The power of Facebook shows no sign of weakening but the site’s user base is growing up and becoming more diverse. This offers a huge opportunity for marketers but requires a strategic approach if brands are to successfully engage consumers, explains Nigel Vaz, vice president and head of Sapient Interactive Europe.
The campaign to get Rage Against the Machine to Christmas number one not only proved that despite the media hype not everyone was a fan of X-Factor but demonstrated once again the power of Facebook. What started as a group with a handful of members quickly snowballed to become one of the most talked about topics online and offline. And no matter what you think about the single, the fact it got to number one through the power of social networking alone is mighty impressive.
For brands big and small there’s a lot to be learnt from this record-breaking campaign, especially since it shows just how popular Facebook remains. According to recent data from Experian Hitwise, Facebook accounts for one in every seven pages viewed by UK Internet users. In September 2009, Facebook accounted for a staggering 49 per cent of all UK Internet visits to a social networking site. Its continuing popularity presents a huge opportunity for marketers looking to engage with consumers in 2010 but efforts are likely to be unsuccessful unless brands take time to understand their audiences and adopt new approaches to marketing.
Understand your audience
Despite the widely held view that social network users are teenagers and young adults, you’d be wrong to assume you can only reach young consumers through Facebook. Data from the latest Pew Internet report reveals the median age of Facebook users is 33, showing older users are just as keen as young ones to connect online. In fact, research conducted earlier this year by analytics company, iStraetgy Labs revealed how the number of older users has risen far quicker than those younger. In January to July 2009 alone the number of users aged over 55 grew by a staggering 514%.
This represents a great opportunity for marketers keen to reach a broader and older group of consumers but more than ever requires brands to treat consumers as individuals - a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not wash. Instead, organisations must take time to research how their target audiences interact and use Facebook to determine the best way to communicate with them. For example, while younger users may access Facebook ‘on the go’ using mobile devices, older users may prefer to login from home using a laptop. This has implications for the type of content offered to consumers since those accessing a page ‘on the go’ are unlikely to have time to view lots of video content.
Try something new
Traditional attempts to reach members of social networks using conventional forms of online advertising such as banners have not been successful. When the German business networking site XING began embedding ads on the profile pages of its premium members, users were outraged. Given the speed at which information is shared online avoiding such issues is crucial as individuals today don’t think twice before airing criticism online and sharing it with others.
One way to avoid such resistance is for companies to hire experts to enter into dialogue with users or to provide applications that offer users something more. The important point here is to not be afraid to try something new. When the confectionary brand Skittles decided to explore new ways to reach out to consumers it set up a fan page on Facebook and updated the page with video content and interactive games. The site has been hugely successful and at last count had in excess of 3.5 million fans. What Skittles has done so well is creating a regularly updated interactive page that keeps drawing people back – a far cry from the numerous static Facebook pages that exist, offering no real user engagement.
Adopt a strategic approach
As Facebook’s user base continues to grow and diversify now is the time for brands to explore new ways to interact with consumers using the social network. Achieving success won’t happen overnight and requires detailed understanding of how consumers access and interact on the site but those that adopt a strategic approach will well placed to reap long-term rewards.
This article first appeared on Technology Weekly (part of mad.co.uk) on January 21st, 2010