There has been a lot a talk about Facebook this year. Starting in 2013 with the change in their Newfeed Ranking Algorithm, people have started to talk poorly about Facebook. This week, we are going to talk all about Facebook and discuss why it is still a critical tool in the digital marketing toolkit.

Facebook’s Numbers are Still There & Growing

It’s important to realize that people continue to use Facebook, and do so often.  People of all ages use Facebook now too. This means that we can now reach new populations of people there. To demonstrate this, I thought I would show some Facebook numbers by age demographic. These numbers are derived from Facebook’s advertising projections in the United States which are limited to users from 13 to 64.

You will see with these numbers, that Facebook is still dominated by individuals between 20 and 39 but that there are nearly 60 million people above 40 hanging out online.

Facebook’s Role in Digital Marketing

When we look at Facebook’s (and social media’s) role in the digital marketing space, you won’t go wrong if you remember one thing. Facebook is a constantly changing platform. You don’t own your Facebook presence or the audience members that visit you there. So use it for what it is good for and bring people to a place you own – your website or email list. Social media is the best source for an audience. It’s easy to find people there and, more importantly, find the right people. Give them something of interest and then use your page to drive traffic to your website or sign up for your email list. That way, if things change too dramatically, you have driven those people to a place where you can still reach them.

Facebook’s Changing Newsfeed

Things change everywhere and especially online. You have to expect that in social media. Facebook’s power comes from its user base. Advertisers want to be a part of it because there are 1.28 billion people there. Their allegiance is to their user base so they are constantly changing to bring about a better, more personal experience for their users. Unfortunately that hurts advertisers. Fortunately they have put together an amazing advertising tool to allow businesses to reach their exact target audience. It’s not free but no advertising platform is. The difference is that it is cheap. So pay a little and see that there are some great things possible with Facebook.

Facebook’s Organic Reach is Not Dead

With the changes in their Newsfeed Algorithm, Facebook has prioritized communications between friends over communications between companies and prospects. So we have to be creative in our advertising strategy. We all know that word of mouth advertising is some of the most compelling. So advertisers need to find ways to create campaigns that users will want to share with their friends online. That is how your build organic reach. Wendy Clark, Senior VP of Integrated Communications at Coca-Cola tells audiences around the world that one of the secrets of Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy is that every piece of content they post online is shareworthy. Shareworthy means organic.

Facebook’s Face is Changing too

This article about Facebook would not be complete if we didn’t discuss Facebook vs. Facebook mobile. As of the writing of this article Facebook mobile has roughly 1.08 billion users (compared to the 1.28 Facebook.com users). Now that doesn’t seem like a significant difference but 30% of Facebook users just use the mobile version. We are rapidly moving toward a time when more people look at Facebook from their phones more than their computers. What does this mean? First, when producing content and advertising, it is importantly that we cater to both populations. Also, we should shy away from apps that only work on Facebook.com.

Times are changing – online and everywhere else. Facebook will continue to change but will also continue to be a force in social media. It is critical as marketers and companies that we embrace its power but do so intelligently. We would love to hehttps:ar about your winning Facebook strategies. Share if you have something. Either here on our blog or on our Facebook page.