游戏邦注：本文作者为Josh Constine，文章通过数据说明Facebook能够通过充分挖掘本土小型企业资源拓展其广告市场。

据MerchantCircle（游戏邦注：这是全球最大地方企业在线网络）表示，虽然有66%的小型企业通过Facebook开展营销活动，但只有22%的企业使用Facebook广告。MerchantCircle日前公布针对5000家本土企业的季度商业信心指数调查及其他研究发现，其中包括：2/3 Facebook广告用户表示会继续使用该服务；定位营销热度降低；团购趋势增强，特别是通过知名企业（如Facebook和谷歌）提供的服务。

调查结果表明，Facebook主要创收来源之一的自助广告业务尚有广阔发展空间。若Facebook能够说服更多网站本土营销者开展广告活动，公司将获得更丰厚营收，增加其在首次公开募股中的信誉。

MerchantCircle Facebook Ads from insidefacebook.com

虽然相比Facebook营销者和广告商规模而言，样本数量很少，但MerchantCircle并未偏袒任何Facebook服务，因此数据可信度较高。

以下是研究调查结果的相关内容。

Facebook广告

* 66%的本土企业使用Facebook开展营销活动

* 虽然只有22%的本土企业使用Facebook广告，但有94%知晓该服务

* 在上述22%企业中，65%表示愿意继续使用该服务

* 愿意继续使用的原因包括：使用方便（66.5%）；能够暂停（64.8%）；目标市场质量高（53.7%）；有望获得新用户（49.3%）

*未重复使用Facebook广告的原因包括：未能获取新用户（69%）；成本问题（34.5%）；低点击率（28.5)

Facebook广告知名度高，且营销者和广告商数量仍有44%的差距，这表明，自助广告产品尚有很大发展空间。Facebook依然能够提高重复广告商比例，克服导致企业拒绝重复使用该服务的最大弊端（游戏邦注：通过加大教育力度，向广告商提供定位、创造和竞价管理最佳方案）。

Not Use Facebook Ads from insidefacebook.com

日常交易数量

* 只有9.4%的本土企业开展日常交易活动，8.4%表示目前没有但计划未来6个月展开该活动

* 开展交易的企业当中，77%表示会继续进行该活动，上季度该比例只有50%

* 在众所周知的大平台中，52%的本土企业表示会选择通过Facebook Deals或Google Offers开展活动，而非通过团购网、LivingSocial或其他交易供应商。

* 选择Facebook的原因包括：用户规模更大（26%）；本土定位效果更好（21%）

* 选择谷歌的原因包括：用户规模更大（42%）；品牌信誉（34%）

Facebook日常交易服务Facebook Deals开始出现波动，据资料显示，由于交易价值低且质量不高，通过该服务的交易数量很少。但MerchantCircle数据表明，企业偏好使用该服务。Facebook需考虑资助Facebook Deals，这样它才能够提供大折扣吸引用户，同时考虑提高文案写作和设计，让Facebook Deals更具吸引力。

定位和手机营销

* 22%的企业使用Facebook Places作为营销平台，相比上季度的32%而言有所下滑。

* 只有7%的企业使用Foursquare开展营销活动，相比上季度的9%有所下滑

* 18%的本土企业使用手机营销或手机广告，71%表示自己对此缺乏了解，因此没有使用该服务

Facebook定位交易服务Checkin Deals（游戏邦注：该服务依托于Places）接受度并不高，虽然这是鼓励用户通过签到向好友推荐商品的免费渠道。Facebook需要提供更多教育资源，可以选择在主流市场开展在线研讨会或现场研讨会，帮助推广Checkin Deals。

Inside Facebook MerchantCircle Marketing Channels from insidefacebook.com

总的来说，数据表明，Facebook依然留给小型本土企业众多营销和广告机会。但企业若没有强大广告或营销团队，便难以充分理解社交性，提供足够资金。虽然Facebook有意减少其雇员数量，维持初创状态，但这个策略也可能会阻碍其开展教育活动及提供教育力度，而这些举措能够促进其发展业务。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

MerchantCircle Survey Indicates Plenty of Runway for Facebook Ads Among Local Businesses

By Josh Constine

While 66% of small businesses have used Facebook for marketing, only 22% have used Facebook ads, according to MerchantCircle, the largest online network of local business owners. The company released its quarterly Merchant Confidence Index survey of 5,000 local business owners today, and other findings include the following: two thirds of those who’ve used Facebook ads would do so again, location-based marketing is declining, and interest is on the rise for group deals, especially those published by familiar entities including Facebook and Google.

The survey’s results indicate that Facebook’s self-serve advertising business, which account for a very significant portion of its total revenue, has plenty of room to grow. If Facebook can convince more local marketers on the site to advertise, it could fuel big total revenue gains that might improve its standing in the event of a long-anticipated IPO.

While the sample size is relatively low compared to the amount of marketers and advertisers on Facebook, MerchantCircle doesn’t overtly tout an Facebook-related services, so the data shouldn’t be biased.

Here are the core findings of the study:

Facebook Ads

66% of local businesses use Facebook for marketing

94% of local businesses are aware of Facebook Ads, though only 22% use them

Of those 22%, 65% said they would use Facebook Ads again

Reasons cited for repeat use of Facebook Ads were: ease of use (66.5%), ability to pause (64.8%), quality of targeting (53.7%), opportunities for acquiring new customers (49.3%)

Reasons cited for not using Facebook Ads again included: not acquiring new customers (69%), cost (34.5%), low click-through rate (28.5%)

The high awareness of Facebook Ads, coupled with the 44% difference between marketers and advertisers shows that there’s great potential for the self-serve ad product to grow. Facebook could increase the percentage of repeat advertisers and counter the biggest reason for not repeating by improving its education efforts and providing advertisers with best practices for targeting, creative, and bid management.

Daily Deals

Only 9.4% of local businesses have offered a daily deal, with 8.4% saying they haven’t but plan to in the next six months

77% of those who’ve run deals say they’d do so again, up from 50% last quarter

Citing familiarity with these big platforms, 52% of of local businesses would choose to run Facebook Deals or Google Offers instead of deals through Groupon, LivingSocial or other deals providers

Other reasons for preferring Facebook included bigger audience size (26%), and better local targeting (21%)

Other reasons for preferring Google included bigger audience size (42%), and brand reputation (34%)

Facebook’s daily deals service Facebook Deals is off to a shaky start, with anecdotal evidence suggesting few purchases due to weak value and low quality of available deals. However, MerchantCircle’s data indicates businesses are interested in using the service. Facebook needs to consider subsidizing Deals so it can hook users with huge discounts, and should consider improving copy-writing and design to make Deals more compelling.

Location-Based and Mobile Marketing

22% of businesses are using Facebook Places for marketing, down from 32% last quarter

Only 7% are using Foursquare for marketing, down from 9% last quarter

18% of local businesses have used mobile marketing or advertising, with 71% citing a lack of understanding as their primary barrier to use.

Facebook’s location-based deals service Checkin Deals that builds on Places hasn’t seen much adoption despite it being a free way to inspire users to promote a business to their friends through checkins. Again, Facebook needs to provide better educational resources, perhaps in the form of webinars or live seminars in key markets to jumpstart business adoption of Checkin Deals.

Overall, the data tells a story of how Facebook holds significant marketing and advertising potential for small and local businesses. However, without large dedicated ads or marketing teams they can’t get a good enough understanding of social to dedicate spend there. While Facebook has purposefully tried to keep its number of employees low to maintain the startup feel, the strategy may be inhibiting it from conducting the education and outreach efforts that could accelerate growth of its business.（Source：insidefacebook）