Here’s a thought: Instead of building a website, make your Facebook Page your website.

I know that sounds strange, and even a little bit foolish, for me to say that while we offer website services. Hear me out, though.

I’m not telling you that websites are pointless now and I’m also not telling you that Facebook has all of the benefits of a website. But I can confidently say that if you are on a lower budget and cannot afford a good website, then why not use Facebook?

This, of course, depends on your industry. A website is not just a functional tool in online marketing. A website is also a large first-impression. For example, if I didn’t have a website, I am pretty sure it would be foolish to offer website services. There are some websites that are built more for credibility than anything else.

But this is not what I am talking about.

What I’m talking about are industries that need a tool to utilize online as they engage with customers. For example, Facebook provides these items for your business:

• Messaging (a way for someone to contact you)
• Blogging (a way to post content)
• Information (a local listing and contact information)
• Light design aspects (enough design to show off your visual brand)
• Integrations for E-Commerce (you would need a Shopify account to make this work, but you can totally sell products on Facebook with this easy integration)
• Reviews/Customer feedback

These are elements that businesses used to use their website for. Now you can do it on a free platform that you already want to utilize anyway.

I’m about to tell you some ideas and strategies in using Facebook as your main platform of communication and engagement. I will compare using it as if it’s your only platform, as well as some ways to integrate it with your current website.

Before I do that, though, I just need to share one huge negative to doing this: if you make Facebook your main platform, you can only engage with customers who have a Facebook. While there are billions of people that have an account, the truth is that not everyone uses Facebook and even less use Facebook’s tools, such as FB Messenger.

Nevertheless, I have seen businesses built this way. Here are some cool ways to utilize it.

Your Posts need to be a hub

If I were to only use Facebook, I would have my Facebook Page be my hub for information, but link out to other sources. When I say to use Facebook, I don’t mean just a profile or just a Page. I would create a group where announcements happen. Let me share an example.

Let’s say I was a restaurant and I wanted everyone to know about a special event going on, such as live music on a Friday night. I would post a blurb of information on my Facebook Page so that my fans would see it, and then I would boost that post so that more consumers see it. The Call-to-action, though, would lead everyone to my Group Page where I announce everything about the restaurant and provide more detailed information. The reason I do this is that I want everyone to join that group. The reason why I want them to be a part of that group more than I care about them being a fan? Because you get notified when I post in the group and Facebook endorses group engagement more.  The larger I grow my group, the more engagement occurs and the farther my organic reach goes.

Now…as promised, I wanted to share my thoughts if you had a website. I would probably still keep this strategy to build my engagement. The way I would utilize my website is to provide more information. I would still want to have a link to my website so that someone can share this information with their peers. I cannot copy a Facebook post and send it to someone who does not have a Facebook account. It is screwy that way. Facebook also makes it hard to share a web address in general because they want you to use their messenger app to share posts. This is also a way to track data for future advertising campaigns.

Use Your Personal Facebook to Grow Your Business – Not Your Page.

The organic reach of a Facebook Page is ridiculous. Especially if you are just beginning your Facebook strategy, growing your audience through your Facebook Page alone is almost impossible. To grow it properly, you have to 1) Invest in advertising and 2) share through your personal profile.

My suggestion to most of my clients is to utilize their personal profile as much as possible. As you saw in my previous point, Facebook Groups are heavily endorsed right now. To join those, you must do it with your personal profile – you can’t do it with your Page.

So join some groups, engage back with others, befriend people you only know through those groups. This is how you begin pushing traffic and engagement to your business.

If you had a website, it works the same way. A website would simply give you more options.

Make Your CTA “Send Message.”

You cannot message someone first through your Facebook Page. But you can always reply to conversations started by others. Once you have them in your inbox, you can talk to them. That being case, make your messenger the first part of your conversation.

The messenger is a great tool to use for quick engagement with your consumers. Some of my clients use this as their main communication tool. Although, this is where a website becomes important to me. Data collection and building email marketing. You don’t get all of the information you may wish for through Facebook Messenger. Nonetheless, utilize it in your Facebook marketing efforts. Any communication is positive.

These are just some ways to utilize your Facebook marketing. Keep this last note in mind: you can purchase a domain and link it straight to your Facebook Page, making it like your website. Although, this does not always help rank you above your competition. That being said, if you use all of these strategize in connection to your website, you have a better edge at ranking your website because this engagement will build into your SEO ranking for both Local Listings and website ranking. If you want to ask me more questions about this, message me on Facebook 🙂