Blog: How Important is Your Facebook Brand Page to Your Social Media Strategy?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been interviewing marketing executives for an eMarketer report looking at budgeting for social media in 2011. It’s been a fascinating exercise; the businesses I’ve spoken to are quickly leaving behind the experimental stage and moving toward full integration of social media.

One of the key questions confronting marketers as they develop their 2011 budgets is how much emphasis they should place on their branded Facebook page, and how much action (and interaction) they should logically expect. Last week, Shiv Singh, head of digital for PepsiCo Americas Beverages, asked this question of his Twitter followers:

How many Facebook users are active on pages versus the newsfeed and profiles? What percentage of users visit pages often. Wish I knewless than a minute ago via webShiv Singh
shivsingh

It’s an important thing to ask. There’s been a long-held belief that consumers are too busy interacting with friends to pay attention to brands in social media. But Facebook’s Like button has changed that. In a study of the ways US Internet users interact with brands online, ExactTarget found that 38% have followed at least one brand by clicking on a “Like” button, while 5% followed at least one brand on Twitter.

According to a survey by DDB Worldwide, 27% of people who have liked a brand on Facebook say they often click that little thumbs-up button, and an additional 49% do it occasionally.

These brand interactions are growing, but by no means are they taking the place of interacting with friends. ROI Research and Performics found in a survey conducted this past spring that 25% of US Facebook users visit company or product pages, but 54% make comments about other people’s posts.

What does this mean when it comes to budgeting for social media next year? A few things:

Consumers are more willing to interact with branded pages. It’s time to banish the idea that brands are ignored in social media. Brian Solis predicts in his blog that because of Facebook’s position as the center of social interaction on the web, by this time next year, marketers will spend “more time and resources on Facebook than you will on Twitter.”Interactions with branded pages will be a key metric to watch in 2011. As Singh’s question indicates, it’s one thing to know how many Likes you have, but how often do those fans actually interact with your page? The top brands on Facebook may have millions of followers, but the more important metric will be their actual interactions with the brand (and, of course, the effect of those interactions on product sales).The Like button isn’t just for social media. Jennifer Van Grove, writing on Mashable, described how the Golden State Warriors basketball team increased its Facebook “like” base by 20% by sending e-mail marketing messages asking fans to like the team in exchange for an opportunity to win tickets to preseason games.

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