And since no one else seems to be saying it I’ll go ahead and break the ice: Facebook isn’t as important as you think. In fact, most social media really doesn’t help drive sales at all.
As the Ecommerce Director for a large, Ohio-based automotive group, I’ve found putting more time, money and effort into the SEO side of things has helped our business expand more rather than spending all day checking and updating our Facebook page. While Facebook can benefit your business’ reputation, traffic comes from SEO.
If you’re trying to increase sales, then tackle the SEO side of things first. Providing useful, meaningful content on your website, strong backlinks and an easy-to-navigate web design can go a long way.
It’s why I can’t for the life of me, figure out why so many of our competitors are paying thousands of dollars to third-party groups to manage their social media, especially since Social Media is free to use.
On a monthly basis, I receive phone calls from Social Media groups giving me the same spiel:
We see you’re on Facebook and we can help send more traffic to your website. All you have to do is purchase [insert shiney doodad here] and give one away each month in a contest. If you do this the traffic will start flowing in!
My rebuttal:
So what happens to our fans once we quit giving away [shiney doodad]?
Silence
Rather than try to bribe people to like us on Facebook, I’ve found simply offering worthwhile content can go a long way. After all, we want to build a reputation of delivering great customer service; not prizes. Create a promotional video that drives the right kind of Facebook traffic. Don’t forget Facebook is free for everyone to use so have some fun with it.
I’m just curious, but why would you pay someone to run your own personal Facebook page?
