New Study of Four Brands Shows That 'Fans' Have Value, If You Earn Them
The debate about the value of Facebook fanscontinues to rage on.
I hate raging arguments in the absence of solid evidence. So I was
delighted to see that analyst Gina Sverdlov of Forrester Research had
applied actual statistical modeling to address the question, in a new
report called "The Facebook Factor."
Gina's technique is simple to understand. Using a statistical technique
called logistical regression, she examined a large number of factors
that potentially contribute to whether a consumer will purchase,
consider, or recommend a brand. The technique could work for any brand;
the report specifically analyzes Best Buy, Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Blackberry.
The results are very suggestive.
Here are some facts from the report.
- For all four brands, being a Facebook fan of the brand boosts purchase, consideration, and recommendation. For example, 79% of Best Buy Facebook fans bought there in the last 12 months vs. 41% of non-fans. And 74% of them recommend Best Buy vs. 38% of non-fans.
- Of all the questions we asked (and there were many), being a Facebook fan had more influence over these behaviors than any other factor. Being a Facebook fan of Best Buy increases the odds that a customer will purchase by 5.3 times; the next closest influence factor is having researched consumer electronics, which only increases the odds of purchase by 1.4 times.
The pattern is repeated for every single behavior and every single
brand. For example, having a Walmart nearby doubles the odds that you'll
consider buying there, but being a Facebook fan of Walmart increases
those odds by more than a factor of four.
Does this mean you should pour your budget into building fans for your
brand? No! While there is a strong correlation between these positive
behaviors for your brand and being a fan, there's no proof that being a
fan causes people to buy, consider, or recommend your brand. If you
boost your fan base artificially, those fans will be less avid on
average.
What this analysis does show is that fandom is worth something. Your
Facebook fans are more likely to buy from you, consider you, and of
course, recommend you.
This means that cultivating them with content and interaction on your
Facebook brand page is well worth it, because this is where your most
enthusiastic customers are. You have the opportunity to supercharge
them, not just to buy, but to spead your message. For companies that don't provide these fans what they
want -- interaction, content, things to share -- this is a wakeup call.
And if your brand doesn't have a Facebook page, this report is proof
you're stuck in marketing thinking from the previous century. Use this
analysis to justify putting your marketing budget and effort into a
Facebook page and the staff to keep it lively.
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/facebook-fans-customers/234043/
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