We’ve all heard how important this social media thing is to advertisers these days. And it’s not hard to see why.
Take facebook, for example. Every brand’s target audience is already there. Setting up a facebook page is relatively low cost (the cost comes in the form of time required to keep your page current) and the participatory nature of facebook means fans themselves help spread the word, which is free advertising. And as we all know, engaged consumers make the best customers – and facebook pages help generate more of such customers.
Still, you might well ask: why would anyone become a fan of some big company’s facebook page? Here are three of our competitors who have the answer.
Red Bull (over 2 million fans)
Red Bull uses their facebook page to, among other things, offer a pile of fun content that gives fans a reason to come back and play. Their drunkish dials (see their Boxes section) is a popular feature, and bang on to what their consumer likes about the brand.
Starbucks (over 5 million fans)
Starbucks uses the status update section of their facebook page to impart information and links to helpful articles, reviews, videos etc. Thus fans have an ongoing reason to return and stay involved with the company.
Coca Cola (over 5 million fans)
Sure, it’s loaded with content that keeps fans engaged with the brand. But the best part about this page? Coke didn’t create it. Two average guys did. The page became so popular that Coke found out about it and partnered with the two guys to make the page even better. The two guys still run it and even made a video that tells the story (it’s on the facebook page).
Incidentally, here at JWT Toronto we also have a facebook fan page success story. Our own Show Your Colours campaign effort for Smarties included a facebook fan page, as a vehicle through which people could express support for the overall campaign. In the space of one month the page grew by 80,000 fans.
Which only proves that facebook pages, like everything else we do, work best when they are driven by an idea that’s relevant to the consumer.
PS: If you’re interested in learning more about successful company facebook pages, here’s where I got the information for this week’s link.
jwtto.wordpress.com 