Were you one of those people back in 2008 who looked at your Facebook profile and thought ... "I see some real potential here for business owners."

No?

That's cool. Well, how do you feel about the idea now? Is Facebook as a marketing mechanism ridiculous, a no-brainer, or somewhere in between?

Well, if you're looking for some comrades who share your point of view -- or you're still trying to establish one (that's okay, too) -- we have some stats to help you out. Actually, we have 47 of them. And 12 of them are in this blog post. To read the whole lot of 'em, check out our latest free Facebook ebook, 47 Handy Facebook Stats and Charts. And to get a sneak peek that might help you get a little perspective on how Facebook is being utilized by other marketers, and whether it's working or not, check out some of the stats, charts, and graphs below!

12 Revealing Facebook for Business Marketing Stats

1) Facebook matters for business owners.

That's not just the marketers who think it's nice. There's a significant chunk of marketers and business owners whose marketing strategies rely heavily on Facebook.

2) How does that compare to business owners' opinion of Facebook marketing in 2009?

Wow, we've come a long way, baby. And I only expect that number to keep skyrocketing as marketers learn more about how Facebook can help their businesses, and as Facebook continues to roll out more personalization options for advertisers and marketers.

3) But it's not just Facebook ...

Even if you fall into that 42% of marketers who see Facebook as critical or important to marketing -- and frankly, even if you just think it's mildly helpful -- remember that integrating your social channels is crucial for optimal results. Encourage Twitter followers to become Facebook fans, Facebook fans to comment on your LinkedIn page, and Pinterest users to share their images on your Facebook Timeline. There's plenty of opportunity for cross-channel promotion that will help you grow your reach.

4) Marketers' investment in social media makes sense!

Some marketers might be convinced they can generate leads from social media ... but do they really turn into customers? Turns out, they do. And they require less of marketing's budget to do it, too. That's a pretty sweet deal.

5) And it definitely makes sense to invest in Facebook for marketing.

If you were wondering how it would look if we drilled down into Facebook, there's your answer. The big blue book of faces generates customers. And not just for B2C companies! You hear me, B2B marketers?!

6) So, who is kicking the most butt with Facebook customer generation?

Lots of industries are dominating with Facebook marketing, but retail is the reigning champion (for now, anyway). We'll get that "Software" bar in the middle rising if our lives depend on it ;-)

7) So, where do marketers struggle with Facebook?

The least amount of benefit was seen from lead generation on Facebook -- but if the social network is helping brands with customer generation, they might just be dealing with a low-volume/high-quality situation ... which isn't the worst scenario to find yourself in. But, it still may be worth a gander at our free ebook, How to Generate Traffic & Leads With Facebook, for a little assistance.

8) The opportunity for Facebook ROI is certainly there ...

It's marketing 101, really: engage with your audience using their preferred method. Your target audience wants to post to your Facebook Page's Timeline? You sure as shootin' better have a Facebook Page to post to. And one that's being monitored and updated at that.

9) Facebook Timeline has helped with engagement, too.

Since the new Facebook Timeline design rolled out, brands have seen a tremendous increase in engagement -- things like comments, likes, and shares of posts. That's good news for marketers, because Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm favors these posts more, which means it's more likely their posts will show up in users' news feeds. That's a recipe for success for marketers trying to expand their reach!

10) Interactive content is leading the way for engagement.

If marketers are looking to get even more out of Facebook, it's time to invest in interactive content. In fact, any visual content will help; this stat includes both video and photos! So if creating a video feels a little bit out of your league, perhaps you can simply brush up on your infographic skills. We've even created a simple template for you so you can make them without a designer, right in PowerPoint!

11) But don't get too excited about people sharing that content on Facebook.

If you have a large enough audience, that ratio isn't half bad. But if you're working with only a couple hundred fans, you'll see every piece of content you post to Facebook get more traction once you expand your reach. So keep posting visual content -- high engagement means it shows up in users' News Feeds the most, so you'll grow your reach faster -- and then start focusing on converting those fans into leads by posting a bit more lead generation content.

12) But if you really want engagement on Facebook, you still have to do it the old fashioned way.

This doesn't mean, however, that you can't still use a social media publishing template to get some of the dirty work done in advance. Think of the content you'd like to post to Facebook during the upcoming week, and craft the copy, shortened links (don't forget to include a tracking URL!), and any image you'd like to include. We've actually already created the social media publishing template for you -- just download the free Excel spreadsheet, fill it in, and make your life a heck of a lot easier!

So any of these Facebook stats surprise you? Check out the rest in our newest free ebook, 47 Handy Facebook Stats and Charts.