Posts Tagged ‘Facebook Brand Fans’

Facebook Timeline versus App Contests

Tuesday, October 15th, 2013

imageWith timeline contests brands could ask users to enter with a like, comment or posting a message on the page. A ‘Like’ here can be termed as a sort of voting mechanism. Though it appears small, but here the barrier to entry is very small as fans can enter with a single click. And if brand managers wish to engage with their existing brand fans then this is a great way to do that. Where contests through apps encourage collection of email addresses, new likes and all such details, wall or timeline contests don’t do that. But if there is a well planned social media strategy, app contests turn out be great!

Well, if you are thinking as to what should you opt for; a Timeline contest or contest hosted on a tab on your Facebook Page? And when, then here’s a summation of the facts that will help you get through your brand contests on Facebook, whether you want to do a timeline or an app contest.

Both of these types have the pros and cons linked to each. The essence is in understanding the overall brand strategy and goals that have to be achieved through the same. And therefore, which one should be used or both should be used in collaboration. In other words, Timeline contests are more of an appetizer while contests on tabs turn out to be full course meals.

Timeline contest is great when:

  • · One wants to launch a contest right away
  • · High engagement is the requirement
  • · Low budget

It sure gives an engagement boost for the Facebook page of brands.
If at any point you want a promoted post on your timeline contest, it cannot be illustrated by an image containing more than 20% text.

On the other hand,

Contest hosted on the Facebook page tab work best when:

  • · One wants to grow the Facebook page likes (includes a Like Gate page that prompts the users to first like the page to enter the contest)
  • · You want to foster Lead generation, email adresses for future marketing of your brand
  • · Design control and advanced features is a part of your overall contest strategy

Therefore, a Facebook contest on tab gives you great control, customization and long term value of your lead generation.

This is how a Timeline contest works:

Future Generali came up with a Timeline contest during Navaratri. Check it out:

FG1 

HDFC Bank’s Timeline contest Auto to Automobile is another good example.

hdfc2

HDFC1

And here is an example for an app contest:

Check out how Lotus Herbals, India’s leading natural cosmetics company with formulations inspired by Ayurveda is running an app contest Pure Colors of Joy!

Lotus Herbals1

Will these changes affect the Facebook marketing strategy of your brand?

Timeline contests are simple, i.e., fans are just required to like, comment, post their response or message on the Facebook page of the brand, out of which the winner is manually chosen. Timeline contests are free to run if you do not advertise and are mobile friendly too.

So, then, what are the limitations to running a contest on the timeline?

  • Reduced virality as fans cannot share the page posts. Where sharing is one of the greatest & most viral features of Facebook, not being used to its potential means limiting it just to the existing fans (unless of course you run ads).
  • Managing entries becomes a problem at one point as more the number of fans, more the engagement, more the likes, comments and entries etc; it becomes a great challenge to manage the entries as the numbers become high.
  • Terms & Conditions cannot be displayed when running a contest on the Facebook timeline. Every contest comes with certain rules linked to it. But, there may be cases when fans directly take part in your contest by just liking the post etc. which can later result into dissatisfaction from fans.
  • There is no lead generation when a timeline contest is run as there is no registration for the same neither are details like name, email addresses accumulated.

The reach is very limited as the contest run on a timeline can only be promoted using posts that talk about the contest unlike the app contests wherein multiple updates with a link to the app can be done.

So, does that mean Facebook Contest apps are anytime better?

Well, app contests do come with certain benefits like:

Allowing Social Sharing by fans on all social media platforms

Social Stories: when a fan interacts with an app, a newsfeed story is generated that is visible to friends of fans gaining more traffic to the contest

Offering customized fan experience by using custom brand videos, graphics, design etc. that in the end creates more brand recall.

Therefore, in this social battle of contests hosted on timeline and those on an app, apps stand as the winner!

However, you can also think of combining them both for a double advantage where you can:

  • · Manage your contest entries
  • · Analyze them under parameters of most likes, comments & responses.
  • · You can display contest rules & let your fans submit all details etc.
  • · Use it as a mobile-friendly app as it helps incorporate all the features mentioned

Pros final

Source: antavo.com, https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php, https://www.facebook.com/faceboofforbusiness/news/page-promotions-terms

In a nutshell, if you wish to engage with your Facebook brand fans then run a timeline contest but if you wish to garner more likes and data to reach fans out of Facebook then apps are best. Brands can also try using both these methods in collaboration. The ‘TAT’ (talking about this) number of the pages can be raised with a timeline contest so that more posts are visible to the fans and then you can run an app contest to get more likes etc.

So are you all set to let your fans experience the best of both worlds? What would you, as brand managers try? Timeline contests or contests through apps? Do share in your thoughts with us.

The Significance of Facebook Brand Fans

Monday, September 16th, 2013

imageWell, there is no set idea to place a value on a single Facebook Fan. It totally depends; as all fans differ in their worth and the way a brand builds engagement on the page determines the potency of a fan. There are different categories that help in analyzing the effectiveness of a fan, who basically turn out to be either influencers, purchasers or the engaged ones. The value (in actual terms) of a brand’s fan base totally depends on how much that brand cares about its customers and followers. Therefore, one must consistently analyze how ‘FAN’tastic is their brand on social media.

When we are talking about Facebook Fans, one most important fact is that all fans are not equal and also that every brand should not turn to Facebook to acquire their business. For brand marketers, who plan to invest into the social media strategy for their brands, analysis of their return on investment and value of a fan is essential.

There are a set of equations we need to highlight when going further with analyzing the value of a fan.

Firstly, the value of Facebook fan depends mostly on your objectives in turn sustained by significant resources to help your brand page gain traction.
The cost of acquisition of a fan is not something on which the value of a fan is based upon. Infact, how clearly you align the value of the brand with the fan’s values determines the same.
Right content delivered by your brand page at the right time will foster amazing engagement.
Finally, be stable, consistent and regular in terms of building engagement with fans. This will help you extract the best value out of a fan over time.

imageTherefore, the value that one can put on a Fan will depend on a brand’s objectives, the context and the willingness to build engagement on a long term basis.
Well, brand marketers need to stop and analyse the objective of the same. This helps them generate awareness of themselves and their brand services. Brand marketers need to keep a tap of how much value, sales, awareness & loyalty gets generated as a result of increasing their brand’s Facebook community or fans.


Source: the Myndset, Yopps, Brand Talking

Are you thinking about the best ways to get Facebook Fans? Here are some:

  • · Turn fans into friends
  • · Re-post their content; give them a shout out for their work
  • · Take fans behind the scenes
  • · Don’t just post and leave, return and follow up, update them
  • · If you got a news fans can use it, share it
  • · Get input from them, post a link to your story and ask a question
  • · Listen – let your fans guide you to great stories

Facebook Brand Fans are more likely to be the users of that brand; spend more than non-fans, are loyal, and recommend your brand. In order to determine & understand the credibility and value of a Facebook fan there are certain things that need to be done.

One can do this by:

  • · Measuring the rise in unaided awareness
  • · Recommendations received
  • · Frequency of purchase
  • · Customer service cost savings
  • · Clicks, lead generation
  • · Lifetime customer value

· Coupon redemptions etc. as a result of exposure to and interaction resulted from regular posts/content on brand’s Facebook page.

imageFacebook fans indeed hold a great value from the strategic perspective of a brand. They are undoubtedly as important as the economic goals too. Brand marketers therefore, need to focus on analyzing the fact that are the actions in the right direction in terms of driving fans or target to the brand page. Finally, what matters in measuring the value, is quality. Yes, Quality does matter- quality of the fans, quality of brand engagement with the fans, quality of conversion & attribution.

 

Check out this statistical report of Fans telling what has motivated them to like a company, brand, or association on Facebook is as shown below:

image  image
Source:
www.inventhelp.com

Click here to check a report on how the ‘Average Value of a Facebook Brand Fan Increases 28%’ recently!

The ROI will bear amazing results when the brand focuses on providing long term value to its fans and build deeper engagement levels with them. This can somewhere in near future raise the cost of acquisition and at the same time retention of fans on Facebook. But compared to the value a brand will acquire, it’s more like a reward for the brand. What do you think the brands need to do? Is it just creating a value added experience for Facebook fans or something more? Do share in your thoughts.