Are you addicted to Facebook? Come on, be honest! I think I might be... And I am pretty sure there are thousands, no, millions of other people out there who check their Facebook at least five times a day. Considering that Facebook has more than 1,11 billion active users where the regular member spends close to seven hours a month on the platform and that 67% of all internet users are actually on it, the reality today is quite simple: if your brand is not present on Facebook, then it might as well not exist at all. In the 21st century your company cannot afford not to be on Facebook – it’s just how our always-on, everywhere-available society now ticks.

Lately, I’ve seen plenty of articles talking about how people are getting fed up with Facebook and stop using it. One even said that “Facebook is dead among young people.” Imagine that! I can only say, Facebook is certainly not dead among us, the young people, and is not going to be anytime soon because we have grown up with Facebook, it’s our most beloved communications channel and we are not going to ditch it anytime soon. So, brands, if you are not yet on Facebook, please seriously consider creating a presence there, because we, the young people, are your future customers, employees and leaders – we expect you to be available on social media, otherwise you don’t really exist for us because we can’t find you. (Harsh, I know, but this is becoming the prevailing reality.)

If that’s not convincing you, here’s a figure you might like (and relate to ROI – the factor that all CEOs are concerned with): a Facebook fan is worth $174.17 (or £114.22/€135.35) – an increase of 28% since 2010. Imagine you had 10,000 fans! Facebook can indeed be a money making machine :-P

Of course, it’s not only the numbers that you need to be concerned with. This is not the most important metric for the success of your Facebook activities – engagement and conversations matter far more. Nevertheless, a growing number of fans indicates a growing community and a bigger opportunity for your content to spread more extensively and so to reach a wider audience.

Facebook’s importance as part of a brand’s communications strategy can no longer be denied as it has become a must channel for companies to talk with (not to!) their audiences. It may not be the centre of the entire comms or marketing activities, but brands cannot afford to ignore it anymore.

Do you agree with me about the power of Facebook for brands?