We know that Americans are increasingly active on social networking sites, but how about older Americans? The Pew Internet and American Life Project reports: As of February 2012, one third (34%) of internet users ages 65 and older use social networking sites such as Facebook, and 18% do so on a typical day. Among the G.I. Generation population (adults who are currently ages 76 and older), 20% of the internet users in that cohort use social networking sites and 8% do so on a typical day. Among all adult internet users, 66% use social networking sites, and 48% use them on a typical day.
So everyone from young affluents to Grandma and Grandpa have found Facebook. How to utilize social sites effectively is on everyones mind these days, and most advisors can readily understand how to use a site like LinkedIn for business contacts. But what about Facebook? Does a site that traditionally features family pictures and silly contests really help you promote yourself and your services?
The Smart Way to Use Facebook
The answer is yes, if you are smart about it. The baby boom generation, and their parents, are using Facebook every day, so you should go to where your demographic is. But lets talk about the smartest way to do it, and that is through a Facebook Business Page.
For many users the difference between a profile and a page can be really confusing, but it doesnt have to be. Think of it this way: Your profile is for you as a person, and your page is for you as a business. Since you could have many businesses, you can also have many pages. But, since you cant be two people you only get one profile. It is also helpful to remember that people friend your profile but like your page.
Your profile is a place to interact on a personal level while your page is a place to interact on a professional level. Make sense? A business page is easy to set up. (View a simple FMG Suite training video to walk you through it
1. Invite Page Visitors to Your Website
Your website should be your interactive marketing hub, where you seriously get down to business, with videos, articles, calculators and online presentations. Your Facebook Business Page should invite visitors back to your website by offering content links that are viewed on the website.
In order to see a great business page in action, take a look at the Facebook page for
2. Learn to Speak the Language
If you wanted to do business in Germany, it would be best if you could speak German; we get this intuitively. However, many professionals try to communicate on Facebook in the language of other business-oriented networks like LinkedIn. This wont be as effective.
In many ways Facebook is a casual visual network and its language is photos and videos. So, as much as possible, make your posts visually appealing. Share infographics, videos, and short articles from your website instead of long blog posts and extremely detailed analysis.
3. Let Your Fun Out
Facebook is a casual network, and it provides you with an opportunity to showcase your business- casual side. One great way to do this is to post pictures of your company working, playing, and serving in the community. For example, last Thanksgiving our FMG Team cooked dinner for homeless kids at the Monarch school in San Diego. It was a great time. We put together a short video of the days activities and shared it socially on our Facebook business page. What a great way for our followers to see a different side of our business! Just to give you an idea of what you can do (and to give you a chance to see some really cute kids) you can take a look at the
At the end of the day, nearly half of Americans are using Facebook. Thats significant! If you want to successfully reach them, you need to follow the three principals of Facebook business page success. Start by encouraging page visitors to come to your website. Dont forget to speak the language with images and videos. And finally, have some fun doing it.
Craig Faulkner is CEO of