The New Door-to-Door Marketing: Would You Like to be My Facebook Fan?

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Katie

As I discussed in my previous post, “The Facebook Generational Divide,” different age demographics use social media (namely, Facebook) in extremely different ways, which inarguably has implications on how they consume advertising messages. So, what do these varying behaviors mean for companies looking to interact with their consumers via Facebook?

Firstly, if you didn’t already know, the game is about to change. Facebook has already begun to roll out their new Fan Pages, which will allow companies to appear more like personal profiles. Also, Facebook is redesigning their homepage so that companies’ updates will appear in your News Feed. This means, from a consumer standpoint, we’re going to be hearing a lot more about our favorite brands because their communications will be mixed in with the updates we receive from our friends. From a corporate standpoint, this change means higher consumer engagement (at least among your Facebook fans) because more people are likely to click-through to your Fan Page. A seeming win-win.

But…and here’s the catch, how do you get people to fan their favorite brands on Facebook in the first place?

Again, I think it varies by demographic. One model we often refer to at BoldMouth is Charlene Li’s Social Technographics Ladder. If you click on the data tool, you will see that different demographics’ behaviors vary significantly. For a marketer looking to get into social media, it is crucial to understand how your target behaves online. Often times we get the question, what social networks does my company need to be on? And the answer is, well that depends on, one, your target audience, and two, your marketing objectives. For example, if you find that your target is a large percentage of “Joiners,” or those who actively engage on social networks, then Facebook is probably a good place for you to be. But if your marketing goal is to generate awareness for a new product, just setting up a Fan Page isn’t going to cut it. You might consider creating an application or free gift to draw attention to the product by generating pass-along within the network. In other words, the brand would be pushed out virally through Facebook instead of waiting for Facebook users to discover the brand on their own.

Back to my original question though; If you find that a Facebook Fan Page fits in with your target audience and your goals, then what motivates members to become your Fan?

For my age demographic (18-24), the “What does this say about me?” question seems to be a big factor. I just did a quick cruise through my college/recently graduated friends and it seems the average range of Fan Pages is about 0-10 per profile… mostly musicians, TV shows, politicians, and real-life groups (sororities, their job, etc.). Typically they don’t fan their favorite “brands” but rather, the pages are a reflection of who they are and their interests. By pasting a brand to your page, it’s almost like you are pro-actively pushing a product to your friends which might have a big stigma attached to it. So, at least for my peers, it’s far safer to say “I support President Obama” than it is to say, “I like to shop at the Gap;” or “I listen to Jason Mraz” is easier than “I like to eat at Taco Bell.” The judgments placed on material consumption are much higher than other categories, like music, sports, and television.

Then take for comparison the under 18 crowd. I only have a few friends still in high school, but what a huge difference in the number of Fan Pages! One friend had 12 fan pages, another had 72, and another had 110! And by comparison, they were filled with well-known brands (Disney World, iPods, Subway, Cold Stone, AT&T, Snapple, Verizon, Juicy Fruit, Five Guys, Starbucks, Herbal Essences, to name a few). The question here is, what doesn’t motivate them to become a fan? It’s not exactly a sign of tremendous brand loyalty, but even so, if your target is primarily in the under-18 demographic, or if you’ve got a posh brand that resonates with younger generations, definitely set up a page. My only concern for these brands is that once the fans start getting updates from all of these pages in their News Feeds, they might start to drop out to avoid all of the clutter. It will be interesting to observe if this behavior changes in the coming weeks.

Finally, with the older generations (40+), the number of Fan Pages was more hit or miss. Many had no Fan Pages on their profile at all, while those who did had an average of 45-60. The biggest differentiator in this segment seemed to be whether they were using Facebook for business or to reconnect with personal acquaintances. Those who used it primarily for business had a significantly higher number of product-endorsements (while they were for very different products and services than the under 18 crowd… Keurig, Volvo, Blue Moon, Wall Street Journal, etc.) When marketing to this segment, Facebook Fan Pages work best when someone actively invites their network to join the page (for instance, by sending a personal message to support a cause). Many won’t hesitate to support a product or service that a friend takes the time to recommend, especially if it is also something they personally enjoy.

I’m very curious to see what the changes to Facebook will mean for corporate Fan Pages and the company’s interaction with fans. What do you think will happen? Is it going to mean more people will become fans or more people will de-fan?

And if you’re interested in staying in touch with us, become a BoldMouth Facebook fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/BoldMouth-Inc/51871521540?ref=ts!

TAGS: Facebook, BoldMouth, social media marketing, fan, Fan Page, redesign, age, demographics, Charlene Li, Social Technographics, Katie Hollar

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