Organic marketing on Facebook? – A response
I don’t get a lot of time to read other marketing blogs, but there are a handful I’ll check back on now and then, one of those being Jim’s Marketing Blog. A recent post (here) was simply a quote of his own (no more, no less):
“Teaching people the best way to market organically with Facebook, is like teaching them the best way to butter bread, with a spoon.” — Jim Connolly
What I take away from that quote is he doesn’t think Facebook is an effective inbound marketing tool, and can’t be used for marketing a business other than through paid advertising or promoted posts. In this post I will explain why I think he is wrong. [mc4wp_form id=”15877″]
What is organic marketing?
Organic marketing is essentially the same as inbound marketing. This is the marketing you perform that becomes part of the customer’s conversation, rather than trying to interrupt it (e.g. TV, banner ads, direct mail, telephone sales and radio).
Examples of organic marketing include SEO, content marketing, community marketing, customer referrals, reputation management, earned social media, sponsoring events, influencer outreach etc. (There is a nice breakdown of what inbound marketing is and how to use it on hubspot here).
(Image taken from moz.com)
So where does Facebook sit?
When done correctly, Facebook is absolutely organic/ inbound marketing. A business with active brand fans will find their fans an advocates use Facebook to leave positive comments on your wall, react to negative comments left by others for you and engage with you when you share ideas and content. Believe me, we have this as Heart Internet and it is great. But it didn’t happen by fluke, it took a lot of effort.
Facebook also lets people share your latest content marketing (blog post, infographic, case study, research etc.) quickly and easily. But his only happens if you have carefully curated and encouraged your audience through conversations rather than sales messages they have learned to filter out.
This one on one form of communication brings brands closer with their customers. Treat each comment with the due care and attention it deserves, and never take anyone who has taken the time to comment for granted.
My version of the quote
So, with this in mind here is my version of Jim’s quote:
“Teaching people the best way to market organically with Facebook, is like teaching them the best way to be a really effective marketer.”
What do you think, do you agree with Jim or myself? [mc4wp_form id=”15877″]
Hi Matt, I really like your version of this quote! It is very true that Facebook and other Social Media sites for that matter, are a great way to show effective marketing if you get it right as it is a great way to interact and connect with your audience organically. If they like or connect with your Social Media business page they are choosing to view the content you post, which then of course has to be engaging! Kind regards, Lauren
Thanks Lauren. Are there any other social media channels other than Facebook and Twitter you’ve found to work for small businesses?
Yes, at Brand Recruitment we not only have Twitter and Facebook pages, but we also have LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube pages which we feel work well for us as we are able to engage with our audience in different ways that work well for them. As not everyone might have a Facebook account, however they might have a LinkedIn account instead allowing us to communicate with our candidates on a broader level!