why expose your brand to problems?

2. Private

There are two types of private groups: visible and hidden. Look at the difference:

Private – Visible

Private visible groups only allow members to see posts and comments within the group, as well as their list of members. But all Facebook users can find the groups in Facebook search results.

This does not expose any content in your group. Only the title and description of the group on Facebook are displayed in the search results if they match the keywords that a user typed in the search bar.

Users may ask to participate in your group and you, or another administrator, must approve the request. Only then will they be able to view and post content.

This is the best type of group for 99% of companies. It allows you to control the association and filter spambots while still being publicly discovered by your target market.

Private – Hidden

Also known as “secret groups” have the same resources as the groups already mentioned, except that they do not appear in any research results. No one inside or outside Facebook can see the group's publications, comments, members or find the group in the search results. To view the group and ask to participate, users must have a direct URL provided to them.

This type of group is useful for a truly VIP community, only for guests, in which you do not want many people to participate. A common example of this type of group is something that follows a product paid as a course or a selected focus or group of projects.

If you provide a support group to accompany a paid service or specific product, it makes sense to keep this group secret so that no buyers can find and enter your group. Instead, you would only send the membership link to verified buyers after a sale.

Overall, I recommend that you have as a company a private group and visible to most situations.

Conclusion

Whether you're turning your company page into ads to get more reach and traffic or even creating groups of your brand or business, the important thing is to use the social network that should not be forgotten at all.

Facebook has been losing space for other networks like Instagram, but remains the absolute leader in the number of users worldwide with 2.9 billion active users monthly.

The social network is always renewing itself, a fact that attracts attention and arrests more engaged users. Many social networks try to follow Mark Zuckerberg's strategy, but the one that announces news is the one that ends up in the spotlight.

So at the end of this article, the answer is yes: it is still worth using Facebook for business!

Gustavo Trentini · Nacionalvox

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