Understanding how social media users interact with a utility like Facebook takes some trial and error…much of this depends on your industry and the kinds of people on Facebook you’re trying to target.
A new study from ExactTarget, an email marketing firm, gives us some ideas on how Facebook members use the site and specifically, how they interact with various brands.
First off, the firm’s study found that 38% of Facebook users “Like” (…or “fan” in the old days) a brand on the social networking site. These users on average “like” 9 different brands (or businesses)…this fact alone presents a tremendous opportunity to get your brand on millions upon millions of users’ news feeds.
Other findings from the study present some challenges to marketers as well. Of the people who click “like” for a particular brand, 70% of them don’t think liking or becoming a fan means they’re necessarily opting in for marketing purposes.
Beyond that, ExactTarget examined what motivates someone to click “like” and found some interesting results, which can help you better engage your fans and help ensure they don’t click the “hide” button from their news feeds.
Here are just a few of the results:
- 40% of those who click “like” do it to receive discounts and promotions
- 39% to show their friends they support a particular company
- 30% to receive updates on current sales
- 25% to get exclusive access to special content
- ….and more
An initial look at these numbers may seem to contradict the numbers showing resistance to marketing messages…but what they’re really showing is how Facebook users “like” a company for a variety of reasons.
With that in mind, you should have a good mix of content to appeal to all of these different types of social media users.
Other data from ExactTarget small businesses may find useful:
- 65% of Facebook users only access the site in the early morning or evening. If you’re only online during the day, you may be missing out on a wealth of potential customers.
- In regard to gender: A solid majority of women (63%) use Facebook to maintain relationships primarily, indicating that many women may have less time to engage with businesses.
Looking forward though, perhaps data like this combined with our own analytics can help us create more engaging Facebook profiles that drive customers and revenues. With over a ½ billion users and Facebook’s new arrangement with Bing, expect it to become a bigger part of your marketing strategy going forward.