The Value of Facebook Fans

Companies are increasingly using Facebook sweepstakes to gain more fans (aka "likes"). In fact, this past March, Expedia launched a sweepstakes that offered more than $1 million in prizes, including five trips that cost more than $100,000. What was the outcome? Expedia gained over 1 million fans. However, in general, the "sweepstakes fan" is looking for something free and doesn't always care about that brand. Therefore, it is now Expedia's mission to turn these fans into valuable customers.

Facebook will provide analytics around fans. It aggregates demographic information to give an idea of where these fans are from and even general age and gender data when there are enough fans. This allows companies to better target the audience they first acquired through the sweepstakes. The challenge for companies is to actually engage their fan base and integrate this into their overall marketing strategy. Looking at Expedia's facebook page, it is now trying to provide value for its fan base including discount to hotels. It is also trying to further engage its base by developing games and curated blogs.

A recent imedia article describes some best practices for campaigns that specifically target fan acquisition. Interesting ideas include developing a polling system for engagement, allowing fans to opt-in to communication such as SMS or email, and even using other types of media such as TV or print to drive to the Facebook page. Ultimately, a fan base is useless unless they become engaged advocates of the brand.

For more tips on how to turn Facebook fans into engaged customers go here:

http://www.imediaconnection.com/article_full.aspx?id=30235