The new Graph Search from Facebook will be launching soon and it’s going to change the way many consumers decide where to spend their money.
We met with a client recently who said, “I don’t have a Facebook page and I don’t want a Facebook page.” In her mind, Facebook was about posting updates and as a busy business owner, she didn’t have time. There are quite a few business owners who feel the same way. The quick retort to their thinking is…you’re losing business.
Facebook’s business pages aren’t about posting updates as much as they are about having another place of indexed information for the search engines to find. Well, that was the old reason. Now there is an even more important reason and that’s Facebook’s new Graph Search.
Have you ever posted a question on your personal Facebook page asking where a good place to eat Italian was? You might get two or three responses, but typically you end up just going to another search engine and looking up choices that way. The new Graph Search will actually scour your friends pages and will pick up on if they have “Liked” an Italian restaurant’s Facebook page. It will also pick up on business pages that have a higher amount of “Likes”. So when you search on the Facebook Graph for Italian restaurant, you will see that your friend Deborah like’s Gino’s and that Stephanie likes Carrabba’s. If Jerry’s Italian Bistro has 200 “Likes” and that’s as much or more than any other Italian restaurant in the area, then they will show up higher in the search results as well.
This Graph Search search engine is going to be a game changer and it becomes more important than ever to have your customers and clients to “Like” your page. It should become part of your marketing campaign. An easy way to direct them to liking your page is to set up an accessible QR code in your waiting area or on the back of your business card. Have it lead to your Facebook page when they scan it with their smartphone. If you really want to do it right, hire a firm like Impact Media to customize your QR code for you so it will stand out and attract attention. Make sure it’s on every receipt, every mailer, anything that leaves your store should have your Facebook QR code on there. This will help you gain more “Likes” quicker and in turn should help optimize your search rankings with the new Facebook Graph Search.
