Besides the number of flaws Facebook has, there is one thing no one can deny: Facebook has been a heavenly gift for a number of small Ireland based businesses. Many of them started in someone’s living room.
Are you someone who loves to knit and wants to start selling scarfs or winter hats online? Are you a photographer who tries to draw an audience and prospective clients simply by posting wonderful pictures? Are you a baker who receives cakes and pastry orders through your Facebook message page? Or are you a small entrepreneur who sells imported clothing items? Whatever your business, Facebook can offer an unlimited audience and prospect customers for any aspiring entrepreneur.
In the past years, the rules of the game have changed. In the beginning Facebook was offering audience for free, but now everything has a price, although it is their right to do so. If you are using a free platform to promote your Irish business, you cannot be picky when rules change.
Owners of small businesses that grow exclusively on Facebook should be well aware that any Facebook page is subjected to the rules of the social network, which can change at any moment. When it comes to Irish businesses that exist only on Facebook, there are advantages and disadvantages.
Did you know that almost 2 million Irish people use Facebook every single day?
In addition, up to 70% of Irish businesses are on Facebook, whether these businesses are exclusively selling on Facebook or they are using the social platform to complement their selling channels. What does that mean for entrepreneurs all over Ireland? Well, for starters, you can consider Facebook as one of the most accessible and reachable audiences. The cherry on the cake is the varied demographics.
- When it comes to the age of average Facebook user, in Ireland it’s 25-34 years old, meaning approximately 30% of your audience.
- There are over 2.4 million (87% regularly use it on mobile devices) Irish people using Facebook each month, but that doesn’t mean all your prospect clients are there. If your business exists only on Facebook, you might be ignoring other prospect clients
- Whenever you post something on the page, you might be under the impression that all the followers are seeing the message. Usually, the percentage is somewhere between 5 and 15%.
- In some cases, when someone is searching for your business name on search engines, they may or not find you, since you are only on Facebook.
- Business that use Facebook only don’t always look trustworthy or highly professional.
Facebook counts over 1.44 milliards of users globally, and it’s constantly growing? If Facebook were a country, it would be the third country as size in the world, after China and India?
Just imagine the business opportunities and the visibility you can gain as a wise entrepreneur on Facebook. The secret is to learn all the insides of Facebook in order to maximize the impact and the visibility with the lowest possible expenses. And believe me, it is possible to achieve exceptional business growth only by means of a simple Facebook business page; the examples are countless out there.
Most Irish businesses opt for testing the market by creating their own Facebook business page, and it’s a great decision. It’s free, you can market your brand with an ease and you can network with prospect clients and related business partners. However, when that basement based business starts to kick in profits and your brand gets recognized, it is time to go to the next level. Make sure you build a solid, distinctive brand with a clear message – do that by building a professional website, with its own domain and start creating a client database with prospect, existent clients.
Remember to always keep in touch with your clients and overall audience: whether it’s through Facebook, your website or other channels.