Facebook has been one of the most important marketing platforms for quite some time now. With over a billion active monthly users around the world, over $7.5 billion was spent last year on Facebook advertising alone.
Sensing opportunity, Facebook is starting to position itself less as a platform and more as a marketing consultant. Below, you’ll find exactly what Facebook is doing, what it means for your business, and how you can start leveraging it to your advantage:
Facebook’s New Role as a Consultant
Earlier this year, Facebook announced a new service known as Topic Data. By using this, businesses are able to break down consumer chatter in a wide variety of ways. They’ll be able to see exactly what users are doing and saying about specific events, products, and brands. Facebook is already giving consumers the ability to make their voice heard on a worldwide platform, now they’re finding a way to let businesses tap into this information, too.
All of the information provided by Facebook is given in an aggregate fashion. This means that you can’t trace it back to any single user, protecting everyone’s privacy.
Having access to data from across the globe gives you more power than ever.
What This Means For Your Business
What this provides for your business is an incredible opportunity. Topic Data offers data drawn from an enormous prospect pool that can’t be drilled down into precisely targeted data sets. This information is probably better than the data your business already collects, for several reasons:
- It’s unbiased. The data you collect is from active prospects and customers, collected from your sale staff. Most likely you’re using tools like surveys. This information is useful, but it’s biased. These customers have a preexisting relationship with you. Facebook’s data is pure and unbiased, from people simply trying to state their opinion.
- It gives a broader view. Again, your data is probably from a specific niche or geographic area. Facebook provides the views of an incredibly diverse prospect base, giving it much more credibility.
- It’s available instantly. If you’re a new business, you don’t have much information to pull from. Topic Data gives you a chance to speed up the learning curve, offering you information that’s better than anything your competition collects internally.
Putting Your Data to Use
Having access to this data gives you a great competitive edge, but you need to know how to put it into use. Here are some examples of ways you can use the information to your advantage:
- Find the best niche for your business by figuring out which demographics are most interested in the kinds of products or services you’re offering.
- Help solidify your marketing endeavors by drilling down into your niche to see what kinds of events, activities, values, etc., they’re most passionate about.
- Looking for improvements in your products or services by seeing what people are saying about your brand (or your competition’s).
All the data in the world won’t help you if you don’t know how to use it.
If you’re looking for a more traditional marketing consultant, make sure to reach out to us here at Blue Wave Marketing. We have over 20 years of experience helping clients revitalize their marketing, whether they’re a Fortune 500 company or a brand-new business trying to land their first clients.
For more information on how we’ve helped a variety of companies, download our case studies here
