Big Retailers and Facebook Marketing
By Romondo Davis In Advertising, Marketing, Media, Social Media, . . . On March 31, 2010
Many small businesses and entrepreneurs miss out on the marketing potential of Facebook by not thinking big. By observing and putting into practice what the big retailers do, you can increase your Facebook Marketing ROI. A simple example is the use of a customized default landing page. This is a common practice many consumer retailer advertising use in their big budget television commercials, billboards and magazine ads. With a little observation and creative thought, you can come up with powerful imagery and messaging that includes:
- Strong hero and product imagery
- Statement of welcome to engage the user (see Sears)
- Description of who you are and what you do
- Call to Action to become a Fan, click other tabs, and click through to our retail pages
This type of messaging might be foreign to small businesses that subscribe to old school marketing and PR (see David Meerman Scott’s bestseller, The New Rules of Marketing and PR.
I’ve reviewed and analyzed several Facebook sites and offer the following.
- Their default landing page compels visitors to “Become a Fan.” This is especially important if your brand isn’t familiar to most visitors
- “Shop your way to Rewards” tab—promote subscription to emails and offers you might run exclusively on Facebook and Twitter
- Theme Song Quiz—a fun activity as simple as a photo contest would be engaging and allow your company to collect User Generated Content (UGC)
All these tabs/pages are available even to visitors who aren’t fans. This is important because it gives the advertiser the opportunity to present their message even to those who are hesitant to commit to being a Fan. It’s also good because a strong image like this beats the clutter and confusion of the typical Facebook wall page.
- The Maurice tab is a funky little Flash activity. That may be out of scope for most small business, but it is a great tool that engages the user.
- The Discussions tab is great for generating a dialog between Fans. The big question is how to get the conversation started. Post some compelling questions on your wall and encourage every Fan comment to create more interaction.
- They have tabs with very nice imagery and–and this is important–links to more specific additional Facebook company pages. The good news is with a little knowledge of FBML–Facebook Markup Language–you can create custom pages that do all sorts of things.
- The Kohl’sCelebStyle tab is a highly interactive page with a video, other social options and a poll.
- The Scholarship page has public service feature. I advocate promoting the charities/missions your company supports. It’s not bragging, it’s informing your customers that some of the revenue from their purchases is applied to a good cause. Also on this page, are sharing buttons so readers can put the charitable message on Facebook and Twitter pages.
- Events is an integral part of Facebook. Post sales and offers a month or more ahead of time to build excitement; an amazing way to build buzz and put people in the frame of mind to plan their purchases. Reward those who RSVP by giving them something extra, our require they Confirm in order to get the deal. Notice that the event has a link to the retail site, relevant photos and comments,
- Their default landing page is way cool, with big and beautiful product photos, lots of links to the retail site, a Share link, Fan links, download iPhone app (I downloaded it) and comments call to action. Huge!
- Their GiveBack tab does the charity thing better than Kohl’s. It’s like a links page for their chosen charities. Easy for your company to do.
- They do the Events thing, too.
Summary:
You’ve most likely seen modest and steady growth of your Facebook community resulting from your website links, email blasts, Twitter, blogging and the Facebook viral effect. I predict your Fan count will increase even more rapidly if you do some of what these and other companies are doing. You probably have most of the resources you need to make this happen: budget, imagery, editorial, and creative thinkers like YOU.
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