The Value of Being a Fan or Follower

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Want to start a heated argument among marketing strategists? Want to hear some passionate opinions among marketing managers? Then let's talk about social media and its role in marketing!

Ever since I wrote about the Facebook "friending" push (advertisers and businesses actively recruiting "friends" for their companies) as well as recruiting Twitter followers for no other reason than to boost their friend count, I continue to shake my head about why they are doing this, without any goal other than to pump-up their numbers.

What is the big attraction to this phenomenon, especially when a recent Forrester Research / GSI Commerce report said that less than 20% of visitors who "like" a company's Facebook page ever return to it? To me, this says the company has done a poor job of creating a reason to return, and no tangible value for the relationship.

The report (registration required) analyzed data captured from online retailers in late 2010 and shows that social media rarely leads directly to online purchases. The only exception, according to Fiona Dias, executive vice president of strategy and marketing for GSI, is where social media can be somewhat effective for distributing news about short-term deals (the value exchange).

So, you have to ask yourself, with all of the time, energy and resources you pour into social media, how do you actually measure its ROI, when every dollar and person-hour is so critical? I see so many companies hiring full-time social media editors / writers / bloggers, / contributors for their channels, and have to wonder how they can justify the spend? Can you really believe in your Klout score? What is it really showing, when measured against actual engagement or commerce?

Again, it's hard not to pay attention to a gorilla such as Facebook with more than 500 million active users. Those users, by their nature, are part of special interest groups, online communities and relationships that frequently become influencers when exposed to brands and products they like. So, is all that effort no more than an exercise of throwing as much against the wall to see what sticks? Or do we do it just because everyone else is?

I said it before and it bears repeating. If you're going to include social media in your mix, remember that it's still marketing and advertising, regardless of the delivery method. That means you must build a meaningful (READ: relevant) relationship, offer value, be compelling, and provide a way to interact. Avoid, at all costs, falling back on the old-school ways of one-way messaging in today's interactive media marketplace. Give them a valuable reason (in their eyes) to come back to you often. Work hard at finding ways to increase the engagement level between you and your fans/friends so that you'll positively change the numbers in next year's Forrester's research project. Don't settle for the numbers game of just getting fans!

© 2011 Bob Chernet - View all of Bob's articles at: Bob Chernet's Marketing Best Practices . Reproduction of Bob Chernet's Marketing Insights in any manner is unlawful, without the written permission of the author.