Value of Facebook Fans: Measurement and Accountability: ARF Interview with Kimberly Struyk and Laurent Flores of CRM Metrix

Facebook has become a huge platform for marketers yet it still lacks the sophisticated accountability and measurement methodology that market researchers are accustomed to on other advertising platforms Laurent Flores and Kimberly Struyk of CRM Metrix have done some fantastic work on this topic and we had a chance to ask them a few questions about the value of Facebook fans ARF Why has it become so important for brands to assess the value of their Facebook fansFlores and Struyk As the use of branded fan pages has exploded within the last two years we need to understand if it is a worthwhile component within the media mix While fan pages are free to set up and are a cheaper alternative to traditional advertising avenues the price of running a page has actually expanded as the time resources and capital required to maintain them increase Unlike other Digital properties Social Media moves at an exorbitant speed growing the overall investmentContent creation and consumption are moving so fast that accountability has been somewhat overlooked until now Due to this shift in marketing plans assigning a value to a Facebook fan page justifies the time spent managing the page and linking that to how much consumer action was taken Assessing fan page performance ultimately determines how much or how little it is doing for the bottom line while also revealing the page39s role in a larger strategyARF What are some of the key metrics brands should use to figure out the value of their fansFlores and Struyk Knowing the quotvalue of a Facebook fanquot is a hot topic but many marketers do not have the tools to place a figure on what Social Media does for brands From our primary research findings there are underlying metrics that indirectly tie to value as suggested below METRICS EXPLANATION Brand involvement profiling Investigates fan page campaign recruitment in or outofmarket leads Fan page awareness ampamp media mix drivers Defines which vehicles create high value behaviors that result in a great ROE Fan page activity type Describes the incremental actions taken by fans after visiting the fan page Content consumption profile Discovers content types that drive a calltoaction Consumer ideation report Provides insight into if needs for visiting the page are delivered upon From an accountability perspective these metrics help page managers determine future directions for a page by showing if a complete overhaul is needed or if the page is on track with fan expectationsARF What are some strategies brands can use their fan pages in order to transform their quotfansquot into quotquality fansquot Flores and Struyk There is not a quotone size fits allquot strategy that can be applied across all categories and brands instead the answer lies at a brandby brand basis There is an overarching strategy that we caution against The use of promotional content as a value strategy In most cases a promotion does capture new eyeballs but on the flip side promotions are a quotget in get outquot acquisition that does not facilitate a need to fully absorb the brand experience Therefore this approach is typically unsuccessful in maintaining ongoing interest that converts fans into quality fansHowever on brandbybrand basis we suggest using a crowd sourcing ideation technique to understand strategies for achieving this type of conversion eg BRANDED strategies are typically at the heart of why valuable fans originally involved themselves with the pageARF What predictions would you make for the future of branding on social network sites such as Facebook How do you see the marketing value changing as we move forward Flores and Struyk Facebook must ensure that consumers form a positive opinion about commercialization If they are not sensitive to this the future may not be so optimistic Below is a brief description of the potential futureNear Term Marketing ValueCampaign driven Pages are no longer solely dependent on newsfeed updates for B2C conversations Instead interactive campaigns will be sporadically executed to recruit fans special occasion content interactive programs etc augmenting the top of the purchase funnelMicrosite FB experiences Fan pages will continue to mimic microexperiences perhaps overtaking brand website utilization rates to move the branding needleEcommerce expansionWith targeting features of FB advertising transactions made directly on the platform will become more prevalent According to Forbes magazine the buy rate increases about 18 times when fans do not have to click through to a site to buy This is ramped up even further by the FriendtoFriend recommendation feature which drives conversions at the bottom of the purchase funnelLong Term SpeculationsSimilar to the recent timeline roll out Facebook aspires that consumers touch the brand every day Newer fan page capabilities may lead to possible scenarios that marketers will need to tackleSocial Pod Advertising With the largest reach and active network across the world Facebook will morph into an aggregator social media platform as the hub of interaction YouTube Twitter Skype Oodle and Gamification for example will be housed within Facebook challenging advertisers to work within a one stop social podConTEXTual Mining Algorithm Facebook may eventually develop an algorithm to analyze behavioral patterns that are a predictor of market status Based on brand pages visited wall conversations liking WOM behaviors referral source etc the algorithm will pinpoint the type of ads to serve setting a new approach to brand building with awareness equity building and purchase persuasion happening simultaneouslyThese are merely speculations for the future but one thing we can be certain about is that it will be tricky to balance consumer expectations with marketer benefits on Facebook Facebook and marketers must both take care to ensure that fans do not abandon Facebook because they feel bombarded by advertisingWant to hear more Want to hear more Laurent Flores and Kimberly Struyk will be speaking at the ARF Rethink 2012 Convention Register Now

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