On a regular basis I have clients or group members complain to me about the changes on Facebook, the lack of support, the reduction in reach of their posts and awareness of their brand.I hear it so often in fact and I am no longer surprised. I may not be surprised but I continue to be disappointed with the moaning and total lack of accountability.
What the hell are we moaning for?
Would you be moaning if someone had given you a retail space in a building on a busy street, a street that has all your potential customers coming up and down the road outside? Would you complain if it was rent free and all you had to worry about was to fill it with stock and advertise it.
NO.. no we bet you wouldn't be.
So why do we hear it all the time, it baffles us. Facebook has created a platform free of charge, that gives a business user a customer list of 1.6 billion people.
It even tells you their interests, their age and location.
Not to mention how much they earn and what they like and don't like.
Tell us when was the last time a user went into the open market and tried to buy data of the same quality and value?
We will tell you from experience - £3.00 a lead .. Yes that is the industry standard cost to get data that is as current, and as accurate as the customer data that Facebook allows you free of charge.
What does #Facebook cost you ?
Does it cost you to advertise your product as it does on Ebay or Amazon, No
Does it cost you to record a live video detailing your service or product, No
Does it cost rent space on the server, pay for hosting, as if for your website or email, No
Does it cost to create a group & charge you a subscription for the amount of members No
When you want to post an update does it charge you as a newspaper would , No
We could go on, but we won't.
What it does cost you, is your time. Your #time on a free #platform, state of art platform, intelligent marketing platform.
It costs you time, in thinking about your messaging, your communication to your clients.
I haven't had time to plan my posts
Please, can you hear what that sounds like. "I haven't had time to sit down and think about what I want to say and give a couple of my hours to enter it on to this free of charge, state of the art social platform, I am not really thinking about my customers or potential customers, I am just thinking that it is too harder work and I don't know what to write!"
We understand of course, that come companies are busy, they need social media reach but just don't have the time or the they aren't skilled in that area, so they recognise this and engage a company like ours to do that for them. That's still making an effort. That is thinking about the value of the return and the value they want in sales conversions, and engaging an expert to make the most of it for them. Engaging an expert can bring around far faster results.
Engaging Facebook Developers and Practitioners like us does cost money each month, but it also delivers results that are so high in quality and reach that it is the cheapest return on investment a business can make. So our clients are thinking about it and they are putting in the investment.
Rather than investing time, they are investing money. A very good , sensible business marketing strategy decision. But you may not have the budget to do that, we understand that.
" I am only a start up, I do not have the budget". Yep, absolutely accept that, it's a genuine objection.
But you haven't got 2 hours a week to set aside and plan your messaging either on this free platform that is tailored to your business and customers?
At The Consult Centre we record free video tutorials for Facebook, we do Q & A sessions, even live video Q & A to help people. We have even created free areas on our website where you can download documents to help you or watch free videos.
Yes we agree there may be more exciting things you can spend your time on, but if you are seriously thinking of growing your business, then your investment of time starts now and it starts with understanding how Facebook can work for you given your effort.
At the end of the day, if you have decided to put all your eggs in one basket, the least a user can do, is take the time to crack a few eggs and get on with making an effort.
The Consult CentrePhoto credit Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash
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