There is always something interesting on eMarketer.
Today I noticed a report that suggested small businesses were behind in the social media game. This does appear to be true, but what really interested me was the data about how many companies are using Facebook instead of their own company blog.
Is Facebook really working that well?
I’ve had experience with Facebook and that experience has ben negative. There isn’t even a Facebook page for Ghost Blog Writers. I don’t think it’s something that will generate new business for the company so instead of spending effort creating content for Facebook that Facebook owns (they also own the subscribers and likes you have) we focus on creating our own content that will always drive traffic, leads and sales.
Here is the chart from SMBs Struggle to Adopt, Integrate Social Media:
You can see that Facebook is the number one social media channel. Blogs? Way down the list.
I’m not sure why. Blogging is what works and blogging has a few advantages over Facebook.
Blogging Advantages
- You own the content
- Your site gets traffic, leads and sales through referrals like search and social
- The content always works for your website
- Blog content earns trust, which leads to sales
There are a couple of reasons I feel companies are using Facebook instead of a company blog.
Blogging is hard – It really is difficult to create content on a consistent schedule. I think many companies intend to create great blog content on their sites, but once they get into actually doing the writing they realize it’s hard and they look for something easier yet less effective (Facebook).
Facebook is big – Yes. There are a billion people on Facebook. Are you trying to target them all? Blogging allows you to project your company voice and target specific people. Wouldn’t you rather have the right people coming to your website instead of trying to get a ton of attention from a billion people on another website? In fact, most brands build their likes by sending their customers away from their company website. I don’t get it.
SMBs don’t have time to blog – This one I totally understand. It’s why GBW exists. Blogging is time consuming and even if small business owners want to write content they realize it’s not on the priority list. Well, if getting new customers that are spending time online is a priority then it’s important to consider blogging. You might think you’re doing the social media thing by having 100 or even 1,000 or 10,000 likes on Facebook, but all you’re really doing is wasting your time.
This post is a little bit of a rant, but it was just so interesting to see how much faith people put in Facebook when really the results are suspect. I figure it’s better to invest in your own company website by creating content that will always earn attention of new people, earn their trust and earn their business.
That’s how GBW works. We don’t have a Facebook page.