7 ways to effectively get more fans on facebook

8/6/2019 7 ways to effectively get more fans on Facebook

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360i Point of View

7 Ways to Fuel FandomInsights, Tactics & Strategy for

Building your Fan Base on Facebook

360i June 2011


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Four years ago, official brand pages on Facebook were a bit of a rarity.Today, not only are most major brands on Facebook, but over the lasttwo years, their total fan numbers have skyrocketed.

During the first quarter of 2011, fan growth for many large brand pagesleveled off or in some cases, receded. Over-couponing, non-strategicadvertising and dated management tactics have caught up with manyof these shooting stars. Recent platform and algorithm changes, as wellas more stringent Facebook policies, have also contributed to the

slowed organic growth.

So how does a brand grow its fan base in this new Facebookenvironment, and how should you evolve your strategy to keep up? The

answer lies in understanding how the acquisition engagement advocacy process works and implementing balanced, creativecontent that drives engagement.

This POV provides seven steps for growing your Facebook fan base.

Why This Matters

Page 2 | 7 Ways to Fuel Fandom June 2011 | http://www.360i.com | Twitter: @360i
http://www.360i.com/http://www.360i.com/


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Table of Contents: 7 Ways to Fuel Fandom

1. Expand your reach with content 4

2. Make the most of media buys 123. Respond and engage 17

4. Create incentives 21

5. Utilize Facebook tools 276. Optimize mobile & offline 30

7. Activate through Inside Pages 36

Recap 39



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1. Expand your reach with content

Engaging content sparks

conversations. Fans interact bycommenting, liking or writing on yourwall, and those interactions foster the

organic spread of brand content andexperiences throughout Facebook.

More Interaction = Greater Reach


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Likes Page

Served Content

Engagement?Yes Fans entered the

conversation and activated thenext tier of engagement.

No Fans did not enter into theconversation and thus, content

reach was limited.

Amplified Reach Limited Reach

Engaged Not Engaged


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Information: Deliver valuable on-brand information that your community willboth appreciate and share with their friends.



W h y t h i s w o r k s: Well above average fan growth can be correlated tothe days when the page posts its best performing content.


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Conversation: If you want to really inspire your fans to participate, askthem! Make your Call to Action as direct as possible.



W h y t h i s w o r k s: This type of interaction drives organic growththrough impressions and reach -- and by its very nature,

conversational activity is communal.


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Photos, videos and links: If your fans enjoy your content, give them more ofit within each post. Posts with photos or videos attached to them are more likelyto appear in the News Feed of your fans.



Featuring two or more photos in your post will increase engagement andimpressions. One example of a compelling way to incorporate multiple images isby setting up photo quizzes or basic polls. Using this tactic, a CPG brand recentlysaw a 60% increase in fan growth above its previous monthly average.


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Questions: The new Facebook Questions tool can be an excellent messagingtactic while also benefiting your brand as a valuable consumer/fan insight tool.The feature is designed so that anyone on Facebook can participate, which hasboth pros and cons. Since non-fans can answer, more people can see andengage with your message; however, this also means that you no longer require

that people Like your page to engage.

Insights

Brand Advocacy


Although fans can engage with the post without being fans, 360i hasobserved that a Questions post can in fact attract new fans.


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Curate messaging: Ask your community for their opinion and then act on it.Championing fan messaging in your branded status posts is an easy andearnest that shows your appreciation for the community.

Fans who feel they are being listened to are more likely to engage on your page

when theyre posed a question. Asking the community to write some of yourcontent can also offer you valuable consumer insight.


Ask The best way to find out whatyour community wants to talk about is toask them.

And De l i ve r The best reward you can

offer to your fans is to show them thatyoure listening.



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2. Make the most of media buysMedia buys are your only sure-fireway to acquire a specific number of

fans. There are a number of differentad buy options on Facebook, but themost successful of these tie back to a

larger content or event strategy.

After all, its not only how you get fans

to your page, but how you keep themthere.


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2. Make the most of media buys

Engagement Ads: These ads see a greater number of impressions and caninclude exciting and visual elements like Polls and Video. They work well to buildbroad awareness and brands can also utilize the size of the buy to execute tests(A/B creative testing, target testing, etc.).


The most effective media campaigns typically combineFront Page Engagement Ads with Run of Site Like Ads.

Premium placement Multiple ad unit options Pay on CPM Recommended for campaigns with:

Awareness objectives High budgets ($50K+) Engaging creative assets


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2. Make the most of media buysMarketplace Run of Site Like ads If you have the resources, Run of Site andMarketplace ads can efficiently drive fan acquisitions. The most effective CPCs(Cost per Click/Fan) are attained when the ads are managed and optimized daily.



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Sponsored Stories & Events Sponsored stories and events leverage thepower of social context. Nielsen reports that 90% of people trustrecommendations from people they know.


Fans cannot directly like your pagefrom an sponsored event, but usingengaging and exciting content candraw users to your brand event

and increase fan growth on your page.

Although there are three types ofsponsored stories, only two effectivelydrive fan growth: Page Like Story &Page Post Like Story. These bothtarget friends of current page fans.


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Gaming Ads Paid media within games on platforms such as Farmville,Rockyou and Social Vibe can be a powerful tool for targeting users engaged insocial gaming. Gaming ads drive significant brand awareness and they haveproven to be extremely successful when tied to an incentive.


Below: A toy brands Likes increased by more than 1,000% during theflight of a Facebook campaign that utilized Gaming Ads.


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3. Respond and engageDriving engagement on your pagerequires both interactivity andproactive communication. A responsivemessaging strategy sparks and rewardsconversation and encourages even

more fan interactions.

More interaction means greater

relevancy, greater reach & morefans.


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3. Respond and engage

Commenting: Focused and strategic responses help to create super fans,who develop a personal relationship with your brand and become topsupporters. Identify opportunities to respond more frequently within statusupdates, as this notifies everyone who commented on the post instead of justthe single person who posted on the Wall.


If engagement slows on your

page, fan growth can be extremelydifficult to retain.

Facebook will stop recognizingcontent as relevant if no one isengaging. As such, the content will

not surface in your fans NewsFeeds.


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Like User-Generated Content: If youve asked your community to share UGCand they do so, reward them with acknowledgement and praise. Curatingcontent means bringing the best UGC to the surface on your page by Likingcomments and Wall posts according to their influence level. Liking UGC can alsokick start conversations from your wall, which results in more relevancy to your

fans friends.




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Customer Service: Brands are increasingly using Facebook as a means to fieldcustomer inquiries and concerns and new platforms are making it easier thanever for brands to respond and resolve problems in a timely manner.

In some cases brands are using their Facebook page as a customer service

destination, which accounts for almost all of their fan growth. RosettaStone andAT&T are two brands that utilize Facebook primarily for customer service.




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4. Create incentives

Contests, sweepstakes and fan-

championing are excellent ways tocreate big buzz while also offering anexclusive reward for your fans. The

bigger and more custom-designed thecontest, the more incentive someonewill have to join your community.


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Creative Contesting: A retail company recently launched a sweepstakes inwhich fans of the page could enter for a chance to win a trip and a shoppingspree. The sweeps on Facebook resulted in a spike in new fans 3,900%greater than the previous months average daily fan growth.


Be wary of over-couponing and dependenceupon sweepstakes for your fan growth. Ifyou create a community of fans who onlyarrive at your page for a sweepstakes, thatsall theyll ever be.

Engage your fans, then reward with couponsif you want to retain fan growth.


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Fan of the Week: One of the best ways a brand can celebrate its fans onFacebook is through fan recognition. Fan of the Week works best when the fansearn it by fulfilling an action or request. For example, Oreo fans are eligible forFOTW if they share a photo of themselves with an Oreo cookie.



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Coupons: Coupons are always a fan favorite, though they should be deployedstrategically. Offering coupons to the community is a great reward for theirloyalty and advocacy. However, using a coupon only to draw fans to the pagewill most likely result in acquiring fans interested only in those coupons. Findingways to sustain engagement beyond the coupon/offer is critical to fan retention.


H ow t h i s w o r k s: A coupon programrecently helped to deliver fan growth

108% above the monthly average.


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Gamification: Invite people to play with your brand and spread the wordthrough gamification. Applications can allow you to incorporate games,contests, sweeps and promotions directly from your Facebook Wall.



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Group Deals: Group deals like Groupon and Healthy Choices ProgressiveCoupon can also incentivize fans to spread the word on your behalf. WalmartsCrowdSaver Facebook application invites shoppers to join together from withinthe brands Facebook Page to unlock a special deal.



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5. Utilize Facebook tools

Youve spent years building out yourbrands website, so the very least youcan do now is take a few minutes to

add social components to connect yourdigital assets in a meaningful way.


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Like Buttons: The Like Button lets brands promote and share from thecompany website back to their Facebook profile with just one click.




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Activity Feed: The Activity Feed plug-in shows users what their friends aredoing on your site through likes and comments.



Like Box: The Like Box enables users to like your Facebook Page and viewits stream directly from your website.


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6. Optimize your mobile & offline

Growing your Facebook community

shouldnt be limited to only onlinechannels. You can make the most ofyour offline investments by tying

messaging and creative back to yourFacebook community.


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Television: Use your programming and commercials to incentivize or announceyour Facebook promotions. Below, TV spots for Panda Express, Oreo, Toyota &Golden Corral promote their respective Facebook communities (photos via Teachto Fish Digital).



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Events: Are you speaking somewhere, hosting a golf tournament or sponsoringa concert or a fundraiser? One great way to reach the masses is tell peopleabout your page and give them a reason to visit.


A recent product promotiondirectly correlated to a 586%above average daily fan growthfor one brand.


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Point of Sale: If you have the opportunity to be face-to-face or put yourproduct in fans hands, put a little reminder in their hands too, via stickers,signs, cards, magnets and prints. Some brands, like Heinz and Cold-Eeze, havealso promoted their Facebook communities on their product packaging.



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Print: Through QR Codes and promotions, the old print world is still in play, andcan drive to your digital properties.


Print + mobile combine todrive fans for American

Eagle Outfitters, Toyota and

other brands.


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6. Optimize your mobile & offlineFacebook P laces, Events and Deals: Its difficult to directly correlate fangrowth to mobile acquisition tactics. However, you would be remiss in excludingmobile from your fan acquisition strategy.

Mobile elements add both reach and innovation to your existing tactics. Forinstance, Gap created an event to promote its Free Jeans Giveaway.



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7. Activate through Inside PagesAlthough Inside Pages (formerly Tabs)

are more hidden in the new Facebooklayout, they can still add significantvalue to your page.

Create good content, drive consumersthere, and then activate them toparticipate, share and advocate for you.

7 A i h h I id P


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7. Activate through Inside Pages

Inspire advocacy: Build a destinationfor participation. This can be a homefor your brand to inspire and showcaseyour fans love of your brand.

Engagement and sharing are the goalshere. Ideate on how what you offer onyour inside page directly ties back toyour strategic goals.


Smirnoff invites its fans to Be the Face ofSmirnoff and be featured on the brands

Facebook page.

7 A ti t th h I id P


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Value comes in the form of emotional connections or functionalactivity. Identify value exchange opportunities to encourage communalactivity.

7. Activate through Inside Pages


Phillys Cooking Creme tabincentivizes users to Likethe page in order to unlockadditional exclusive content

Oscar Mayers Good MoodMission page connects fansto each others good deedsand incentivizes them toshare the good feeling andGood Mood.

R


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Recap

1. Content: Rich, engaging content inspires an emotional connection and tapsinto new Facebook features that help ignite optimal reach.

2. Paid Media: No fan acquisition strategy is complete without a smart, focusedpaid media plan.

3. Converse: A responsive messaging strategy demonstrates your brandscommitment to its fans and capitalizes on your most influential advocates.

4. Incentivize: Exciting, brand-appropriate incentives strategically reward

engagement, participation and advocacy not just a visit to the page.5. Facebook Tools: Analyze your digital architecture and find opportunities to

utilize Facebook plug-ins and other social tools.

6. Offline and Mobile: Connect your fans across your assets. Add more entry

points to your page from all of your available media outlets (including Word ofMouth).

7. Inside Pages: Combine your goals, your assets and your brand voice tocreate a new experience on Facebook that welcomes, engages, rewards and

delivers a unique and exclusive experience for your fans.


If l b th thi


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If you only remember three things

Fan acquisition is vital to the health, perception and reach ofyour brand on Facebook. Ultimately, total fan numbers are

only as important as the percentage of active users whoengage with you.

Understand what it is that your fans and consumers perceive

as valuable. Then give it to them.

The decisions that you make should not be selected atrandom. The most successful growth on Facebook comes as a

result of blending a number of tactics together and tailoringthem to meet your objectives.



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http://blog.360i.com twitter.com/360i facebook.com/360iagency

360i is an award-winning digital marketing agency that drivesresults for Fortune 500 marketers through insights, ideas and

technologies. 360i helps its clients think differently about theironline presence and evolve their strategies to take advantage ofthe new world of marketing communications one where brands

and consumers engage in interactive and multi-directionalconversations. In 2011, 360i was named to Ad Ages Agency A-List

and to Fast Companys list of the Worlds Most Innovative

Companies. Current clients include Oreo, jcpenney, Coca-Cola,Bravo, and Smirnoff, among others. For more information, please

visit blog.360i.com or follow us on Twitter @360i.
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7 ways to effectively get more fans on facebook

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