Making Fan Engagement Your Marketing Mantra for 2013
Making Fan Engagement Your Marketing Mantra for 2013
Making Fan Engagement Your Marketing Mantra for 2013
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It doesn’t seem that long ago that I spent an afternoon figuring out how to build a Facebook landing page with FBML.  It wasn’t pretty; I’m a marketing dude, not a programmer.  Then, what seemed like sooner rather than later, FBML was gone and replaced by iFrames.  Yikes!   Just going to the Facebook Developer website gave me the willies.

Well — hooray for Facebook entrepreneurs… thanks to you I’m done messing with the complexities of a code-based approach and I’m in my milieu; evaluating and selecting marketing solutions.

Today one can just select a Facebook Fan Page Marketing App, (from the plethora available) work up some graphics, fill out some forms, spin a pitch and voila you’re building your Fan base.

But beyond just cranking out contests and promos there’s a number of other important dynamics that are at play in today’s world of Facebook marketing.

First, as most are aware at this point, Facebook stopped showing posts from Fan pages to to all of its Fans.  From the pages that I administer it seems that, on average, only 10-15% of your Fans will see a given post in their News feeds. You’ve got to pay up to get your post viewer count up.

Secondly, with so much competition for attention on Facebook, engagement is the new differentiator. A recent article in Forbes by Christine Crandell noted that:

“Customers expect vendors to invest financially, intellectually and emotionally in understanding and consistently meeting their evolving expectations.” 

Yet, according to a recent survey, only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations.

Wow, now that sounds like an opportunity to me!

Accordingly, your marketing plans for 2013 should include improving the engagement of your Fan base with the goal of exceeding their expectations. But, saying it is a lot easier then doing it.

One component to success could be going beyond using first generation Facebook marketing solutions that just offer sweepstakes, photo and video voting, coupons, etc. to build a Fan base.

There are Facebook marketing solutions popping up that offer something new, but something I find very compelling — the ability to learn about and understand what motivates your Fans.

Here’s what intrigues me about these Apps:

  1. Their imbedded analytics can help you to understand what type of content is most engaging to your Fans and over time, which specific Fans are interested in what specific content types and topics,
  2. They make your promotions and offers look as good on mobile devices as they do on websites. People accessing social from their mobile device has risen from just over a third (37%) in 2011, to more than (46%) in 2012.   Tablet users accessing social rose from just 3% in 2011 to 16% in 2012.  Mobile-focused strategies must be on the table for marketing success in 2013.
  3. As people “sign up” for your various promotions, you can continuously ask for new information (i.e. specific interests and other demographic and preference related data) that is added to an integrated Fan database, and
  4. With all the data being captured in the Fan database, you can query and segment the database so that you can target your Fans more specifically (via Facebook or email) with content and offers that they will find more engaging and as a result, just might exceed their expectations.

Interested?  Check out Offerpop and Wishpond.

Are you still trying to program in iFrames or have you gone to a FB Fan Page Marketing App?  How are you exceeding the expectations of your Facebook Fan base?  Join the conversation and let us know!

SME Paid Under

About the Author

Jim Berkowitz
Jim is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry analyst and technology consultant who assists organizations in planing for, selecting and succeeding with technology designed to get, keep and grow customers. As an Industry Analyst and CRM Technology Coach with CRM Mastery, Inc., (a company he founded in 2004) Jim provides technology selection services to enterprises across the country seeking to invest in CRM technology solutions. In addition, as a Digital Marketer, Jim provides web site design and development as well as internet and social media marketing services to small businesses and celebrities in Telluride, Colorado and beyond.

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