As part of their recent business update, Facebook released this Facebook Community Update. Frankly, the numbers are staggering…
- 1.55 billion people on Facebook each month
- Over 1 billion people on Facebook each day
- Over 8 billion video views each day
So the big question for many foodservice businesses is this:
“Should our business be on Facebook?”
For any business selling products or services to the consumers (the public), particularly consumers in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s, then the obvious answer to this question is “Yes”.
The internet and social media are not going away! They are becoming an integral part of all our lives whether we like it or not.
However, be prepared:
- Doing the basics is free and very straightforward to set up.
- While it is free to set up a Facebook page, there is a cost in terms of time, content expertise (what to say, how to say it, when to say it), and commitment to the monitoring of feedback and engaging in the conversations as needed in a timely manner.
- It’s a great way to engage with your audience, but it does give each one of them a public platform to comment on your business.
- Openness and transparency are critical. If you get negative comments (and that’s pretty much guaranteed!), it’s all about how you deal with them.
- It is SOCIAL media, so the key is to resist the temptation to make it just about advertising. Think of it as being like a real conversation amongst a group of people in a social setting. It’s about being engaging and even entertaining first and foremost, then it’s ok to do a little advertising and self promoting.
- It is a great advertising platform, with the ability to target very specific audiences based on location, age, gender, interests, etc., and this requires a level of expertise to manage well.
If you’re not on it already, find a way to try it out and use it to help your business grow.
