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I've long wondered why social marketers are so focused on Facebook fan pages. In much the same way that the AOL Keyword was the flavor of the week years ago; it strikes me as the medium of choice for companies that want to appear "social" with as little effort as possible. What I'm curious about though, is the impact.

Twitter, makes sense; I can communicate directly with user and draw them back to a website. YouTube, makes sense; share rich communication with potential or existing customers. Develop something viral and you can reach millions.

Why would one create and foster a Facebook fan page when they could instead promote their own site? Has anyone measured meaningful new business FROM a Facebook fan page or it is simply a badge of honor? A way of saying, look how many people like our business. What benefits have you derived from managing this micro-environment for your business, a community in which users are largely retained ON Facebook and not your website?

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wow 0% accept rate – kalingga Jun 14 '12 at 4:43

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Let's see if this is more useful. You've asked consistently about the value of creating a Facebook page vs. running ads that direct traffic back to your main site. Any useful answer needs to focus on what your business/brand is all about -- because different enterprises will have totally different costs, customer profiles, ROIs, objectives, etc. Let's consider the three main situations.

  1. You're selling zeolite, or titanium bats, or something very specific. It's a niche product. 99.5% of America isn't interested. The other 0.5% is. Your likely customers know what they want, are ready to buy and aren't enormously social. GOOD CHOICE: ads that drive people to your e-store. DISTRACTION: a Facebook page for zeolite fans.

  2. You're promoting a movie, a band, etc. It's a low-dollar, word-of-mouth product. You're hoping for growing waves of customers, most of whom start out not knowing about you but wh get won over by positive word of mouth in the communities where they hang out. You'd like some immediate commerce, but what you really want are lots of enthusiastic fans who spread the word. GOOD CHOICE: set up a Facebook page where fans can mingle. It's also a low-hassle way for the casually curious to get to know your product better, and to be targeted by you for updating messages once they become fans. MEDIOCRE CHOICE: run ads seeking DVD or MP3 sales from your own site. You may get a few quick sales, but your CPC and conversion ratio aren't likely to pay off. You also will miss out on the social action.

  3. You're promoting a yoga studio, a summer camp, etc. Now you've got elements of both Scenarios 1 and 2 in place. You're looking for sales, and your pricing/margin per sale is high enough to justify a well-run ad campaign. But your customer base is much broader and less sharply defined that Scenario 1. It's a lot more like Scenario 2. So you'd really like word of mouth, where your happiest customers can become evangelists to their friends -- and help you get lots of new fans. GOOD CHOICE: Ads that drive people to your site and bring in revenue GOOD CHOICE: A Facebook page that brings in fans and creates some social excitement about your product.

I think everything else fits into one of these three categories.

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Great perspective! Thanks – Paul O'Brien Nov 30 '09 at 18:09
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As I see it, Facebook is a way to cultivate a community around your product/service, so that people can show their support for it and let it spread virally. When someone becomes your company's "Fan," they also let all of their friends know, which can be a great way to spread the word.

As I'm sure you know, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and all the other sites are simply marketing tools. It makes sense to use the ones that can get you the most traction, and Facebook is pretty high up on that list because of the sheer magnitude of users it has. Using it exclusively - or using any of those tools exclusively - is folly, since it limits your exposure when you want to be maximizing the number of people who learn about you.

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Great point but what validation is there that Facebook is an effective marketing tool? Does it drive traffic to your site, move product, or convert customers? I've run all of those networks mentioned and have clear results FROM each (not ON each with retweets, youtube comments, or linkedin answers; but traffic FROM each community to a product or service). Facebook has developed a platform which contains its audience so lead gen and indirect benefits are less obvious. Merely a branding vehicle? Therein, sure, sheer magnitude is nice but so is an ad on the superbowl. What's the ROI? – Paul O'Brien Oct 26 '09 at 20:36
Good questions, Paul. I think the primary ROI value comes from the low cost - it's really only time that you're spending to brand your company on Facebook, so your value gained is ({sales * value of sale} / {time * cost of time}), and as the cost of time gets lower, the value of each sale goes up. Don't poo-poo branding, though, especially where "everyone else is doing it." Of course, it's meaningless if you're like my friend's new client - an OB/GYN - and nobody will be your "fan." But a cool new product? Just because you can't measure click-throughs doesn't mean the value isn't there. – JoshSamBob Oct 28 '09 at 0:28
up vote 4 down vote

You raise an excellent question, one we have asked ourselves.

One of the biggest problems with Facebook pages is that they are not easy to find. Also, I've facilitated a number of seminars on social media and always ask participants how they use Facebook - inevitably it is for personal reasons, occasionally people have 2 personalities, one for business, one for their personal use. This really is a personal network right now.

One of the best reasons I can think of to create a Facebook fan page for your business is to secure your business name on their site and establish a presence in case anyone does look for you there. Still, it takes work to build up fans and you're right, this effort seems to have little value for many companies (esp. B2B) considering the time that is needed.

Another prominent reason to connect on Facebook is the sheer scope of audience numbers. A recent Canadian study showed that 56% of Canadians are social media users and 80% of those are on Facebook. It helps to cast your line where the fish are swimming.

Parting thought: we've run a Canadian business directory for over 11 years. An interesting trend we noted recently is that we now get some businesses submitting their Facebook fan page as their business website - while rare these new businesses are forgoing the traditional websites altogether. It's early days still … the correct answer tomorrow could be completely different than the one today.

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Thanks Julie; good perspective. – Paul O'Brien Oct 26 '09 at 20:37
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here's some of the advantages:

  1. Facebook has great metrics - if you know how to use the reports like Ad Performance, Responder Profiles etc. it will allow you to target your ads
  2. Facebook allows you to A/B testing very quickly - you can run several ads in one campaign and know within a few ads which ads have better impressions, clicks, CTRS etc.
  3. Facebook allows you to know who you audience is - in Twitter, unless you have a "verified account" you don't really know who you're talking to
  4. Facebook allows you to update your fans - I used to have to click to invite more than 1,000 people for event pages - with a fan page you can update 14,000 (yes I have a page with that much) with ONE CLICK.
  5. Branding, Branding, Branding - one URL: facebook.com/vitaminwater with LeBron and Kobe - why not their site? When was the last time you visited your favorite brand/s' site? Okay. Compare that with the answer to this question: When was the last time you opened your Facebook page.

Hope that helps.

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Awesome list but... 1 Nice but results are what matter 2 Also nice, in fact, awesome, but show me the money 3 Cool, but not awesome. User demographics for your business are really only meaningful for the business as a whole or if the segment drives results (note I'm not saying only valuable). We still don't know results so knowing the audience, while cool, isn't any more valuable than a feature. 4 Perhaps the crux of my point. Yes it does. How much of that results in BUSINESS? Compared to a newsletter? What about a blog which not only updates people but creates traffic through SEO? 5 See below – Paul O'Brien Oct 26 '09 at 20:46
@Paul O'Brien 1. you could argue that your sales results is a function of your Ad Performance etc.If your Ad performance is ZERO then your sales is Zero 2. You're wasting your money if you keep using sub-par ads, the money is in the savings. 3. You need to know what are you best ads after so many iterations but you need to start somewhere 4. I know my updates reach fans who opted-in, if your newsletter has the same opt-in subscribers maybe same results? Otherwise my update button is better and faster 5. There's nothing below. – user287 Nov 21 '09 at 19:17
up vote 1 down vote

Neil Patel just did a post on this topic. The post has a lot of great screen shots of Facebook stats on his "fans". It looks pretty cool.

I think the other reason Facebook is a good venue is that it has 350 Million users. That's a lot of potential fans.

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Thanks Jarie, no question it is a venue on which to reach a massive audience. So is the Super Bowl ;) Bottom line is how does it compare. Neil's post is fantastic! Thanks for sharing. – Paul O'Brien Dec 7 '09 at 18:52

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