Understanding what your customers are doing on Facebook

News: January 2012

Understanding what your customers are doing on Facebook

Most people reading this article will have a Facebook account. Whether for business or pleasure, chances are that you use Facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family and perhaps promoting your business. We all know that utilising Facebook can potentially be a good way to win new business. However, in order to develop an effective marketing plan for Facebook, you first need to do some research in order to understand what your customers (and potential customers) actually do on Facebook and how they use it.

Research suggests that in many cases consumers are not just willing to interact with brands on Facebook, they are even willing to “like” brands on Facebook and recommend certain brands to friends and contacts. As such, Facebook represents a very real way to market your products / services and develop new sales opportunities online.

For example:

Take a look at your customers’ Facebook profiles and observe how many of them “like” your brand. Now observe how many “like” a competitor’s brand. It may be worth visiting your competitor’s Facebook page in order to develop a better understanding as to why customers “like” this brand.

If your customers tend to “like” brands on Facebook, you should give them the opportunity to “like” your brand too. You can achieve this by adding a “like us on Facebook” button to your company’s website, e-newsletters and electronic promotional materials. This gives your customers an opportunity to promote their support for your brand online. Remember, your customers are already pre-disposed to supporting your brand – after all, they did buy from you to begin with. You can therefore harness this goodwill by allowing your clients to express their support by “liking” your business online.

This is only one of many potential ways to market to your clients and potential clients on Facebook. The most important thing is to understand your customers and your target market. Observe how they use Facebook and how they interact with other brands on Facebook. Then develop a strategy to get your customers working for you by promoting your business online.