Earlier this month, Ann Taylor's Facebook page jumped up by more than 10 percent over the 3-day period June 5-8, and in the month since launching a shopping spree contest, Ann Taylor's liker base has grown more than 17 percent.
On June 5, the fashion retailer's liker base was 153,438, and by June 8, it approached 169K (168,958). On June 5, Ann Taylor used a Facebook wall post to remind fans to enter to win a $1,000 shopping spree. (The only other time AT's wall included the announcement was in May when the contest launched, and it did not benefit from a large increase in likes at that time.) On June 7, when ecommerce was down at anntaylor.com for enhancements, the retailer turned lemons into lemonade and apologized to fans by offering them a 30% off coupon (an offer repeated on the Facebook wall through June 10).
Did these wall posts create great word of mouth - fans sharing the opportunities with their friends? We've seen big liker spikes generated by sweepstakes and discounts before (Kirkland's, Amazon.com Movies & TV and CVS come quickly to mind).
Perhaps just as interesting, however, is the extreme drop in the rate at which Ann Taylor has been adding fans since this early June jump and the greater than 17% surge* in the month since it announced the shopping spree contest. We think buying likers with social promotions is a fine thing to do, a great way to boost a fan base and move toward critical mass, but bought likers can be of a different quality than "real" friends and brand advocates. It will be interesting to see if Ann Taylor can engage its new fans.
*May 22 fan base of 147,754 to a June 21 fan base of 173,151
