Facebook for Business: All Engagement is Local
How's this for a morning wake up call? Engagement on Facebook walls of leading brands is down 22%.* Surprised? I'm not. In fact, I would have expected worse.
You see, in the rush to jump on the social media brandwagon, many companies have never fully grasped the concept of engagement. "Build it and they will come" may have made for a great work of fiction, but just building a Facebook page won't bring visitors, no matter how big the brand is. And getting trial is just the first step. Good content is what will keep those visitors coming back for more and telling their friends about the page. Conversely, filling a page with bad content such as self-serving announcements and boring filler will send even the most loyal fans scrambling to close the browser window.
Here's another interesting tidbit. According to Michael Scissons of Syncapse, local Facebook pages perform significantly better than global ones. Makes sense. Just like all politics is local, so is brand relevance. A couple years ago we worked with McDonald's to use our market as a beta test site for their local Facebook presence. While consumers may want to know about McDonald's new product introductions nationally, they are especially interested in relevant local content, coupons, and special events that can be acted upon right in their hometown.
Of course, localization is just one form of segmentation. Marketers are also well served by creating pages that cater to the interests of specific target groups. For example, Notre Dame has unique pages for many of its different sports teams. Chevrolet not only has a unique Facebook page for each of their products, but also for special audiences like those interested in their 100th anniversary or their participation in this year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
For all the ways social media has changed the world of marketing in recent years, the fundamentals never change. The more you can talk directly to the people most interested in what you have to say, the more effective and efficient your marketing efforts will be.
* Source: Syncapse 2010-2011
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