The FINANCIAL — Advertising on Facebook has no affect on sales, said the companies which are advertising through Facebook. However, this is the cheapest price for advertising declared the companies in their interviews with The FINANCIAL.
“Internet advertising through Facebook does not directly affect sales. Still, some individuals do visit our pages through Facebook and moreover, we only spend 100 USD per month on it which is not expensive,” declared Rezo Natroshvili, Director of Proservice.
“We haven’t seen a big difference, but this could be due to the fact that it is the summer season so most of our customers are on holiday at this time. But we have seen that it works. After we started advertising through Facebook our phone didn’t stop ringing. It’s definitely the most convenient and effective way of advertising for that amount of money,” said Giorgi Bekarashvili, Director of Luckyshop.ge.
“Facebook offers many options for advertising time and payment, which is very convenient for us. There have been days when we have had to spend more than 50 USD, but there are also days when there is no need to spend more than 20 USD as most of our potential customers must not be at their computers during that time. It’s marketing and therefore there are many things to be considered,” added Bekarashvili.
At Curves, administrator Elene Okruashvili declared that sales have increased, however not significantly.
“It’s been a week that we have been advertising through Facebook, and our daily budget is 1 USD. We believe that advertising through Facebook will lead us to new customers soon,” declared Raji Pilipia, Director of Tenteriusi.
Companies declared that the main purpose for advertising was still the popularity of Facebook and the fact that many Georgians have accounts on the social network, so their ads are visible to many.
“The main purpose of advertising through Facebook is to make our brand more widely available and well known for potential customers and others. We want our brand and service to be known by every person in the country, so even if someone is not interested in our service, they could still tell their friends or relatives about us. That’s why advertising on FaceBook is ideal for this purpose. The business we do mostly depends on confidence and experience as our service and delivery timeframe are sometimes surprising for some customers.
The other purpose of advertising on FaceBook is to remind old customers that we still hold a leading position on the market and that we still have the quickest service in Georgia. Advertising through Facebook is the best way to communicate with thousands of people at the same time,” said Bekarashvili, Luckyshop.ge.
Pilipia said that the main aim was to advertise to the largest segment of population possible between the ages of 18-65 and to be more accessible to their existing customers also.
The FINANCIAL interviewed key companies in Georgia on why they are not advertising through Facebook.
Radisson BLU Iveria Hotel is using Facebook’s fan page to promote their activities via the social network.
“We have been running a Facebook page for the hotel for several months now, also for our Anne Semonin spa. The number of our fans is increasing every day. The advantage of this is that we can read our fans’ comments, as their opinions are very important to us. Nowadays Facebook is the only free way to reach a desired segment and advertise new products or services. Today thousands of business owners and professionals thrive online because they know the secrets of using Facebook, which offers unprecedented opportunities for both the large corporations and small businesses,” declared Natalia Luchaninova, PR and Marketing coordinator at Radisson BLU Iveria.
David Lee, General Diretcor of MagtiCom, declares that they are still observing Facebook and are looking at the ways the social network can be used as an advertising medium. “This is all part of the modern world which is arriving very fast,” said David Lee.
Mzia Sharashidze, PR Manager at Redix, said that they are actively using their fan page and have quite a lot of friends. The number of Redix’s friends has already reached 817 fans.
Sophie Balavadze, Corporate Communications and PR Manager at Bank of Georgia, said that at this stage they are not using Facebook for advertising means.
“This social utility has quickly taken over the social networking space and provides a secure environment for people to interact with family, friends and others in the most efficient manner possible. I believe that more personalized social advertising complements the ways that people use Facebook every day—to discover, share and connect with the people and the world around them. Facebook gives every member the chance to connect to the companies and brands they like and learn more about their products and services,” said Luchaninova.
