Anyone with a brand would be asking this question – what is the ROI on a Facebook fan? Jon Bird from Inside Retail has managed to hunt down an article that gives some insight into this question – The true value of a brand fan.

Anyone in business knows that it’s often easier to retain the customers you have rather than ‘recruit’ new customers to your brand. Tough economic times such as those we are experiencing now, and the level of competition that can be seen to get the almighty consumer dollar, makes this scenario especially true.

With many brands now having Facebook pages for their fans, it is worth asking the question – What is the value of a Facebook fan?

Some interesting revelations emerged via the study Jon Bird came across – ‘The Value of a Facebook Fan: An Empirical Review’, by an organisation in the US called Syncapse

The study (undertaken about a year ago) looked at 20 of the top brands on Facebook in the US. Fans and non-fans were compared on six variables: product spending; loyalty; propensity to recommend; brand affinity; media value; and acquisition cost. The brands studied were skewed towards manufacturers, but did include Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks and McDonald’s. What became apparent was that fans are quantifiably more valuable to businesses across all variables:
• On average, fans spend an additional US$71.84 per year on products compared to those who are not fans (In the case of McDonald’s, fans reported spending US$159.79 more per year).
• Fans are 28 per cent more likely than non-fans to continue using the brand.
• Fans are 41 per cent more likely than non-fans to recommend a ‘liked’ brand to their friends.

So here’s the question for you, have you got your Facebook page set up?

When it comes to social networking, Google hasn’t had a very good run. Google Wave no longer exists, while Google Buzz got off on the wrong foot (with privacy invasion) when it first rolled out. In the next few weeks Google will launch its +1 button – which functions the same as Facebook’s ‘Like’ button. Given its track record, will Google ever be able to go social? If a company such as Google can’t build a successful online community, what hope is there for us market researchers?

Google obviously has the technological savvy to create these types of social networking platforms, but its core offer isn’t about being social, it’s about being useful. Google Search, Maps, News, Scholar. It’s about getting the user on and off a page as quickly as possible, with the information needed. Social media offers fun, entertainment and interaction – keeping the user on the platform for as long as possible.

Building an online community takes more than just providing a platform. Ignoring ‘the social’ impacts considerably on how your community grows – if it does at all. When establishing an insights community, keep in mind the lessons of Google. It’s just as much about interaction as it is information.

The online tax push by Gerry Harvey (Harvey Norman), and other large Australian retailers such as Myer, David Jones, Target, House, Borders is receiving incredible (and ongoing) backlash from angry consumers. What the retailers are proposing, is for either the local GST to be scrapped on goods sold for less than $1000, or for a similar duty to be applied to goods bought from overseas online sites.

This tax push reveals two key points – the retailers’ lack of understanding of their customers, and their lack of understanding of the power of social media.

The ordinary people on the street (aka the customers) are flocking to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to express their anger and disgust over the retailers’ proposition. In fact, the retailers’ public push for this online tax appears to have opened a can of worms. While many people are now saying they will no longer buy from these stores (particularly Harvey Norman), it has also provided consumers the chance to air ALL their grievances to do with the big retailers.

Media reports that the retailers are stunned by the reaction from consumers, which is interesting as we all know shoppers love getting a ‘bargain’. And they love the convenience of shopping online. Combine the two and it’s a heady mix. Trying to take this away from them is like taking a lollipop from a child. It’s never going to end well.

Before the advent of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc (that allow everyone a say) this proposed online tax would probably have gotten off the ground without a peep to be heard from disgruntled consumers.

However, social media has changed all this, as borne out by the reactions to this proposed campaign.

Following the public outcry, a recent media release from Gerry Harvey reveals he is stepping away from the campaign, saying it was ‘suicidal’ to have been involved. The backlash to him personally and his chain of franchises, Harvey Norman, has been too strong.

The irony in all this is that retailers source cheap goods and labour from overseas (and consumers are aware of this), but do not want consumers to be able to do the same.

A lesson in amongst this entire fracas is that companies need to create sustainable and mutually respectful relationships with their customers.

In the meantime, the retailers have alerted the public as a whole to the advantages of online shopping with overseas companies – wide range, big savings. Welcome to the 21st century!

The polls below tell the story.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald 7 Jan 2011

One of those funny emails came around the other day about ‘you know you’re living in 2010 when…’ and one of the answers was ‘when you email the person sitting at the desk next to you’.

I laughed, having definitely done that. And without wanting to kill the joke too much by overanalysing it, I think the reason it’s funny is because on the face of it, it seems like such a strange, disconnected thing to do. The joke suggests that instead of talking or relating ‘face to face’ the use of technology is so entrenched now that we do everything electronically – even when someone is sitting a metre away.

You hear comments that people don’t talk anymore, that family and personal relationships are suffering because people spend all their time in front of the TV or the computer. But I don’t think heavy use of technology is to blame.

And, upon reflection, I also don’t think that emailing the person at the desk next to you is necessarily an antisocial choice.

I think my argument is best served by a couple of real life examples.

My husband is in IT, I work with online communities, my parents are in IT, so you can probably guess that we have a lot of gadgetry in our house. At last count it was three laptops and one desktop computer.

At various times of the day, evening, weekend, etc. it is not uncommon for my husband and I to both be using our laptops.

One fine Saturday I was using mine at the dining room table and my husband Skyped me while surfing the internet in the back garden: ‘come outside, it’s lovely!’ To which I replied ‘I’m on my way!’

Last Tuesday evening we were both using our laptops sitting together on the couch. I started an online chat with a friend in another city, arranging the details of her visit to our place. Part way through this chat I realise that my husband had been looking over my shoulder and had then started his own online chat with the same person to play a joke on me. Bantering messages went back and forth between the three of us for about 10 minutes, and we all had a great laugh.

If I were just to say ‘my husband Skyped me from the backyard’ or ‘we had an online chat while sitting next to each other on the couch’, at first you might think that was weird and evidence of a possible reluctance to talk face to face.

But in actuality it was as connected and intimate as a face to face interaction.

So what’s my point? Technology does not mean disconnection and using it is not being antisocial. It just means the ability to connect, socialize, play and interact with people in other ways. Building and maintaining relationships is about the content of communication, not the delivery medium.

It’s official, today Facebook reached its 500 million friend mark, and to celebrate the site has launched a page for users to share their Facebook Stories.

These stories are a testament to the influence of social media in the lives of everyday people. Themes range from love, friendship, and family to politics, sports and small business.

The language employed by these users depicts just how influential Facebook is. Littered throughout these stories are words such as connect, helped me, together, reach, closer – and, what I think is the most significant word Everyday.

It is the everyday-ness of Facebook that makes it extraordinary.

Social media has come a long way since the birth of Facebook in 2004. It is no longer the exclusive territory of tech-savvy kids, but a legitimate form of communication… and it has just become the daily habit of 500 million people.