Since 2004, with the creation of Facebook, social networking and advertising has rapidly peaked faster then I think we could have ever explained. It has become a resource for not only friends to connect with friends or family to connect with family whom they may not see often, but it has become a tool for organizations and businesses to promote new products, latest news and is now a way to send an RSVP to an upcoming event. Facebook has been used reach an entirely new demographic and promote products and/or businesses more than ever before. I decided I would find someone who uses Facebook as a promotions tool and get the scoop on how Facebook has offered their organization a new branch of advertisement.
When I was deciding on who I would interview a name popped into my head right away. I decided I would interview my mom, Diane, whom utilizes Facebook for everything it has to offer. Diane is involved in numerous organizations in the City of Coon Rapids, five to be exact, and I know she has used Facebook since its creation to promote each one of these organizations separately. Her use of Facebook for a promotions tool is a great example for how Facebook and social media are becoming more then a communication tool but rather a big electronic informative brochure.
Below you will find the interview for how Diane has utilized Facebook and all its advantages to advertise each organization as well as how Facebook has created more visibility for the organizations she is involved in.
Below you will find the interview for how Diane has utilized Facebook and all its advantages to advertise each organization as well as how Facebook has created more visibility for the organizations she is involved in.
Diane, you are involved in numerous organizations throughout the city and are an avid Facebooker. How have you used your love of Facebook to promote these organizations, if any way at all?
I can reach hundreds of my "friends" on FB and those "friends" can in turn reach all of their "friends" and so I end up being able to market my organizations to many, many more indivdiuals than I could ever have done using the traditional methods such as newspaper, etc.
Do the organizations you are involved with have Facebook pages and, if so, do you use Facebook to promote events that take place in each of these organizations?
Most of the organizations I'm involved with have their own "page" to advertise our group and more importantly, it's very easy to do an "event" notice on FB which contains all of the information and that notice can be sent to all those same "friends" that I mention above.
Do you think that advertising these promotions and events through Facebook have helped the events with increasing participation?
I do believe our participation in events has increased - the one big difference between FB and traditional methods of notification is that because the "friending" on FB is very selective you can target specific indiviudals, groups or organizations to promote the event.
Do you think that Facebook is going to replace traditional media like paper flyers and brochures, especially for the organizations for which you are involved with?
No, FB will never replace traditional media because although the FB usage is very high, there are still many, many individuals who are not on FB that we want to reach out to as well - in our case, the very young and the seniors are very important to our success and most of those individuals would not have a FB account.
By using Facebook to promote these events and create "Fan Pages" do you think it has helped the visibility of each of these organizations? Is so, how?
I certainly believe that using FB has added to the visibility of my organizations and we have reached a much broader and diverse base of individuals, although still being selective if we choose to do so, than we normally do with traditional media.
Seeing how much Facebook has grown since the creation of my own page in 2009 and how the social networking tool has become a new, FREE, way for businesses to promote and advertise more than ever before allows me to make an assumption that Facebook will become one of the primary ways business utilize online marketing. Business can take this free resource and expand their advertising more than ever before. From one Facebook page can be a link to websites, Twitter accounts, blogs, coupon sites, subsidiary links and the list goes on. By using Facebook businesses are opening new doors to greater successes then I believe were ever deemed possible. Newsfeeds have become a way to spread the word faster than ever before and, instead of reading a piece of paper, newsfeed advertisements allow a Facebook user to click on the Facebook page of the business/organization and be redirected to multiple links with information pertaining to the promotion being advertised through Facebook newsfeeds. For example, Lifetime Fitness is beginning their second “90-Day Challenge.” Coon Rapids Lifetime Fitness is participating in this event and Alana Burns, Department Head of Personal Training, utilizes the newsfeeds to get messages and promotions about the 90-Day Challenge to anyone who is fans of the Facebook page or friends with her. Below you can see how the newsfeeds have been utilized to promote the event for Lifetime Fitness members.
Millions of companies throughout the world have created a Facebook page and have started conducting business through it. By companies creating these pages they make their consumers feel as if they were a part of their business rather than a consumer outside of it. By these businesses making their consumers feel as if they are on a peer-to-peer level it allows the consumer to feel at ease when making purchases or conducting business with these companies.
Facebook advertisements have allowed consumers to keep in touch with businesses latest coupons, deals, promotions, hours, contact info and hot topics through Facebook alone. Even the TLC show, “Extreme Couponing” features a woman who scopes Facebook daily for the latest coupons to her favorite businesses. Even small, family-run businesses have created Facebook pages because they know it is the easiest, and fastest, form of advertisement. If you are looking for information on a company you can usually go to the search bar, type in the name and within a matter of minutes have more information then you were looking for. Consumers can “Like” their pages and instantly start getting newsfeed advertisement and updates from these businesses.
Facebook newsfeeds and advertisements are going to begin replacing traditional media. I don’t think that paper will ever be non-existent but for a society who focuses on “cheap and fast” the media advertising world will continue to flourish. Businesses can get free advertisements to one and spread to millions through Facebook. Companies are able to advertise more than ever before with a cost cheaper than ever before. As Jay Baer said, “The goal of social media is to turn customers into a volunteer marketing army.”
Happy Facebooking!
Tiffany
Happy Facebooking!
Tiffany
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