Food marketers are trying a new approach to winning followers: Online coupons and incentives that grow in value as more consumers "like" a brand on Facebook. What these marketers don't understand is that social media isn't about groups of followers, or market segments, or demographics, it's about taking the time to really get to know your customers, about taking time to review individual cases and respond accordingly. You can measure a thousand different metrics and still fail at social media, because you're ignoring the hundreds of different methods involved. If you want to create true engagement, then you'll need to drop any preconceptions you might have about market behaviour and take time to speak personally to each customer.
Rather than monitoring how many followers you have, watch what they are saying, don't measure sentiment as a broad metric. Instead, get your social media team drilling down into that information and picking up on individual conversations.
If you've come to Facebook looking for instantaneous sales than you've come to the wrong place.
While a small percentage of users are ready to purchase while they're browsing Facebook, a much larger percentage of users are going to make a purchase in the future if not now.
With the increasing focus on Facebook, the largest social media platform in the US, we've begun to see brands fall into two distinct camps - the collectors and the investors.
The collectors have entered social media enthusiastically with ambitions to amass a large following. They are interested in a formula to determine and achieve the right number of fans, and see this pursuit as a means in itself. They perceive fans as static and expect the value from volume. They shy away from interactions that extend beyond messaging the fans they've catalogued, and are cautious to communicate too often, or in the wrong way. They are concerned that their collection doesn't grow when left to its own devices.
In contrast, the gains in social media come to brands who approach the social community as an investor. Investor brands cultivate the fans they have to grow a stronger portfolio. They recognize that just as two individual shares may hold a different value, so do two individual fans.
The most effective way to drive interactions on your Facebook page is by creating fresh and unique content. Your followers can start a discussion when they have an interesting topic to tackle. Don't blast your network with self-promotional materials, but post content valuable to the community. Brands that try and build followers on Facebook via instant promotions and discounts are just eroding their brand equity and not really giving consumers a reason to purchase the brand other than price. Once you start down this path it's hard to turn back.
