There was a piece today on Ad Age about facebook. The conversation turned to ROI and the 'value' of a fan. This is what Carolyn Everson of facebook said:
"It's undeniable that a marketer wants to understand their best customers, their biggest fans who will become their brand advocates. … So the notion of what's the value of the fan, we have very specific metrics around that -- Nielsen and ComScore both studied this. Starbucks know fans spend 8% more when they go into Starbucks. Bing knows that fans do 60% more searches. American Express knows fans spend 28% more on small businesses."
Now at first blush that sounds pretty impressive. But read it again. Could it be perhaps that your most loyal customers/heaviest spenders are more likely to be a fan of your brand than the average person?
For sure.
The sooner we start treating these communities as R&D feedback loops and stop inventing tenuous "value" chains the better.
Posted by: tom | March 28, 2012 at 03:49 AM
Reminds me of this gem:
"To be honest, people's brand opinions are usually a product of whether they buy the brand or not, rather than the reverse." @rorysutherland
Posted by: Crusty | March 28, 2012 at 03:58 AM
did you see what Byron Sharp said last week:
http://bit.ly/HdKIyX
Posted by: rob | March 28, 2012 at 05:05 AM
Yeah, they constantly tout that stuff. Drives me nuts. It's always used as - and therefore you need to get more fans on Facebook, as if those new fans would magically spend more, too.
Posted by: Paul McEnany | March 29, 2012 at 10:48 AM
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http://mweigel.typepad.com/canalside-view/2012/02/the-participation-paradox-how-to-survive-it-how-to-prosper-from-it.html
Posted by: Hugh de Winton | March 30, 2012 at 04:35 PM
Rosser Reeves innit ?
Posted by: Michael | April 03, 2012 at 07:39 AM
I think it doesn't matter. What matters is that the "fans" are spenders. Who cares which came first, the chicken or the egg. It's simple: fans spend more. So keep in front of them on FB. Remind them of your brand. Promote your brand. Give deals to your fans. In the end, it's another marketing avenue that currently has huge financial payoffs.
Posted by: Andrea | April 19, 2012 at 01:20 PM
Facebook: Non causa pro causa
Posted by: Con Frantzeskos | April 23, 2012 at 07:10 AM
Really, they regularly list that products. Pushes me nut products. It's always used as - and therefore you need to get more lovers on Myspace, as if those new lovers would amazingly invest more, too.
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