6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Facebook for Business | Limitations & Benefits of Facebook for Business

Facebook helps to get connected with people. With 2 billion users, businesses consider Facebook for carrying out their market plans. Today many business use Facebook as a medium to get connected to their customers. It is no doubt that Facebook is one of the greatest platforms for business. 

With all the benefits Facebook offers for business, it is with some drawbacks as well. The below key points needs to be understood for knowing whether it will be a good choice for a company. 

In this article, I will be addressing about 6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Facebook for Business | Limitations & Benefits of Facebook for Business. Through this post, businesses will know the pros and cons of using Facebook.

Let's get started,

Advantages of Facebook for Business

1. Affordability

Facebook is a free platform for everyone. Managing a business page on Facebook does not cost even a single penny. Posting contents which includes product sales can be done free of cost. 

Other than that, business can boost posts on a page for a lower cost. This makes Facebook an affordable option for even smallest business entities.

2. Reach

Using Facebook, business can reach out their targeted customers. A Facebook page allows customers to be reached based on demographics such as age, gender, location, education, occupation and other interests. 

Once a customer knows about your business, they can visit your page to know more about your company. And if a customer likes your page, all the new posts of your business can be seen by them through the newsfeed.

3. Brand Strengthen

The business brand can also be strengthened with the help of Facebook. Especially, if you own a small business, Facebook can be used to establish your brand. 

Whenever a business comes up with a new game or an app, Facebook promotes them to potential customers. Once a customer finds about your business, they can get engaged with your other products as well.

4. Communication

Business and customers can both interact with each other using Facebook. Facebook is equipped with instant messaging features that can be used to send and receive messages. 

Other ways of communications like reviews and comments also exists on Facebook. This helps to build long term relationships with the customer.

5. Analysis

Facebook analytics allows users to analyze page insights. Reports like how many likes, views, comments and shares can be seen in page insights. By using this data, you can actually measure how your business is progressing and what changes can be done to improve the business engagement.

6. Media Support

Various infographics are supported by a Facebook platform. Whatever the type of post you prefer, photos or videos can be directly uploaded to Facebook. Even it is possible to share a YouTube link on your Facebook page such that videos will be directly played through them.

Disadvantages of Facebook for Business

1. Control

Although Facebook lacks control over a public profile, it lacks control when it comes to what others post. Any competitor or an unsatisfied customer could publish negative posts about your business. Lack of control over this contents can eventually bring negative reputations for your business.

2. Maintenance

Maintaining a Facebook page is very time consuming process. The business should be able to respond quickly to the customers queries and complaints. In some instances, the process of maintenance cannot be done by a single person. 

A separate set of staff members with proper training needs to be deployed. These people also make sure that that pages are regularly updated with contents and other measures are taken to make sure that the customers are engaging.

3. Privacy

Managing a Facebook page is not as same as a personal profile. Unlike a personal profile, the users of a Facebook page cannot customize much of their privacy settings. 

All of the posts are made public so that if you like it or not, everyone can basically see what you post. This creates a privacy concern since too much of personal information are exposed to the public.

4. Advertising

Although running a Facebook page is free of cost, advertising on Facebook isn't. Always advertising on Facebook comes with a with a pricing scheme usually in the form of bidding. Even if it is a small business, Facebook only shows advertisements of those who bid higher. Therefore, businesses must be ready to accept those promotional expenses. 

5. Fake Profiles

Not all the profiles present on Facebook are genuine. It is not a big deal to create a fake profile which seems real. Some profiles are created with the intention of misleading business. Once these people find your business, they can spam or troll your page causing devastating consequences.

6. Negative Feedback

It is normal for any business to experience good and bad reviews. The comment section of your Facebook page can also be used to degrade your business. If a customer encounters any bad experience, he/she can share their feedback with others through the comments. 

Whiles users can actually delete those types of comments, it is not advisable to do it so. Instead, they need to look into the complaint and respond immediately.