The importance of industrial social media cannot be emphasized enough. Let’s take a closer look.
Industrial Social Media Presence
Wondering if it is worth the time and effort to have a social media presence, consider these statistics provided by the Content Marketing Institute:
- 83% of B2B marketers use social media; making it the most common B2B marketing tactic
- 54% of B2B marketers said they’ve generated leads from social media
- 79% of marketers said they saw increased traffic with as little as 6 hours a week invested in social media marketing
- Roughly half of companies say social media has improved their marketing optimization, customer experience, and brand health, with nearly a quarter also seeing an increase in revenue (Source)
Now let’s focus on Facebook and how it can help your industrial business.
Facebook is a social network where people of various interests meet to discuss and share information about those interests.
In the past, we always attended live events like alumni gatherings, family reunions, trade show events, and after-hours business mixers. Most of us have attended events or understand the business benefit of interacting with people in your target market. Facebook brings access and flexibility to the world of social networking.
Instead of reaching perhaps a few hundred people at a local social networking event, you can now reach thousands of people with decreased costs.
Facebook is considered by most marketing experts as the most powerful social network in the world.
Statistics
Facebook has 2.27 billion monthly active users. That is a lot of people. Here are some Facebook stats on their audience demographics:
83% of Women & 75% of Men Use Facebook
So no matter who you’re trying to reach, they are likely active on Facebook.
People Spend an Average of 35 Minutes on Facebook Each Day
According to data from Nielsen, Americans spend an average of 10 hours and 39 minutes consuming media across their devices. Specifically, five hours per day are spent on mobile devices.
People Access Facebook an Average 8 Times Per Day
According to comScore, Facebook is accessed at an average of eight times per day
400 New Users Sign up for Facebook Every Minute
Every 60 seconds on Facebook, there are:
*317,000 status updates
*400 new users
*147,000 photos uploaded
*54,000 shared links
76% of B2B marketers use Facebook to distribute content
Beyond those staggering numbers, why would you want to use it to market your business?
Why Use It?
Exposure
With billions of users, Facebook offers excellent potential for exposure. When used strategically and consistently, Facebook can contribute to the significant increase in your industrial company’s online presence. You can post comments, provide insights, advice and tips to earn respect and credibility in your network. This will ultimately help you gain leverage.
Improve Google Rank
With Facebook’s “Pages” application, you can create a professional profile for products, services, and business. This provides the option to include links to your website and “like” buttons. This helps drive traffic towards your website and generate more interest.
Free Marketing Platform
Facebook use is absolutely free of charge. It allows you to reach out to millions of people with a host of user-friendly applications and tools to market products and services. If you use paid advertising on Facebook you reach more people. Just remember you are using someone else’s product and just as they provide for free they can take it away.
Targeted AD Space
For a fee, you can create ads. Ads can target a specific gender, location and age group. You can also target other demographics, as well as track its performance.
Keep Customers Updated
Facebook offers you a convenient way to update your network on new products, promotions, and general information about your company. This helps you to stay fresh and relevant in the minds of your market.
Stay Connected and Nurture Relationships
Provide useful information to your fans and network on a regular basis. This includes helpful how-to videos and other relevant content which your market may enjoy.
Enhanced Customer Service
Consumers these days prefer a real-time response to queries and concerns. The Facebook page for your industrial business offers a convenient and accessible option for reaching you.
While Facebook isn’t for everyone, it certainly reaches the masses. Industrial businesses need to consider how it can help them and plan accordingly. In our next post, we will look at the “pros and cons” of implementing Facebook for your industrial business.
