Making Fans and Friends via Facebook and other social media
By Jeanette McMurtry, MBA
Although I am dating myself, I remember a time when business owners, large and small, contemplated the value of creating a website for their brand. Was it worth the resources and would it really build their business? Now, just a few years later, business owners of all types and sizes are asking the same questions about Facebook and other forms of social media. While there are still many unknowns about how social media impacts sales, there are more reasons to explore a presence for your brand.
To begin, we humans are quite social by nature. We want to mingle, and engage with others in ways that are rewarding. The most meaningful rewards are not tangible trinkets, but more often positive feelings, such as pleasure, security, safety, acceptance, approval, and so on. When we are rewarded in ways that make us happy or feel good about ourselves, we tend to reciprocate appropriately, and in the case of business, that often means purchases and even loyalty. Providing a mutually rewarding experience for your customers should be the foundation of your core social media programs. There are many simple and affordable ways to do this. Just take a look at Facebook pages for some of the leading global brands – Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, sports teams, even Barack Obama, and more.
Facebook is the social site that is taking the Internet if not the entire universe by storm, at least today. It recently overtook Google as the number one website in the U.S. Its attraction is that it gives people a chance to connect with like minds; to voice concerns, thoughts, joys, ideas, and reconnect with people from their past. The fact that the fastest growing population on Facebook is now the middle aged (women over 55 grew 175% in a 120-day period in 2009) indicates that this is not a trendy site for young tech savvy adults who change loyalties the minute a new product launches. It has appeal to all ages, types, and nationalities, giving it staying power that few new media outlets will ever have.
So as adults throughout the U.S. are turning to Facebook for networking and connectivity to the bigger world around them, the choice to Facebook or not Facebook is becoming a bit more clear. Even for B2B marketers.
As Joe Markwith, an Internet marketing strategist, and president of TMA Guild of Denver Colorado, says, “Not having a presence on Facebook can be a negative thing for any business, regardless of industry or if you’re business-to-business or business-to-consumer. Facebook is your ear to your consumers, while your website is your mouthpiece. If you don’t have a Facebook page to enable dialogue and customer feedback, you may be sending the signal that you don’t care to listen to those that keep your business thriving: customers.”
Creating a Facebook presence needs to be more than registering on the Facebook site and posting your logo as your profile photo.
“You need to have a strategy for making your posts and other content relevant and for keeping it current,” continues Markwith. “You also need to be prepared to take the good with the bad as fans might post negative comments on your site or information about issues you might not want others to hear or know about. In some cases, having multiple Facebook pages, each addressing a specific audience, might be the best way to go.”
Following are some things to consider when launching a Facebook page for your company:
Keep the word “Social” in mind: Social is not about selling, pushing products, collecting leads, it is about interacting, engaging, and exchanging thoughts, ideas. The dictionary describes “social” as a means to allow people to interact in a friendly way. This is precisely how you should be looking at tools lik Facebook. These tools are a means to an important end: positive, beneficial relationships with customers and prospects. After great relationships, come the sales.
Walmart’s Facebook page provides a great example of how to best use this medium. When Walmart poses non-product or sale type of questions like “What do you plan to do to celebrate Easter.” It gets hundreds of responses as we people love to talk about ourselves and get validation for our associations with others in good standing and for our individuality. When they post a poll about consumers vs. themselves, the response again is outstanding. Yet when that poll appears to be a solicitation for free endorsements or advertising for Walmart the responses dry up. For example, as of this writing, a poll on their Facebook page asking fans who the family clown was – Mom, Dad or the kids got 261,000 plus responses. On the same day, a poll asking fans about their favorite thing to do at Walmart got just one response. Point made.
Give people a reason to be a fan, and keep them happy: You want your Facebook page to have lots of fans as it immediately sends the signal that you are a company worth associating with, and that others endorse you by aligning with you publicly. To get fans, you need to give people a reason to sign up and come back often. Consider posting coupons, announcements about special promotions, and other incentives exclusively for your Facebook fan community. This will make them feel exclusive and appreciated and inspire them to view your page and read your postings regularly.
Interact, Interact and Interact some more. Facebook and other social sites should not be seen as venues to shout about how wonderful you are. They should be seen as sites that enable your customers to connect with you and get to know your brand on a different level. Fans don’t want to be sold on your site, they want to be engaged and informed in meaningful ways. They also want a venue in which they can be heard. Fans will tell you what you are doing right and wrong, invaluable for any company that wants to stay on top of customer satisfaction. Starbucks has more than 6 million fans on their Facebook page, many of which are quick to point out what they don’t like about changes to recipes, menu items, and more. If Starbucks is listening, they will bring back the old frapuccino mix and rejoice in the success of their new vanilla bean version.
One of the best aspects of Facebook is that it enables brands to show their “human side” or another “face” of their brand, and interact in ways not available elsewhere. When done right, Facebook can build more than relationships, it can build lasting friends.
About the Author
Jeanette McMurtry is a sales and marketing strategist for health care and other industries, specializing in psychology-based approaches. She is the principal of e4marketing and can be reached at 970 390 6909 or jeanette@e4marketingco.com.
