Although most large companies still spend millions of dollars on advertising, sales promotions and public relations, (as well as possibly direct marketing and person selling) internet marketing is gaining in popularity among companies. Social networks, like Facebook, Twitter and Linked are a huge reason people go online, and as I showed in this post, Americans spent over 900 million hours using social networks in June 2010 alone.
It only makes sense for companies to use social networks in an effort to achieve their marketing goals. Social networking, along with blogging, multimedia sharing, collaborating and providing entertainment on the internet has become a great way for companies to interact with fans and gain customer feedback, increase brand awareness and maybe even generate sales.
So why isn’t every company taking advantage of these online resources? Lots of reasons! A big one being there is a lack of direct ROI (return on investment) measurement that makes marketers wary that they are effectively generating sales for their company through social networking. Of course, it also takes a whole lot of time to do well, it may not have the support of upper management and in worse case scenario, it could lead to negative results.
According to a study done by WongDoody (yes, that’s the real name of a US marketing agency!), even the leading global brands who have the resources to effectively utilize social networking could use some improvement on the social networking juggernaut Facebook. That is, if they use it at all, which sixteen of the top 100 don’t!
In a study from February 2011, WongDoody evaluated the Facebook activity of the top 100 brands, as determined by Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2010 rankings. They found that the other 84 of the top 100 brands present on Facebook are most lacking in quality content and involvement techniques. For example, while 88% of the brands posted videos on their Facebook pages, the videos are, for the most part, television commercials. Not exactly specialized content to reward fans for “liking” your brand! They also found that only 66% of the brands actively reply to fan posts or comments, even though 82% of them solicit fan stories and comments! That means a third of the corporate Facebook users are missing an opportunity to interact with and engage fans, one of the biggest benefits of social media.
If you want to see WongDoody’s full report, click here.
So are these companies achieving their marketing goals for social networking? Probably not! If they are, they shouldn’t be, because interaction and engagement should be key goals for any social media campaign. But of the top 100 brands as determined by Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2010, which ones are using Facebook the best?
Well, according to Interbrand the Top Ten Brands in 2010 are:
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Compare this to the Top-10 brands on Facebook in the last month, according to SocialBakers, the “Heart of Facebook Statistics”, are:
# | Name | Fans | Growth |
1. | 22 766 262 | +2.66% | |
2. | 19 809 260 | +1.91% | |
3. | 17 532 937 | +5.57% | |
4. | 16 900 504 | +2.20% | |
5. | 15 475 646 | +2.98% | |
6. | 15 312 252 | +2.58% | |
7. | 12 906 187 | +2.88% | |
8. | 11 623 580 | +2.53% | |
9. | 11 463 147 | +4.82% | |
10. | 10 610 203 | +2.83% |
Coca-Cola is on the top in both places, but that’s where the similarities end! Ok, if you look at the U.S. list McDonald’s is number 1 and in Canada they are number 6 in, but still. (In case your interested, globally Disney Pixar is #22, McDonalds is #23, Nokia is #54 and Google is #59. After that I stopped looking.)
So what makes a fan page like Starbuck’s so great? Especially since they don’t have the resources of the Top-10 global brands (they are actually rated #97 on the list of Best Global Brands 2010)? Well according to Mashable Starbuck’s content is varied, fun, and interesting. Their page “incorporates great videos, varied content, and has active engagement with the fans”, good and bad. Like one fan who uploaded a photo of a large box Starbucks used to send her 5 small stickers.
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Facebook fan: "I like Starbucks, but aren't we all trying to be a bit greener now a days? Check out the big O box the company used to send me 5 stickers!!" |
But even this comment is constructive, and Starbucks could use it to change its practice of sending out large boxes for small products. By allowing comments like these, they are making the most of their social networking. According to SocialBakers, Starbucks even responds to 58% of Wall Posts. Not bad, considering that if even 1% of their 19+ million fans leaves a comment, that's, well, a lot of posts!
So which companies are not using social networking effectively? Well, there are many more examples of companies using social networking poorly than using it well, but pretty much any company doing the opposite of what makes a good Facebook page! I also found this interesting list of the top 9-worst-ways-use-facebook-business, which included #7. Use a Profile Image That has a Poor Thumbnail. For example, the following businesses haven’t cropped theirs logos properly:
Not a huge mistake, but something to avoid.
Overall, I think companies can use social networking for a variety of goals, but to use it well is a different story. Companies need to research, plan, and constantly monitor their efforts to make sure they are really getting the most from their efforts. They need to interact with fans, engage them with content and make sure they are participating in a two-way conversation. These tips not only apply to Facebook pages, but also to the other social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, or any of the other hundreds of others out there.
So what are you doing with your social networking? Do you deliver?
As the WongDoody report said, in the realm of social media,
"to compete with the very best brands in the world, there’s no room for hesitation"
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