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Thursday, October 14, 2010
What's a Facebook fan worth?
Having a Facebook page and using it as a
way to communicate with fans of course makes sense. But many of the studies we are seeing today seem to
be suggesting that there is a cause and effect – that somehow as the result of becoming a fan that a consumer is suddenly
going to buy more of the product or service, buy more frequently, or give a greater share of purchases in the category to
the brand. Hey, if they bothered to “like” the brand on Facebook doesn't that suggest that
they were already emotionally connected to the brand and already buying more than the typical consumer.
In
trying to calculate a value of a fan we need to be careful. If the marketer uses the Facebook page to continually
distribute coupons and make offers to loyal customers who would have purchased even without a special deal (remembering that
we have always accepted that part of the definition of a “loyal customer” is that they are willing to pay a premium
price to get their favorite brand) then they are reducing, not increasing the value of those loyal customers.
At the same time, if the marketer is working
the page strategically to cause their loyal fans to spread more positive word of mouth, and bring more new customers to the
brand with them, then that certainly those fans have a much higher value to the brand.
11:35 am edt
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