A recent article in Mashable found out that while much of finding what works for your business on social media sites is a process of trial and error, recent stats from e-mail marketing firm ExactTarget (which recently acquired social CRM platform CoTweet) shed some light on how the Facebook population uses the site, and specifically, how it interacts with brands.
First, the good news: Based on its study of 1,500 Facebook users, ExactTarget concluded that 38% of online U.S. consumers “Like” (formerly “Fan”) a brand on the social networking site. And the average fan Likes nine different brands, giving you plenty of opportunity to find your way into potential customers’ news feeds.
Here’s the breakdown of why users might “Like” your brand, illustrated by the percentage of respondents who said that they use Facebook for the listed activity:
* 40% to receive discounts and promotions
* 39% to show my support for the company to others
* 36% to get a “freebie”
* 34% to stay informed about the activities of the company
* 33% to get updates on future products
* 30% to get updates on upcoming sales
* 29% for fun or entertainment
* 25% to get access to exclusive content
* 22% someone recommended it to me
* 21% to learn more about the company
* 13% for education about company topics
* 13% to interact
On the surface, some of these findings seem to conflict with the idea of users being resistant to marketing messages. But the real takeaway is that users like brands for a wide variety of reasons, and the mix of content you post to your Facebook Page should reflect that.
To read more, click here, to go go straight to Mashable.
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