It’s not necessary that every small business should use Facebook to market their products or services. Some people are of the opinion that, in certain cases, using Facebook would a waste of resources when there are other alternatives available.

One example of this is Copyblogger which struggled to engage its fans and which, in part, was due to not paying any money to promote its content either.

Of course, a number of marketers consider the number of Facebook fans to be a factor of success but this isn’t true. In more cases than not, it has to do with the level of engagement you have with your fans. In other words, if there is no engagement whatsoever, there is no point wasting your time on Facebook.

If customer interaction and the communication of information is important then it might work for you or else it might just be another hindrance where your efforts and resources will be better used elsewhere.

For example, a number of companies in the gas & oil sector will not necessarily be able to engage their customers due to the inability to cause excitement about their products or services. Similarly, if your business involves renting or manufacturing equipment, this will not necessarily work for you either.

If the three main objective of internet marketing isn’t met such as building brand awareness and loyalty, sharing relevant industry content and promoting events, then there’s very little likelihood that you can generate leads or even engage with influencers either.

Having said that, alternatives such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ might work given that the approach needed is different. Of course, if you still want to use Facebook, use it for either communicating with employees or to hire new employees.