Facebook fan pages have now been around for quiet sometime and while there are brand owners that are still unaware of how important Fan pages are, there are many brands that have learnt its importance and have joined Facebook just in time. According to recent studies, which Mark Stutzman has discussed in his blog post in detail, 86% of brands are appearing on Facebook Fan pages.
Facebook Fan pages are used to convert your page visitors to potential customers, thus increasing sales by generating user-engaging content. This is from where comes the twist in your brand marketing success story. Yes, it is your user-engaging content.
Brands have been using contests to engage their fans and entice them to visit again. They are introducing schemes that involve not only their fans but friends of their fans too – a subtle trick that affects the subconscious of the reader.
Here are few of the examples of how brands are optimizing their fan page content.
Mrs. Freshley’s
Let’s take an example of Mrs. Freshley’s, a baked goods manufacturer that has started a contest of “Who is Mrs. Freshley” on their fan page. The brand which is functioning since 1994, is looking for Mrs. Freshley and has asked Facebook users to nominate from their friends and networks who they think is their Mrs. Freshley. I learned this news from Matt Holliday’s blog post on Inside Facebook that kept me marveling at the creativity being demonstrated in this space.
Papa John’s
Papa John’s is a famous Pizza Restaurant around since 1984. Papa John’s came up with an interesting scheme that targets visitors to become their fans. The post says:
“Hey Fans! Tell your friends how to become a PJ’s Fan of the Week. Have them post a pic of themselves supporting Papa John’s in their Halloween costumes & they will be considered to be one of our Fans of the Week! Five lucky winners will be announced this Wednesday, have their photos posted in our status update & amp; win a $50 Papa Card! Photos can be posted until 11/4/09.”
Sprinkles Cupcakes
Here is an example of Sprinkles cupcakes of Beverly Hills, a company that has been opearting since 2004. Sprinkles is not old on Facebook but after reaching an impressive 70,000 fans partially due to their free cupcakes promotion strategy, Sprinkles has come up with a unique user-engaging idea called the “Sprinkles BFF Contest.” The details of the contest are as follows:
Prize details:
“When Sprinkles reaches 100,000 fans on Facebook, we will randomly choose a BFF to win an all-expenses paid trip for two to visit the world’s first cupcake bakery in Beverly Hills! Sprinkles’ BFF will dine and have a bakery tour with Sprinkles Founder and Pastry Chef, Candace Nelson, stay at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, and enjoy free cupcakes each day, including a 4MYBFF message box which has yet to be released in stores! We’ll send you home with 12 Sprinkles Cupcake Mixes – including Spice mix which will debut in Fall 2009 – and a Sprinkles Cupcake Tray so we can be at your special occasions all year just like a BFF should!
Prize includes:
Key Take A ways
The aforementioned case studies show us how brands are becoming smarter in increasing their fan base. They have now introduced a new strategy that is incentive-based to lure in new users. Earlier, only fans were participating in contests but now, brands are targeting fans’ friends and networks. Fans and non fans will have to invite their friends and networks to earn free prizes and in return, both the nominee and the one who nominated will be given the reward.
Recent research has shown that what customers want most from brands are discounts. Probably these brands have realized their customer’s demand and have started adopting more attention grabbing strategies by giving free prizes for joining the fan page. In future, probably these strategies will also become obsolete as these become common on Facebook.
I look forward to learning more about active brands’ tactics for fans engagement.
