Subscribers, Fans and Followers: Facebook and the Collaborative Future
Two more parts in ExactTarget’s Subscribers, Fans and Followers research series have been released since I wrote my last post on the first four parts of the series. The two most recent parts focus on Facebook X-Factors and the Collaborative Future. ExactTarget has done a fantastic job of putting these research reports together and they’ve really dug into consumers motivations when it comes to how and why they interact with technology. If you haven’t ready my summary of the first four reports, click here to read about them. If you’re interested in downloading the reports for yourself (and I highly recommend doing that), check out ET’s Subscribers, Fans and Followers page for the full reports.
Report No. 5: Facebook X-Factors
The fifth report in the Subscribers, Fans and Followers series focuses on Facebook. After detailed reports of Email and Twitter users, how do Facebook users stack up? Do they want to interact with companies or do they want to keep Facebook purely personal and clear of marketing speak? Here are some of the highlights:
- The top four things that motivate users to follow a business are:
- To receive discounts or promotions
- To show my support of the company to others
- To get a freebie (free samples, coupon) – very similar to #1
- To stay informed about the company’s activities
- 70% of consumers who ‘liked’ a brand or company on Facebook didn’t feel they’d given the company permission to market to them (maybe Troy Thompson is on to something with his thoughts about comparing Facebook Likes to bumper stickers).
- Far and away, consumers use Facebook to reconnect with friends and maintain current friendships as opposed to maintaining and cultivating professional relationships.
So Facebook is used primarily for connecting with friends and less so for connecting with businesses. And consumers that do connect with businesses are really looking for a good deal. How can you leverage those opportunities to bring success to your company’s Facebook page?
Report No. 6: The Collaborative Future
The sixth report in the Subscribers, Fans and Followers series really focuses on ingetrating email, Facebook and Twitter – keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses of each medium. Here are a few insights gleaned from the sixth report:
- Email is more likely to drive increased purchase intent among the largest group of consumers.
- Facebook is the least effective channel to drive increased purchase behavior.
- Twitter is actually the channel that is most likely to drive increased purchases and recommendations after a consumer follows a brand.
The rest of the report gives recommendations of ways you can integrate your marketing efforts across all three communications channels and is definitely worth a read. Stay tuned for two upcoming posts that include video from the ExactTarget Connections 2010 conference aboout this Subscribers, Fans and Followers research.
Have you looked through ExactTarget’s Subscribers, Fans and Followers series? What do you think about their findings?
