For years, social marketing was largely spurred by brands. But now, a company can’t just push a message on Facebook and expect its fans to buy into it. As social customer engagement platform Get Satisfaction points out in its newest white paper, creating a cohesive network of fans who are willing to talk to each other about the company is the next step for brands to succeed both on Facebook and other social networks.
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Brands have constantly been angry with Facebook for generally letting fans only see a fraction of their posts. Now actor George Takei and basketball team owner Mark Cuban are displeased with Facebook’s algorithm. Over the weekend, both posted in anguish over their fans not being able to see all of what they post. Cuban even said he might take his business to MySpace.
Clothing retailer Old Navy thought of a creative way to reward its Facebook fans, who recently hit the 5 million mark. To do so, ad agency CP+B made the fans part of the celebration, having many of them hold up a giant coupon barcode in an aerial photograph.
You can probably guess the basics about those who support Mitt Romney or President Barack Obama on Facebook: Romney’s fans are generally older, Obama’s tend to be younger, etc. But Compass Labs wanted to go deeper and discover the interests and engagement levels of those who support each candidate on the social network. They found that although Obama has roughly 22 million more fans than the Republican challenger, Romney’s fans are much more engaged.
Even professional athletes are getting into the act of crowdsourcing via Facebook. DeAngelo Williams, a running back for the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers, recently asked his Facebook fans to suggest a dance to do when he scores a touchdown during the preseason.
It seems like pretty much every Facebook page administrator is looking for a way to track how well they’re doing. Dachis Group, a New York-based social software and solutions firm, launched on Wednesday its Campaign Performance Monitor, giving Facebook marketers another valuable tool. The new software taps into a treasure trove of data to not only track pages’ performance, but help administrators figure out what fans and followers really respond to.
Lay’s wants to introduce a new flavor of potato chip. But it is not hiring a marketing firm or forming a blue-ribbon committee to figure out a flavor — it is asking people who have liked the brand on Facebook. In exchange for the winning flavor, the user with the best idea receives $1 million. More and more companies are turning to their Facebook fans for new ideas.
In an effort to better serve its growing small business clientele, Facebook has revamped its Facebook for Business website. The social network announced the changes, which will provide more in-depth tips and tutorials for smaller and midsized businesses that advertise through Facebook.
Although Republicans kicked off the 2012 campaign with a wild contest in Iowa, new data shows the party is losing the social media war to President Barack Obama. Badly.
As the first votes in the 2012 elections are cast today in Iowa’s caucuses, Facebook data shows that Ron Paul has the most viral reach.
