One of the primary reasons for this blog is to keep you up to date with the latest happenings in marketing — like how marketers are using Facebook. This short (3:57) video from the Wall Street Journal explains how the “Like” button is working. While many firms are jumping into the fray, it is not clear if Facebook pages deliver results. [Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.]
This post was originally at Social Media B2B back in December. Since that time Facebook has changed so that users can now “Like” a page instead of indicating they are a “fan.” Quick aside: one of my colleagues who studies marketing on Facebook told me that users saw “liking” a brand as less of a commitment — and would therefore be more likely to click the like button than a “fan” button. While most major consumer brands have some sort of Facebook presence, I think that B2B marketers are still trying to figure out if Facebook pages are a worthwhile investment. I am one of them — we have this blog to keep in touch with customers but no Facebook page directed at marketing faculty. Anyway, looking for some examples, see “10 Examples of B2B Facebook Fan Pages,” (Social Media B2B, July 2010 Update).
Here at Teach the 4 Ps we often highlight stories on the selling power of online reviews and personal recommendations. Last year’s Nielsen survey on trust showed that we really trust recommendations from people we know. But how can they leverage that at Facebook. If Facebook masters it, they will have the keys to a new direction for Promotion. This recent Wall Street Journal article “Facebook Touts Selling Power of Friendship” (Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2010 – subscription required click here for a back door link, follow the search results). The video is 6:52 long, but the most interesting stuff for class would be the first 3:30 or so. It could be assigned to students or shown in class. You could show it in class and natural discussion opportunities will follow — there are the effectiveness issues and the privacy issues as well.
We have just finished up the next edition of Basic Marketing which includes our take on this transformation and how it fits into teaching the introductory marketing class. Look for the book in October.
Brandweek‘s (June 2, 2010) article “Why Do Consumers Visit CPG Web Sites?” provides a brief summary of a recent Ipsos survey “Engaging CPG Consumers in the Digital Space.” Consumer package goods companies have been investing in websites, Facebook pages, and Twitter. This data will tell them which of these sites customers will visit for various reasons. I was also surprised to see how many consumers actually figured it was likely they would visit a CPG site. This ties consumer behavior and promotion objectives with social media. You might highlight the survey results in class and ask students what type of information they might put on a website, Facebook page, or Twitter for Coca Cola or Tide detergent. They should see that each will require different information to best meet customer needs.
I am busy trying to figure out this Facebook thing. There are so many interesting questions about social media. I have no doubt that it will play an increasingly important role in marketing practice — and we need to be talking about it in our classes (and text books). But it is often hard to sort through the hype. For example, this article “Facebook User Demographics 2010” (Fast Company, March 27, 2010) is another that notes the whopping growth in Facebook users — especially in older age groups. The plus 55 age group grew 922.7% and over 35 age group is now 30% of the entire user database.
But I have yet to read anything that digs deeper into usage patterns and demographics. I was just talking to a colleague both in that over 35 age group (o.k., I confess, I turn 50 in less than two weeks). We both have Facebook pages and we visit them maybe once or twice a week. We rarely make posts — but sometimes e-mail through Facebook. On the other hand, our teenage kids (and most of my students) check Facebook all the time. While I think Facebook has tremendous potential and is a sign of different communication patterns we have to remember who really makes up the core, active user base. I make a lot of posts about Facebook and Twitter because these are areas that our text books (and most any text book) does not cover well — because the trend is so new — so I want to give you some current examples of ho it works. or those target markets Facebook makes sense – but keep in mind other forms of media, too. We should all be wary of and sort through the hype and we should help our students do the same.
Sorry, I will get off my soap box now and return to your regular programming of linked articles and videos.
This is pretty amazing, especially when you look at the graph below. There are a lot of articles on this recent bit of news, here is an article from Fortune (March 17, 2010) “How Facebook overtook Google to be the top spot on the Internet.” Where are we headed? Interesting example to use when discussing competition, the Internet, or social media. Note – this is only in the United States.
This is a question many marketing managers are asking today. Utpal Dholakia, Associate Professor of Marketing at Rice University investigated that question — and it appears that “Facebook changed customer behavior for the better.” The quick and dirty answer is here on Fast Company. A longer discussion and better description of the experimental design can be found here at Harvard Business Review. HBR is the better source, but I was not sure if registration was required to see it. Both articles are short and to the point. Thanks for a great study of a timely issue Utpal.
This might be a good example of an experiment that could be used with market research or some useful data when talking about Facebook or other social media in Promotion.
One of the objectives of this blog is to bridge the gap between editions of our text books. Some of the social media platforms being used today were not widely known just a couple of years ago. And marketing managers are still trying to figure out how to use social media like Facebook and Twitter. So this blog provides some examples you can bring into the classroom. Ford has done a nice job, and Grant McCracken describes their success with last year’s launch of the Fiesta Movement campaign in “How Ford Got Social Marketing Right,” BusinessWeek, January 8, 2010.
We are amazed at how little concern our students (and my kids) have about their privacy. Are our students aware of what they sacrifice and the potential future problems they may encounter with this carefree attitude? You might find it helpful to assign or discuss “Rogue Marketers Can Mine Your Info on Facebook,” in Wired, January 5, 2010.
Thank you Stephen Baker. Bill and I are working hard on develop new frameworks and conceptual organizers for our books so that we can help students better understand social media. The current editions of Basic Marketing and Essentials of Marketing do not include references to Twitter (which was not around when we last revised) and only a few referemces to Facebook and other social media. Our books deal extensively with the Internet and its implications, but social media is the next wave. While Baker’s article “Beware Social Media Snake Oil” (BusinessWeek, December 3, 2009) doesn’t bring clarity to these issues, it calls attention to the hype. We are trying to carefully revise our books to reflect an understanding about how social media can be effectively used as part of an organization’s integrated marketing communications plan.
As a quick aside, we will miss Stephen Baker’s insightful articles at BusinessWeek. When Bloomberg bought BusinessWeek, Stephen Baker was not offered a job. If you are interested, you can follow his blog at thenumerati.net.
