Businesses turn to Facebook for word-of-mouth advertising
HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. -- Bartender Beau Dieda does more than mix and serve drinks every night at popular nightspot Baja Sharkeez: He is also instructed to sign up friends and fans for his company's Facebook page, as well as his own. Before he leaves the restaurant, he sends bulletins to his collective fan base inviting them back in for specials, discounts or events.
"It's one of the best ways we can reach a vast audience," he says. "After my shift, I can blast it to 650 friends in 30 seconds. I don't have to go around to each person, or call them up."
Facebook, with 250 million members, has gone beyond being just a place where you can alert friends about the music you're listening to, who you're dating or what movies you like. The social network's expanded Pages feature lets businesses, organizations and public figures in on the action. They can create profiles that let them sign up fans, issue status updates and send messages. Businesses like Baja Sharkeez that cater to young people and big companies like Pizza Hut and Coca-Cola are finding it's profitable to be your Facebook friend.
What also is enticing marketers: 120 million Facebook users log on at least once a day, and 30 million of them access Facebook on mobile devices. And those with major purchasing power — ages 35 and up — represent the fastest-growing demographic.
There are more than 100,000 small-business pages — 300,000 total business pages — on Facebook, says Tim Kendall, the company's director of monetization.
Some large companies have attracted huge followings. Coca-Cola and Starbucks have over 3 million fans; Adidas shoes has 1.9 million. Pizza Hut is closing in on 1 million fans, whom it regularly updates about specials and new menu items.
"It makes us very relevant to the audience, and lets us communicate with them where they are, in a way that our website can't do," says Bernard Acoca, Pizza Hut's senior director of digital marketing.
Sprinkles, a small chain of cupcake bakeries, is itching to get to 100,000 Facebook fans. Co-owner Charles Nelson started in April sending quizzes, free cupcake offers, contests and other enticements on Facebook to bring people in.
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