Could Facebook be a useful marketing tool?

Yes, Facebook is an important tool and highly effective and all means of communication Social Council Katawaitr also important and effective marketing

Dear Oksana,   For Small business YES, we recommend facebook as a marketing tool, for M & L business we can Say facebook is a marketing channel....
where you can promote and keep building your brand.
  Despite a plethora of social networks and location-based services being launched every other month, Facebook continues to be the #1 Marketing Tool for small businesses.
These are the findings of a MerchantCircle survey which queried8,000 small businesses about the adoption of various marketing products.
  The survey reports that as many as70 percent small businesses use Facebook to promote their business – up from50 percent a year ago.
  It’s yet another indication of the how the world’s leading social network has come off age – many businesses say that Facebook now ranks ahead of Google, the leader in online advertising.
  Facebook has always been popular amongst business users but it lacked the killer punch of an attractive location-based service.
Facebook Places filled the gap and it’s no wonder that it’s sucking small businesses away from Foursquare, Gowalla and others.
  Facebook Places When Facebook Places was launched, critics were quick to write it off as yet another location-based service.
However, it has proved to be a master stroke for the world’s leading social network.
Nearly32 per cent of survey respondents are promoting their business through Facebook Places and an additional12 per cent plan to use it in the coming months.Though Foursquare is widely regarded as the world’s most popular location-based service, it leaves a lot to be desired for business users.
In contrast, Facebook Places has been a blessing in disguise for the world’s leading social network and there are ominous signs that it will continue to rule the small to medium-size business segment for the next several years.
  Facebook vs.
Google The survey confirms that search marketing is still #1 means to achieve overall effectiveness in online marketing.
Nearly half of respondents (40 percent) said that Google helped them generate the biggest return on investment.
IMO, it’s not an either/ or proposition between Facebook and Google.
While the former brings the power of social media, the latter helps boost a small business through SEO and viral search.
  Maximize Facebook as a marketing tool: Below are some good insights from Smith on what small business owners can do to maximize Facebook as a marketing tool.
 
1- If you plan to use Facebook for your business, be sure to be truthful and sincere in what you tell your customers.
Share real stories that your customers will be interested to hear in the same way that they are eager to know about what happened to their family and friends for the day.
You also have to make it fun and enjoyable for your customers to view your page and read your posts. 
    
2- Small business owners should measure and monitor the effectiveness and reach of their Facebook page.
One way of doing this is by keeping an eye on the figure in "People Talking About This".
Also, you should not only look at the number of fans your Facebook page has, but also the friends of fans that have been reached.
Moreover, you should establish a mechanism by which you can determine how much of your customers have known about you from Facebook so you can see the direct correlation between your sales and your social media efforts. 
    
3- Another useful but not commonly used tool is "Page Insights" which helps you understand the kinds of stories that spark the interest of your followers and how extensive your messages are getting across a broad spectrum of audiences.
You should make the most of this Facebook offering as it provides an instant (not to mention, free) market analysis for your company.
From the "Page Insights", find out what your customer segments are, what type of messaging works best for them, and if and how your promotions are accepted and shared by your fans. 
    
4- Learn from the tips provided by Facebook through its marketing /marketing.
You can also watch the videos and webinars that are available /classroom.
Both of these are aimed at helping small business owners do effective marketing without having to spend millions of dollars each year. 
   
5- Of course, you have to run Facebook ads aside from your usual marketing messages in your page to extend your reach to more people and to hopefully generate more sales for your business.
The good thing about Facebook advertising is that you can define your target audience according to age, gender and geographical location.
Also, make sure you align your advertising efforts to the interests of most of your customers.
Experiment on what ad will have the most positive response from your fans and be creative in crafting your messages.
  You can also use broad categories to tailor fit your ads to your targeted audience.
For example, if your business is a pet shop, choose "pets" from the "interests" category so you can reach all Facebook users who have or like pets.
  Lastly, you can utilize "Promoted Posts", a new tool from Facebook that allows you to convert popular posts to ad materials.
For example, if you see from your "Page Insights" that your post about the iPad created a buzz among many of your fans, then you can promote this and be able to reach out to even more online users.
  Thanks Hany Sewilam AbdelHamid Business Development Manager

YES IT IS A USEFUL MARKETING TOOL , I THINK ALL PEOPLE WHO WANT TO ESTABLISH SMALL OR MEDIUM BUISNESS PROGECT   , SHOULD START FROM FACE BOOK , IT WILL BE USEFFUL ONLY DEPENDING  ON THE TYPE OF PRODUCT , THE PRODUCTION COUNTRY , THE USE OF THE PRODUCT  AND WE CAN KNOW IF THE PRODUCT IS USEFUL TO YOU OR NOT ?

Of couse it can! Facebook is one of the most valuable social media channels one can use to promote products and services, provided with the right content for the right audience, it should accomplish the targeted goals whether it was to increase sales or to reach a respectable CRM level.
    It all depends on your strategy and how do you want to approch the consumer.

yes

Sure and it will be.1 billion people is inside there and the best advertisment is from mouth to mouth.Get a clever idea and let facebook to be your best advertisor.....

Facebook is a useful marketing tool as most companies are using this tool to promote their products.
But be very careful in using this tool because facebook user doesn't like to be bombarded by too many promotions and advertisement.
As a company, you must post that are relevant to your viewer/customer.
You must act as an expert and advisor and not as an advertiser.
You must know your demographic in order for your fanpage will be relevant and useful to them.

Yes, but it is important to understand that Facebook is part of a number of different social media tools that need to be utilized to effectivly gain the attention of a specific or general demographic.
  It is important to know that the under 13 demographic is no longer interested in using facebook (at least in the west) and the reason for that is because facebook has an age limitation for opening an account the under13 demographic had to find an alternative social network for them to communicate on.
Many of them found alternatives and no longer find a need for facebook to be a part of their online repertoir (proof http://mashable.com/2013/08/11/teens-facebook/)   Facebook is actually becoming more and more important for the elderly (above60 years of age) and so reaching them through facebook has become an acceptable means of communication.
Personally I have found that my facebook usage has decreased considerably in the past year because of facebooks constant changes in their form factor and because I no longer enjoy being stalked by old school colleagues.

In these days, Facebook is one of the main marketing tools for your product or service, even if you could get any profile through facebook, you still have a direct contact with your customers or any potential customers.
  Facebook also is n ot just a marketing tool , its a main PR tool, you can use it to change the whole perspective of your customers and feedback about your product if you use it wisely based on a well studied plan. 

Yes, technology is best way to market now a days, social media has opened the door for new ventures, interaction and popularization has become easiar, one should make full use of it.....

Yes Facebook now a days acting as one of the most powerful medium for marketing...