Its getting increasingly difficult for businesses and organisations to ignore the power and potential which Facebook offers as part of digital marketing and social media strategy.
Here at Cosmic we've worked with lots of people and their businesses, charities and organisations to help set-up, improve and effectively manage Facebook Pages and Profiles. Growing the numbers of ‘Likes’, ‘Shares’ and ‘Friends’ with great quality content, posts, features and campaigns of all which can offer a real boost to digital marketing plans.
We continue to run regular Facebook for Business and Facebook for Charities workshops as part of our Cosmic training programme.
With over 950 million registered users, Facebook has really taken hold at the centre of social media platforms in use today. Its the most popular social network for individuals, and increasingly we are all seeing the time we spend on Facebook increase and take on new functions – and including of course, paid-for advertising which sits at the heart of the Facebook business model (and for which they’ve already received plenty of criticism).
And so, if you are involved in the promotion, marketing and sale of goods and services you’ll be reviewing the use of Facebook and might be considering buying advertising space to boost your presence and profile across the platform. Advertising packages are now being promoted to small businesses for as little as £25 (but watch out for the scam involving fake Facebook advertising vouchers!)
BUT BEWARE… before you proceed down this route and consider recent news and developments carefully. Some reports have shown a less friendly side of the Facebook model evolving including –
- some businesses in USA are moving off Facebook advertising having estimated that up to 80% of hits are from ‘bots’ (that’s automated web visits) rather than real people with money to spend
- the growth of Facebook advertising scams is a real concern – certainly for consumers, but also for other business advertisers as people lose faith in the legitimacy of Facebook adverts. There’s a growing number of adverts linking to face websites, counterfeit goods, scam vouchers campaigns
- and at the same time growth of credit card fraud continues and fake website are a worrying part of the very simple ways in which thieves are now targetting platforms like Facebook to gain credibility and trust in order to access card numbers, PINs and bank account details.
And so enjoy and benefit from the massive potential of Facebook, and seek advice if you need some help. But always be aware that its like most other massive communal spaces: foes do exist as well as friends, and the fake, counterfeit, scams and phishing are getting cleverer all the time.