Facebook Fan Value and The Brands That Need Them

Mashable shared results to a survey conducted by Syncapse, a social media marketing firm which highlighted the Facebook Fan Value. Their survey concluded that the value of having a fan on Facebook averaged $174. A fan has more value if they have a higher average purchase price. In addition, Facebook fans that interacted with social media were more likely to actually buy items from the brands. With this increased use of social media, these fans were also likely to share good experiences on their active social media platforms.

Sustaining Branding Communities

With information about Facebook Fan Values, we begin to see ways in which social media is becoming more important and valuable to brands. The use of social media by brands gives the brand a more personal touch. Brands should not just have social media platforms they should also actively engage with consumers. When they do this, consumers feel that they a part of a community and then they feel more inclined to share good things about the brand to other people. Brands can gain more fans or “likes” on Facebook by being consistent which means updating frequently. This shows that they are reliable. In addition, it is best to not ignore feedback even if the feedback is negative. An example is if a user shares his/her bad experience, the brand should endeavor to respond quickly asking the consumer why the experience was bad and what they can do to make it up to them. This shows that the brand is reading the content and that they actually care about their consumers and their experience with their services. Ignoring instances like the one described give the brand a bad reputation and with social media, things easily become escalated which can turn ugly. Another strategy involves competitions with giveaways. Everyone loves free stuff and if a brand develops fun competitions, which actively engage their consumers, then that is a win-win!

Why Brand Communities Are Important to Facebook Fan Values

In its survey, Syncapse includes several factors important in determining the actual value of a Facebook fan. Among these factors are brand loyalty, propensity to recommend, media value, acquisition costs and brand affinity. All of these factors, lead to product spending which was a major factor involved in determining the Facebook fan value. Social Media especially those used by brands create a community to actively engage its audience. If this happens consumers are more than likely to do things that would make them spend on the brand, tell people they know and remain brand loyal. Facebook is a valuable tool because it employs the use of several communication avenues and uses them in different ways. Fans can access all of a brand’s content on its Facebook page and fans can comment on this page too. The survey also mentions that fans are very different from the average social media user, they spend 5 more hours on Facebook than average social media users. In conclusion, as Syncapse’s Chief Executive would say, it is important to experiment firsthand with use of trial and error. Also, connecting social marketing to business outcomes is key. Lastly, “State your goal, define the success criteria, measure, and invest accordingly”.